Hong Kong is frequently portrayed as a modern international city at the cutting edge of the twenty-first century, the so-called ‘Asian century.' Yet Hong Kong's corporate insolvency law remains very much rooted in mid-twentieth century England. One finds in the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance...

When China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong's economy was strong, the stock and property markets were high, and the general consensus was that the economy would continue to prosper. In the second half of 1997, an economic crisis began to engulf Asia and Hong Kong and...

Current Hong Kong insolvency law, primarily the Bankruptcy Ordinance and winding up legislation, is based on English legislation that harks back to the late nineteenth century. Now, for the first time in almost a century, a substantial overhaul of Hong Kong insolvency is under way. On 14...

As part of the effort to reform Hong Kong's laws in light of China's resumption of sovereignty on 1 July 1997, dramatic changes have recently been made to Hong Kong bankruptcy law. The Hong Kong Bankruptcy (Amendment) Ordinance 1996 was enacted in December 1996, less than seven months before...

Drastic changes were made to the Bankruptcy Law of Hong Kong after the British colony of Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the revised law came into operation in 1998. This article explains the various issues and processes of liquidation of...

A glaring weakness in Hong Kong insolvency law has been the lack of an acceptable corporate rescue procedure. Under existing law it is difficult to reorganize or restructure a company in financial difficulty. Therefore, creditors holding fixed and/or floating charges often resort to receivership...

Most corporate insolvencies in Hong Kong are commenced by a creditor on the ground that the debtor company is unable to pay its debts. However, each year a small number of liquidations are commenced by a regulatory authority or a government official – namely, the Registrar of Companies, the...

Unlike most other jurisdictions in Asia, Hong Kong began its corporate insolvency law reform efforts prior to the onset of the Asian financial crisis. Nevertheless, Hong Kong has yet to enact an effective statutory corporate rescue procedure. This article discusses the Hong Kong government’s...

In the case of In re Axona International Credit & Commerce Limited, the Hong Kong liquidators of Axona (a Hong Kong company with assets in the United States) were finally able to pay the first interim dividend to Axona’s creditors in July 1992. This payment was made more than nine years after...