The Operation of Transaction Avoidance Mechanisms in Insolvency Practice A Comparative study of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.This thesis aims to find out how effective the avoidance provisions in protecting creditors' rights operate in practice when a company is in winding up in Hong Kong and to see if Hong Kong may learn anything from the UK system or vice versa. Avoidance provisions have a long history as part of the insolvency laws of England and Wales and the Statute of Elizabeth in 1571 is often regarded as the first statute dealing with avoidance in insolvency. The purposes of the avoidance provisions are to protect the general body of unsecured creditors against a diminution of the assets of a company and achieve a "pari passu" distribution of the assets amongst the unsecured creditors in the winding-up of the company. An effective company winding-up process, with due regard to the protection of creditors, will facilitate the development and reinforce the position of global business centres such as the UK and Hong Kong