Parliament must expedite passage of insolvency bill

The Ghana Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors (GARIA) has called on Parliament to be expedient in the passage of the insolvency Bill before going on recess.

According to GARIA the Insolvency bill when passed will help improve the quality of legal regime for corporate bodies and administration when they become solvent. The bill also seeks to provide a framework for restructuring businesses, closing and transferring assets of failed businesses.

The Chief Executive of Garia Felix Addo said the Insolvency law must be passed and assented to by the President before the end of April. He said when this happens Ghana’s position on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business which currently is 118 will drop to two digits.

He added that ” the Bill is an important piece of legislation which aims at improving the quality of the legal regime for corporate bodies and their administration when they become solvent.”

Mr Addo said the behaviour and thinking of regulators, courts, and business people are in tune with the dictates of the insolvency regime.

The first legislation on insolvency in the Gold Coast was passed in 1856 as the Gold Coast Bankrupt and Insolvent Ordinance. It was repealed and replaced the following year by an Ordinance of the same title.

The second Ordinance was repealed in 1893 and was not replaced until 1906 when as a result of increased economic activity in the Gold Coast a Companies Ordinance with provisions for the winding up of insolvent companies was passed.

There were no further developments until 1962 when on the recommendations of Professor Gower the Insolvency Act, 1962 was passed. It was followed in 1963 by the passage of the Companies Code and the Bodies Corporate (Official Liquidations) Act.