What is the procedure for the liquidation of Hong Kong companies? Thank you for your questions.

Brief introduction to the liquidation procedure of Hong Kong companies The Court of First Instance of the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (hereinafter referred to as the "Court") may liquidate a limited company under the following circumstances: the company concerned is unable to repay its debts; Or has passed a special resolution to hand over the company to the court for liquidation; Or the court thinks it is reasonable and fair to liquidate the company. Generally speaking, once the company is liquidated by the court, the ownership of its assets will not be changed, and the power to manage all the affairs of the company will be transferred from the directors or shareholders of the company to the liquidator. The laws relating to the liquidation of companies are detailed in the Companies Ordinance and the Companies (Winding-up) Rules, Chapter 32 of the Laws of Hong Kong. Any creditor of the winding-up petition company or the company itself may apply to the court for winding up the company. Legal proceedings in liquidation cases are usually conducted by the applicant's lawyer. Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements stipulated in the Legal Aid Ordinance and Rules may receive assistance from the Legal Aid Department. When submitting the petition, the petitioner must pay a deposit of HK$ 65,438+02,65,438+050 to the Official Receiver. After the provisional liquidator submits a petition, if the assets of the company are in danger, the petitioner may apply to the court through his lawyer to appoint the Official Receiver or two suitable persons as the provisional liquidator of the company concerned. The applicant must pay another deposit of 3500 yuan. If the Official Receiver requests the petitioner to pay an additional deposit in writing, the petitioner must also pay it in full. Upon receipt of the above deposit, the Official Receiver's Office will issue an official receipt. After the petitioner of the winding-up order submits a petition to the court, the court will set a date for hearing, and the petitioner shall serve a clock-printed copy of the winding-up petition on the company concerned and the Official Receiver. All directors of the company concerned will be notified to attend the hearing, and any creditors of the company may also attend. If the court considers it fair to wind up the company, it will make a winding-up order. After the winding-up order is made, the person who used to be the provisional liquidator or the Official Receiver becomes the provisional liquidator of the company and has to take over the company. The provisional liquidator will take away all the assets of the company and sell them, so that creditors can get the maximum repayment of their debts. All creditors of the debt-proof company must fill in the debt-proof form and submit it to the provisional liquidator together with all supporting documents. Creditors need to pay a small filing fee when submitting proof of creditor's rights, but those who recover wages do not need to pay any fees. The provisional liquidator or the designated liquidator shall examine these forms and, when announcing the repayment of debts, issue a notice of ruling to inform the creditors of the examination results. If the claim is rejected, the parties concerned will explain the reasons. If the creditor is not satisfied with the explanation, he may appeal to the court, but he must do so within the time limit specified in the ruling notice. If the Official Receiver is appointed as provisional liquidator, the liquidation case will be handled by the Official Receiver. Officers of the Official Receiver's Office will go to the company to register assets and check them together with relevant account books and documents, especially employees' salary records. In this work, the directors of the company should go with the staff of the Official Receiver's Office to provide information and help at any time. Employees of the Official Receiver's Office may also ask employees of the company for assistance. After the preliminary examination and balance sheet, if the provisional liquidator is the Official Receiver, the official receiver will conduct a preliminary examination of the directors of the company concerned, and the directors must answer all questions raised during the examination. The directors or responsible persons of the company concerned shall submit an accurate balance sheet (that is, the balance sheet of the company on the day when the provisional liquidator is appointed) to the Official Receiver for inspection within a specified time limit. After the Official Receiver's Office receives the prospectus, the creditors who have registered their claims may apply to the Official Receiver's Office for a copy, but they must pay the prescribed fee. Directors or employees of insolvent companies will be prosecuted if they fail to submit or delay submitting their balance sheets. First meeting of creditors and contributories The provisional liquidator will convene the first meeting of creditors and contributories within three months after the court issues the liquidation order. If the provisional liquidator is the Official Receiver, the chairman of these meetings will be an official of the Official Receiver. All directors of the company concerned are usually required to attend these two meetings. The main purpose of these meetings is to decide who to appoint as the liquidator of the company and whether it is necessary to set up a review committee. The role of the Audit Committee is to assist in handling the company's assets and other affairs. Creditors and contributories can also exchange information through these meetings and provide relevant information to the provisional liquidator. In compulsory winding-up cases, creditors and contributories often decide at meetings to appoint the Official Receiver as liquidator, instead of setting up an inspection committee. As the liquidator of a company, the Official Receiver may apply to the court for the appointment of a special manager if he thinks it necessary to appoint a special manager according to the property and business nature of the company concerned. In recent years, they also encouraged resolutions to appoint others as liquidators. If the company involved in compulsory liquidation has a large amount of assets, the creditor may decide to apply for converting the company into voluntary liquidation, which may bring economic benefits to the creditor. As for the dates and times of these meetings and other meetings, the relevant parties will inform the directors, creditors and investors. Summary procedure If the total value of the company's property is estimated not to exceed $200,000, the Official Receiver may apply to the court for summary liquidation of the company. On the court side, if the application is accepted, an order will be made:-I. The Official Receiver will be the liquidator of the liquidation case, but there is no need to convene a meeting of creditors and contributories; Two. There is no need to set up an inspection committee, and the Official Receiver can take all actions that the liquidator (with an inspection committee) can take with the approval of the committee. After the Official Receiver becomes the provisional liquidator, he may appoint an agent to assist him in managing the property of the company to be liquidated until the case is concluded. If the liquidation company in the relevant case does not have enough funds to pay the agent's remuneration, the difference will be paid from the government funds, but the payment amount is limited. Compromise and repayment arrangement If the company wants to reach a compromise or propose repayment arrangement with its creditors, the directors of the company must submit their repayment plan in writing to the provisional liquidator/liquidator of the company immediately after submitting the balance sheet, and the liquidator of the company will convene a creditors' meeting. At the meeting, if more than half of the registered creditors and three-quarters of the creditors agree to accept the relevant scheme, and the scheme has been approved by the court, all creditors of the company must accept the scheme. Priority Repayment and Liquidation After most or all assets of the company are realized, cash will be used to pay off the applicant's legal fees, administrative fees and liquidator's fees, and the expenses for dismissing the liquidator will be reserved. After that, if the company's assets are still in surplus, the liquidator of the company will announce the repayment of priority debts and/or ordinary debts after reviewing the creditor's debt certificate. However, if the balance of the clearing account is left in a certain period of time besides meeting the current expenses, the liquidator will deposit the excess part or part in the bank to earn interest for the creditors. Arrest warrant If the shareholders, directors or senior officers of an insolvent company abscond because of evading their responsibilities or providing detailed explanations about the company to the liquidator, the Official Receiver, as the liquidator, may apply to the court for a warrant to arrest these people, and the court will often issue a warrant for the above application. Prosecuting and disqualifying directors Directors or officers of bankrupt companies will be prosecuted for failing to keep proper books or other crimes. If it is proved that a director of a company is unfit to be a director, the court may disqualify him from being a director for one to fifteen years. If these people are convicted of crimes related to the company or crimes involving dishonesty, their qualifications as directors of other companies will also be revoked. The dissolution order requires the liquidator of the company to prepare a final income and expenditure statement related to the liquidation case after realizing all the assets of the liquidation company, repaying the debts (if any) and completing the investigation of the company, notify the creditors and apply to the court for an order to dissolve its liquidator. The court will review the final income and expenditure statement and issue an order if it is satisfied.