Court can decline to annul bankruptcy order even if petition not based on a ‘liquidated’ debt (Dusoruth v Orca Finance)

Writing for LexisNexis, Wilson Leung analyses Miles J’s recent decision in Dusoruth v Orca Finance (in which Wilson acted as counsel).

Miles J held that, where a bankruptcy order has been made but the petition did not satisfy the requirement in section 267(2)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) that the petition debt must be for a ‘liquidated’ sum, the court nonetheless retains a discretion not to annul the bankruptcy order. The court similarly has a discretion if it turns out that the debt was secured (ie, the petition fails to meet another of the preconditions in IA 1986, s 267(2)(b)). Thus, practitioners who act for bankrupts intending to apply for annulment should bear in mind that, even if they convince the court that IA 1986, s 267(2)(b) was not satisfied, they will still need to persuade the court that it should exercise its discretion in favour of annulment.

Read the article in full here.

Wilson is a dual-qualified barrister practising in both England and Hong Kong. He has over 13 years of experience at the Hong Kong Bar, practising from top-ranked Temple Chambers; he then qualified at the English Bar in 2022 and joined Serle Court. He focuses on complex commercial and chancery litigation, with particular experience in company, insolvency, contract, trusts, probate, and banking disputes. His CV can be viewed here.