The Insolvency & Public Trustee's Office (IPTO) in Singapore is a department under the Ministry of Law. IPTO oversees the administration of individual and corporate insolvencies, the administration of small intestate estates and un-nominated Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies, as well as the licensing and regulation of moneylenders and pawnbrokers.
IPTO was set up in 1888 as the Bankruptcy Department following an increase in bankruptcy petitions filed in the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements. The Bankruptcy Department's duties were expanded in 1948 to include the custody of enemy property and the administration of trusts and estate matters. It was also renamed as the Official Assignee and Public Trustee (OAPT) to more aptly describe the role that it played. [1]
On 1 May 1983, following the transfer of responsibilities from the Ministry of Social Affairs to the Ministry of Law, OAPT was appointed as the Registrar of Moneylenders and Pawnbrokers. As of 1 April 1997, OAPT became an autonomous agency and was renamed the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office (IPTO), a department under the Ministry of Law.
IPTO assists the Official Assignee (OA), who is a public officer and an officer of the court, in the discharge of his / her duties under the Bankruptcy Act. In administering the bankruptcy estate, IPTO realises the bankrupt's assets for the benefit of his creditors, adjudicates creditors’ claims and pays out dividends to them. IPTO also investigates the conduct of bankrupts (where they are found to have flouted the Bankruptcy Act), and in suitable cases, assists bankrupts in attaining a discharge from bankruptcy. Some programmes administered by IPTO include the Debt Repayment Scheme and Financial Education Workshop
IPTO assists the Official Receiver (OR), who is a public officer, in exercising his or her duties as the liquidator of companies which are compulsorily wound-up. The OR's duties are to, amongst others, investigate the affairs of the company, realise the company's assets, adjudicate the claims of creditors and distribute the company's assets in accordance with the Companies Act. The OR also oversees the conduct of liquidators in both compulsory and voluntary winding-up by ensuring that liquidators comply with their legal obligations. [2]
The Public Trustee (PT) administers the estates of deceased persons if the value of the estate, excluding monies from the deceased person's CPF account, does not exceed S$50,000. [3] The PT also administers un-nominated CPF funds of a deceased person. Where a beneficiary of an estate or funds administered is a minor, IPTO will hold the minor's share until the minor attains the age of majority. [4]
Other roles undertaken by the PT include maintaining the confidential Wills Registry, [5] as well as ensuring that out-of-court settlement sums for personal injuries sustained in road traffic accidents are adequate and that solicitors’ fees are reasonable. [6]
IPTO assists the Registrar of Moneylenders and the Registrar of Pawnbrokers in licensing and regulating moneylenders and pawnbrokers in Singapore. [7] To safeguard the interests of borrowers and pawners, IPTO may take appropriate enforcement action against licensees who breach the Moneylenders Act or the Pawnbrokers Act. [8]
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor.
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company (debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be insolvent. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet insolvency.
A trustee in bankruptcy is an entity, often an individual, in charge of administering a bankruptcy estate.
Consumer bankruptcy in Canada is governed by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act ("BIA"). The legislation is complemented by regulations, as well as directives from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy that provide guidelines to trustees in bankruptcy on various aspects of the BIA.
Bankruptcy in the United Kingdom is divided into separate local regimes for England and Wales, for Northern Ireland, and for Scotland. There is also a UK insolvency law which applies across the United Kingdom, since bankruptcy refers only to insolvency of individuals and partnerships. Other procedures, for example administration and liquidation, apply to insolvent companies. However, the term 'bankruptcy' is often used when referring to insolvent companies in the general media.
The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with headquarters in London. It has around 1,700 staff, operating from 22 locations across Great Britain.
An officer of the Insolvency Service of the United Kingdom, an official receiver (OR) is an officer of the court to which they are attached. The OR is answerable to the courts for carrying out the courts' orders and for fulfilling their duties under law. They also act on directions, instructions and guidance from the service's Inspector General or, less often, from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act is one of the statutes that regulates the law on bankruptcy and insolvency in Canada. It governs bankruptcies, consumer and commercial proposals, and receiverships in Canada.
The Enterprise Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made major changes to UK competition law with respect to mergers and also changed the law governing insolvency bankruptcy. It made cartels illegal with a maximum prison sentence of 5 years and states that level of competition in a market should be the basis for investigation.
The Insolvency Act 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provides the legal platform for all matters relating to personal and corporate insolvency in the UK.
An unfair preference is a legal term arising in bankruptcy law where a person or company transfers assets or pays a debt to a creditor shortly before going into bankruptcy, that payment or transfer can be set aside on the application of the liquidator or trustee in bankruptcy as an unfair preference or simply a preference.
A general assignment or assignment is a concept in bankruptcy law in which an insolvent entity's assets are assigned to someone as an alternative to a bankruptcy. One form is an "assignment for the benefit of creditors", abbreviated ABC or AFBC.
As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – in the United Kingdom colloquially called being "under administration" – is an alternative to liquidation or may be a precursor to it. Administration is commenced by an administration order.
Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) is a part of the thirteen policy bureaux for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They are responsible for developing and executing government policy on finance and treasury. The agency was established on 1 July 2002. The current Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury is Christopher Hui and the under secretary is Joseph Chan.
The Parliament of Canada has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate matters relating to bankruptcy and insolvency, by virtue of Section 91(2) of the Constitution Act, 1867. It has passed the following statutes as a result:
Bankruptcy in Irish Law is a legal process, supervised by the High Court whereby the assets of a personal debtor are realised and distributed amongst his or her creditors in cases where the debtor is unable or unwilling to pay his debts.
A Commissioner of Bankruptcy was, from 1571 to 1883, an official appointed to administer the estate of a bankrupt with full power to dispose of all his lands and tenements. Bankrupts were defined as insolvent persons engaged in trade or business and kept distinct from other insolvents until 1861. The proceedings of that administration were the distribution of the property of an insolvent person to that person's creditors in proportion to the debts.
British Virgin Islands bankruptcy law is principally codified in the Insolvency Act, 2003, and to a lesser degree in the Insolvency Rules, 2005. Most of the emphasis of bankruptcy law in the British Virgin Islands relates to corporate insolvency rather than personal bankruptcy. As an offshore financial centre, the British Virgin Islands has many times more resident companies than citizens, and accordingly the courts spend more time dealing with corporate insolvency and reorganisation.
Cross-border insolvency regulates the treatment of financially distressed debtors where such debtors have assets or creditors in more than one country. Typically, cross-border insolvency is more concerned with the insolvency of companies that operate in more than one country rather than bankruptcy of individuals. Like traditional conflict of laws rules, cross-border insolvency focuses upon three areas: choice of law rules, jurisdiction rules and enforcement of judgment rules. However, in relation to insolvency, the principal focus tends to be the recognition of foreign insolvency officials and their powers.
Stein v Blake[1995] UKHL 11 is a decision of the House of Lords in relation to the effect of automatic set-off in bankruptcy, and the power of a bankruptcy trustee to assign rights in action after the operation of such set-off under English law.
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