Companies Act 1948

Official Receiver in English Winding Up.

233 Official receiver in bankruptcy to be official receiver for winding-up purposes.

(1) For the purposes of this Act so far as it relates to the winding up of companies by the court in England, the term “official receiver ” means the official receiver, if any, attached to the court for bankruptcy purposes, or, if there is more than one such official receiver, then such one of them as the Board of Trade may appoint, or, if there is no such official receiver, then an officer appointed for the purpose by the Board.

(2) Any such officer shall, for the purpose of his duties under this Act, be styled “the official receiver ”.

234 Appointment of official receiver by court in certain cases.

If, in the case of the winding up of any company by the court in England, it appears to the court desirable, with a view to securing the more convenient and economical conduct of the winding up, that some officer other than the person who would by virtue of the last foregoing section be the official receiver should be the official receiver for the purposes of that winding up, the court may appoint that other officer to act as official receiver in that winding up, and the person so appointed shall be deemed to be the official receiver in that winding up for all the purposes-of this Act.

235 Statement of company's affairs to be submitted to official receiver.

(1) Where the court in England has made a winding-up order or appointed a provisional liquidator, there shall, unless the court thinks fit to order otherwise and so orders, be made out and submitted to the official receiver a statement as to the affairs of the company in the prescribed form, verified by affidavit, and showing the particulars of its assets, debts and liabilities, the names, residences and occupations of its creditors, the securities held by them respectively, the dates when the securities were respectively given, and such further or other information as may be prescribed or as the official receiver may require.

(2) The statement shall be submitted and verified by one or more of the persons who are at the relevant date the directors and by the person who is at that date the secretary of the company, or by such of the persons hereinafter in this subsection mentioned as the official receiver, subject to the direction of the court, may require to submit and verify the statement, that is to say, persons—

(a) who are or have been officers of the company;

(b) who have taken part in the formation of the company at any time within one year before the relevant date;

(c) who are in the employment of the company, or have been in the employment of the company within the said year, and are in the opinion of the official receiver capable of giving the information required;

(d) who are or have been within the said year officers of or in the employment of a- company which is, or within the said year was, an officer of the company to which the statement relates.

(3) The statement shall be submitted within fourteen days from the relevant date or within such extended time as the official receiver or the court may for special reasons appoint.

(4) Any person making or concurring in making the statement and affidavit required by this section shall be allowed, and shall be paid by the official receiver or provisional liquidator, as the case may be, out of the assets of the company such costs and expenses incurred in and about the preparation and making of the statement and affidavit as the official receiver may consider reasonable, subject to an appeal to the court.

(5) If any person, without reasonable excuse, makes default in complying with the requirements of this section, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds for every day during which the default continues.

(6) Any person stating himself in writing to be a creditor or contributory of the company shall be entitled by himself or by his agent at all reasonable times, on payment of the prescribed fee, to inspect the statement submitted in pursuance of this section, and to a copy thereof or extract therefrom.

(7) Any person untruthfully so stating himself to be a creditor or contributory shall be guilty of a contempt of court and shall, on the application of the liquidator or of the official receiver, be punishable accordingly.

(8) In this section the expression “the relevant date ” means, in a case where a provisional liquidator is appointed, the date of his appointment, and, in a case where no such appointment is made, the date of the winding-up order.

236 Report by official receiver.

(1) In a case where a winding-up order is made, the official receiver shall, as soon as practicable after receipt of the statement to be submitted under the last foregoing section, or, in a case where the court orders that no statement shall be submitted, as soon as practicable after the date of the order, submit a preliminary report to the court—

(a) as to the amount of capital issued, subscribed and paid up, and the estimated amount of assets and liabilities; and

(b) if the company has failed, as to the causes of the failure; and

(c) whether in his opinion further inquiry is desirable as to any matter relating to the promotion, formation or failure of the company or the conduct of the business thereof.

(2) The official receiver may also, if he thinks fit, make a further report, or further reports, stating the manner in which the company was formed and whether in his opinion any fraud has been committed by any person in its promotion or formation or by any officer of the company in relation to the company since the formation thereof, and any other matters which in his opinion it is desirable to bring to the notice of the court.

(3) If the official receiver states in any such further report as aforesaid that in his opinion a fraud has been committed as aforesaid, the court shall have the further powers provided in section two hundred and seventy of this Act.