Data on Cases of Wrongful Trading Investigated under Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act and Enforcement Outcomes in Past Three Years

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Law in the past three years (a) how many cases of wrongful trading under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act have been investigated by ACRA; and (b) of these, how many resulted in prosecution, civil action or other enforcement outcome.

Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: Investigations for the offence of wrongful trading 1 under section 239(6) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 fall under the purview of the Official Receiver and not the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

Such investigations are carried out when reports of suspected wrongful trading are made to the Official Receiver, either by insolvency professionals or creditors. In the past three years, there have been no reports of suspected wrongful trading made to the Official Receiver. A person found guilty of wrongful trading may be punished with a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to three years, or both.

Civil claims for wrongful trading can be pursued to seek compensation, independent of such investigations. Creditors, contributories or the judicial manager or liquidator of a company 2 may apply to the Court to declare that a person who knows a company is trading wrongfully or who as an officer of the company ought to have known that the company was trading wrongfully, be personally responsible for some or all of the company's debts or other liabilities. If the Court makes such a declaration, the Court may also make the appropriate consequential directions, including that monies recovered from the person be paid to the company’s creditors.

The Ministry of Law does not have statistics on the number of civil actions for wrongful trading in the past three years.

Note(s) to Question No(s) 43:

1 Under section 239(12) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, a company trades wrongfully if, when insolvent, it incurs debts or other liabilities without reasonable prospect of meeting them in full, or if it becomes insolvent as a result of incurring such debts or liabilities.

2 Such an application under section 239(1) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 can also be brought by any creditor or contributory with the leave of either the insolvency officeholder or the Court.