year. Here again the United States was in the lead with 140; the United Kingdom, West Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and Hong Kong followed with 79, 29, 28, 25 and 21 respectively.
Bankruptcies and Liquidations
14. Seven receiving orders and twenty-one winding-up orders were made during the year, the latter being the highest number ever made in one year. This high number of liquidations is, however, as much attributable to the growth in the number of companies, which has quadrupled in the last decade, as to anything else. In any event the number of bankruptcy and liquidation cases that come into the hands of the Official Receiver is no reliable index to business conditions, since every year many businesses which fail simply close down without ever becoming the subject of bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings. However, it is noteworthy that the estimated total liabilities of those cases in which orders were made during the year was at $15,472,000 the third highest since the war, being surpassed only by the figures for 1965-66 and 1964-65, which included the liabilities of The Canton Trust and Commercial Bank, Ltd, and the Ming Tak Bank respectively. The affairs of these two Banks continued to occupy a great deal of the time and energies of officers in the Commercial and Personal Division, so much so that in order to relieve the pressure on them the responsibility for the Companies, Trade Marks and Patents Registries was as from 1st November 1966 temporarily transferred to the other Division of the Department.
15. During the year the Official Receiver as Trustee of the Ming Tak Bank completed with the help of a Government loan three multi- storeyed buildings which had been under construction when the Bank failed. Unfortunately, owing to the adverse factors already mentioned there was little immediate demand for the units in these buildings even at reduced prices, and sales in the year produced only $422,000. For the same reason, only slow progress was made with the disposal of the properties owned by The Canton Trust and Commercial Bank, Ltd. Collection of the book debts was also by no means easy in a year where money was tight and the property market depressed. Neverthe- less the substantial total of $7,929,000 was collected, which enabled a further $6,500,000 to be repaid to the Government, leaving $9,500,000 outstanding of the original $22,500,000 advanced to enable a first dividend of 25% to be paid to the unsecured creditors. An analysis
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