PRC Bankruptcy Law seminar

The PRC's Enterprise Bankruptcy Law came into effect on 1 June 2007. Since then, its application and the related cross-border issues it raises have been hot topics among lawyers, accountants and insolvency practitioners.

On 7 July 2008, the Insolvency and Legal Professional Committee of Guangzhou Lawyers Association (廣州市律師協會 - 破產法律專業委員會) invited Alan Tang, partner and head of Grant Thornton Specialist Advisory Services, and members of Restructuring & Recovery Team to conduct a half-day seminar titled "Comparison of PRC Bankruptcy Law with its US and UK counterparts". It was one of the talks and training sessions about insolvency matters conducted by esteemed legal professionals and academics that the Association organises for its members from time to time.

Alan has specialised in restructuring and insolvency for over 25 years, and he has extensive experience in handling major bankruptcy, restructuring and liquidation assignments in the UK, Hong Kong and the PRC, including the Overseas Trust Bank, Equiticorp, BCCI, Leading Spirit, GITIC, Siu Fung Ceramics Holdings Limited, and other major insolvency cases.

Christina Lam, senior manager at Grant Thornton's Beijing office, and four other colleagues from the Hong Kong office - Anita So, Terry Kan, Elaine Ho and Vivian Yeung - were also honoured to be asked to share their knowledge and experience with over 200 lawyers at the seminar, which was held in the Association's Guangzhou office.

The interactive forum discussion mainly focused on the philosophy and fundamental concepts of bankruptcy laws in the PRC, the US and the UK, as well as administrative procedures and cross-border issues seen from the perspective of insolvency practitioners.

After the seminar, Madam Zeng Yi Jun, Chairperson of the Insolvency and Legal Professional Committee, introduced our team to the Association's Committee members, and they continued to share interesting experiences about cross-border issues. The Committee members were looking forward to meeting the Grant Thornton professionals again at the INSOL Shanghai Annual Regional Conference which would be held on 15 September 2008.

Grant Thornton is a registered member on the Panel of Administrators under the auspices of the Beijing Higher People's Court, and it offers full restructuring, investigation and insolvency services via its Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen offices.

Anita So
Restructuring, Investigation & Insolvency
anita.so@gthk.com.hk