BANKRUPTCY LAWS

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 62, 7 December 1926, Page 10

BANKRUPTCY LAWS

TIGHTENING UP URGED Dominion Special. Auckland, December 6. Efforts at present being made by chambers of commerce in New Zealand to have the bankruptcy laws made more strict are strongly supported by the Auckland Fruit Importers’ Association. Fruit dealers are stated to find a proportion of the foreign element with whom they largely deal particularly troublesome. The owner of a fruit shop may prove himself honest and trustworthy and win the confidence of importers and then sell out. The importers are not always notified of the change of ownership, and the new owner may obtain credit for a considerable sum under his predecessor’s name. The Importers’ Association therefore is endeavouring to have the law relating to notification of a change of ownership and also to the keeping of books made more stringent. An instance of a man who, after a fire, might collect insurance money on his premises and go to another part of the Dominion without paying his creditors is also cited by the association. It was stated that under the present law the man would not be guilty of any criminal act, so that the police could not take action. To have him made bankrupt would cost about £5O, and there would be little hope of recovering anything from him.