Press Release
Responses to LRC's recommendations on winding-up provisions
Tuesday, July 27, 1999
The Financial Services Bureau (FSB) will look into recommendations by the Law Reform Commission (LRC) in its Third Report on the Winding-up Provisions of the Companies Ordinance which was released today (Tuesday).
A spokesman for the Bureau noted that while most recommendations were of a technical nature, some involved significant policy and financial considerations. These included recommendations on licensing of insolvency practitioners; remuneration of office-holders; the role and funding of the Official Receiver's Office and a separate Insolvency Ordinance.
A two-tier licensing for insolvency practitioners
The spokesman said the FSB supported in principle the recommendation on the licensing of insolvency practitioners, and welcomed the idea to include professionally qualified persons through examinations to undertake all insolvency work.
"We hope this will benefit the creditors and investors in having more practitioners of different professions joining the insolvency field, thus creating more and healthier competition in terms of service and pricing.
"To pave the way for future licensing, we are in discussion with the Hong Kong Society of Accountants with a view to strengthening the training programmes for insolvency practitioners. We will start dialogue with other professional bodies such as the Law Society and the Institute of Company Secretaries to encourage those professions to partake in insolvency service.
"We are also discussing with the Hong Kong Society of Accountants on means to attract more new entrants to the "Panel B" scheme, which is an administrative panel operated by the Official Receiver to contract out compulsory winding up cases under summary procedures to a list of prequalified firms by a roster system," he said.
Liquidators' remuneration and fees
The spokesman acknowledged that liquidators' remuneration and fees had been a matter of wide spread concern to the public and the courts. "The Official Receiver has set up a working group together with the Hong Kong Society of Accountants to examine the subject of liquidators' remuneration. The group first met in June 1999 with a view to putting forward proposals by the end of this year," he said.
"Following the recent comments made by the Court of Appeal in relation to the Peregrine case on the role of the Official Receiver in taxing liquidators' bills and charges, we are examining the resource implications arising therefrom as well as the impact on the work of the Official Receiver's Office (ORO)," he added.
Role and funding of the Official Receiver's Office
"While the Government fully support LRC's recommendation on having a clean and open insolve