Part I
Proceedings from Act of Bankruptcy to Discharge
Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
A debtor commits an act of bankruptcy in each of the following cases:
if in Singapore or elsewhere he makes a conveyance, transfer or assignment of his property to a trustee or trustees for the benefit of his creditors generally;
if in Singapore or elsewhere he makes a fraudulent conveyance, gift, delivery or transfer of his property or of any part thereof;
if in Singapore or elsewhere he makes any conveyance or transfer of his property or of any part thereof, or creates any charge thereon, which would under this or any other enactment for the time being in force be void as a fraudulent preference if he were adjudged bankrupt;
if with intent to defeat or delay his creditors he —
departs out of Singapore or being out of Singapore remains out of Singapore;
departs from his dwelling-house or otherwise absents himself, or begins to keep house or closes his place of business; or
submits collusively or fraudulently to an adverse judgment or order for the payment of money;
if execution issued against him has been levied by seizure of his property under process in an action or in any civil proceeding in the High Court or a District Court where the judgment, including costs, amounts to the sum of $500;
if he files in the court a declaration of his inability to pay his debts or presents a bankruptcy petition against himself;
if he gives notice to any of his creditors that he has suspended or that he is about to suspend payment of his debts;
if he makes to any two or more of his creditors, not being partners, an offer of composition with his creditors or a proposal for a scheme of arrangement of his affairs, and such offer or proposal is not followed by the registration within 14 days thereafter of a deed of arrangement with his creditors, in accordance with the rules for the time being in force for the registration of deeds of arrangement under this Act;
if a creditor has obtained a final judgment or final order against him for any amount and execution thereon not having been stayed has served on him in Singapore, or by leave of the court elsewhere, a bankruptcy notice under this Act requiring him to pay the judgment debt or sum ordered to be paid in accordance with the terms of the judgment or order, or to secure or compound for it to the satisfaction of the creditor or the court, and he does not within 7 days after service of the notice in case the service is effected in Singapore, and in case the service is effected elsewhere then within the time limited in that behalf by the order giving leave to effect the service, either comply with the requirements of the notice or satisfy the court that he has a counterclaim, set-off or cross demand which equals or exceeds the amount of the judgment debt or sum ordered to be paid and which he could not set up in the action or proceeding in which the judgment or order was obtained;
if the Sheriff or the bailiff of a District Court makes a return that the debtor was possessed of no property liable to seizure; and for the purposes of this paragraph the date when the writ is lodged with the Sheriff or the bailiff of a District Court shall be deemed to be the date of the act of bankruptcy.
A bankruptcy notice under this Act shall be in the prescribed form, shall state the consequences of non-compliance therewith, and shall be served as prescribed.
In this section “debtor” shall be deemed to include any person, whether a citizen of Singapore or not —
who is domiciled in Singapore;
who within a year before the date of the presentation of the petition has ordinarily resided in or had a dwelling-house or place of business in Singapore; or
who though not himself personally within Singapore carries on business by an agent within Singapore.
s 4Jurisdiction to make receiving order
Subject to the conditions hereinafter specified, if a debtor has committed an act of bankruptcy the court may, on a bankruptcy petition being presented, either by a creditor or by the debtor, make an order, in this Act called a receiving order, for the protection of the estate.
A creditor shall not be entitled to present a bankruptcy petition against a debtor unless —
the debt owing by the debtor to the petitioning creditor, or if two or more creditors join in the petition, the aggregate amount of debts owing to the several petitioning creditors, amounts to $500;
the debt is a liquidated sum payable either immediately or at some certain future time; and
the act of bankruptcy on which the petition is grounded has occurred within 6 months before the presentation of the petition.
If the petitioning creditor is a secured creditor he must in his petition either state that he is willing to give up his security for the benefit of the creditors in the event of the debtor being adjudged bankrupt or give an estimate of the value of his security. In the latter case he may to the extent of the balance of the debt due to him, after deducting the value so estimated, be admitted as a petitioning creditor in the same manner as if he were an unsecured creditor.
A creditor’s petition shall be verified by affidavit of the creditor or of some person on his behalf having knowledge of the facts, and shall be served as prescribed.
At the hearing the court shall require proof of —
the debt of the petitioning creditor;
the act of bankruptcy or, if more than one act of bankruptcy is alleged in the petition, some one of the alleged acts of bankruptcy; and
if the debtor does not appear, the service of the petition,and, if satisfied with the proof, may make a receiving order in pursuance of the petition.
If the court is not satisfied with the proof of the petitioning creditor’s debt or of the act of bankruptcy or of the service of the petition, or is satisfied by the debtor that he is able to pay his debts, or that for other sufficient cause no order ought to be made, the court may dismiss the petition.
When the act of bankruptcy relied on is non-compliance with a bankruptcy notice to pay, secure or compound for a judgment debt, the court may if it thinks fit stay or dismiss the petition on the ground that an appeal is pending from the judgment.
Where the debtor appears on the petition and denies that he is indebted to the petitioner, or that he is indebted to such an amount as would justify the petitioner in presenting a petition against him, the court, on such security, if any, being given as the court may require for payment to the petitioner of any debt which may be established against the debtor in due course of law and of the costs of establishing the debt, may, instead of dismissing the petition, stay all proceedings on the petition for such time as may be required for trial of the question relating to the debt.
Where proceedings are stayed the court may, if by reason of the delay caused by the stay of proceedings or for any other cause it thinks just, make a receiving order on the petition of some other creditor, and shall thereupon dismiss, on such terms as it thinks just, the petition in which proceedings have been stayed as aforesaid.
A creditor’s petition shall not after presentation be withdrawn without the leave of the court.
A debtor’s petition shall allege that the debtor is unable to pay his debts, and the presentation thereof shall be deemed an act of bankruptcy without the previous filing by the debtor of any declaration of inability to pay his debts, and the court shall thereupon make a receiving order.
A debtor’s petition shall not after presentation be withdrawn without the leave of the court.
On the making of a receiving order the Official Assignee shall be thereby constituted receiver of the property of the debtor, and thereafter, except as directed by this Act, no creditor to whom the debtor is indebted in respect of any debt provable in bankruptcy shall have any remedy against the property or person of the debtor in respect of the debt, or shall commence any action or other legal proceeding in respect of such debt unless with the leave of the court and on such terms as the court may impose.
This section shall not affect the power of any secured creditor to realise or otherwise deal with his security in the same manner as he would have been entitled to realise or deal with it if this section had not been passed.
On a receiving order being made against a debtor he shall, within 24 hours after the making of the order, file an affidavit in the office of the Official Assignee, containing a true and correct statement of the names and residences of all the partners, if any, in his business and of his principal assets and liabilities. Such statement shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be part of the debtor’s statement of his affairs referred to in section 16.
On such order being made against a debtor the Official Assignee shall forthwith take possession of all books of account and other papers and documents in the possession, custody or control of the debtor relating to his property or affairs, and may take into his possession all or any deeds, books, documents and other property of the debtor.
On making a receiving order, the court, on application made by or on behalf of the petitioning creditor or any other person claiming to be a creditor, may detain the debtor if he is present, and if he is not present may order the debtor to be arrested and brought before the court by warrant addressed to any police officer or officer of the court, and unless the debtor, when so detained or brought before the court, gives security to the satisfaction of the court that he will not leave Singapore without the previous permission in writing of the Official Assignee or of the court, he may be committed to the civil prison and be there kept until the close of his public examination or until the court otherwise orders.
If a receiving order is made against a firm in the firm’s name no warrant to arrest any alleged partner in the firm shall issue, except upon the application of the petitioning or some other creditor and upon evidence on oath as to the persons who at the date of the receiving order are partners in the firm.
If any person arrested denies that he is a partner, the court shall order his release unless the petitioning or other creditor gives security, to the satisfaction of the court, to meet the probable damages if the person is found not to be a partner.
The cost of maintaining any debtor in prison under this section shall be prepaid by the applicant from time to time to the gaol authority, according to the cost of rations for the time being.
The court may, if it thinks it advisable for the protection of the estate, at any time after the presentation of a bankruptcy petition and before a receiving order is made, appoint the Official Assignee to be interim receiver of the property of the debtor or of any part thereof, and direct him to take immediate possession thereof or of any part thereof, including all books of account and other papers and documents belonging to the debtor and relating to his business.
The court may at any time after the presentation of a bankruptcy petition stay any action, execution or other legal process against the property or person of the debtor.
s 11Service of order staying proceedings
Where an order is made under section 10, staying any action or proceeding or staying proceedings generally, the order may be served by sending a copy thereof, under the seal of the court, by prepaid registered post letter to the address for service of the plaintiff or other party prosecuting such proceeding.
The Official Assignee may, if satisfied that the nature of the debtor’s estate or business or the interests of the creditors generally require the appointment of a special manager of the estate or business other than the Official Assignee, appoint a manager thereof accordingly to act until the first meeting of creditors, and with such powers, including any of the powers of a receiver, as are entrusted to him by the Official Assignee.
The debtor may be appointed special manager.
The special manager shall give security and account in such manner as the Official Assignee, subject to the control of the court, directs.
The special manager shall receive such remuneration as the Official Assignee, within the prescribed limits and subject to such control as aforesaid, determines.
s 13Advertisement of receiving order
Notice of every receiving order, stating the name, address and description of the debtor, the date of the order and the date of the petition, shall be gazetted and advertised in a local paper as prescribed.
If in any case where a receiving order has been made on a bankruptcy petition it appears to the court, upon an application by the Official Assignee or any creditor or other person interested, that a majority of the creditors in number and value are resident in Malaysia, and that from the situation of the property of the debtor or for other causes his estate and effects ought to be distributed among the creditors under the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of Malaysia, the court, after such inquiry as to it seems fit, may rescind the receiving order and stay all proceedings on or dismiss the petition upon such terms, if any, as it thinks fit.
If the debtor has been adjudged bankrupt, in any such case the court shall also annul the adjudication after rescinding the receiving order.
As soon as possible after the making of a receiving order against a debtor a general meeting of his creditors, referred to in this Act as the first meeting of creditors, shall be held for the purpose of considering whether a proposal for a composition or scheme of arrangement shall be entertained, or whether it is expedient that the debtor be adjudged bankrupt, and generally as to the mode of dealing with the debtor’s property.
With respect to the summoning of and proceedings at the first and other meetings of creditors the rules in the First Schedule shall be observed.