OK, one more before I call it a night,
from Kitco:
BANKRUPTCIES in Hong Kong have risen a massive 77 per cent over the past 18 months, with people abusing the system to escape their financial responsibilities, according to a report released yesterday.
The report by data collection agency Credit Information Services ( CIS ) said the number of bankrupts surged to 1,966 during the second quarter of the year from 1,109 in the first quarter of last year. A total of 7,962 individuals were declared bankrupt during the period.
``Since the average debt size fell, while the number of bankrupted individuals rose, I am afraid that people may be abusing the bankruptcy law,'' CIS managing director Alexander Yuen Ka-fai said .
The average debt of a bankrupt dropped to $315,000 from $651,000 during the 18-month period.
Mr Yuen said the bankruptcy ordinance was amended in 1998 reducing the discharge period to four from seven years. About 34 per cent of bankrupts over the past 18 months did not have a record of loan delinquency ( loans overdue for more than 90 days ) when they filed their petitions.
However, they accounted for 48 per cent of the total bankruptcy figure, while the average number of loans carried by these individuals was 18.9, well above the average of 8.9 loans.
``When a person has not gone through a delinquency stage but chooses to go directly to bankruptcy, it is worth investigating if their motives are against the spirit of the ordinance,'' Mr Yuen said. ``The spirit of the ordinance is to assist those people who have tried their best but are unable to repay their debts.''
Banks found it hard to check the repayment ability of loan applicants because they might use new loans to cover existing ones, he said. It was also difficult for banks to share information on borrowers because of the privacy ordinance.
Mr Yuen said the prevalent use of credit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs further aggravated the problem, as more than 60 per cent of the delinquent debts were credit card loans.
Standard Chartered group executive director Mervyn Davies said the level of personal bankruptcies was rising because the penalties for debtors were not harsh enough. ``Personal bankruptcies is the big issue facing Hong Kong,'' Mr Davies said. ``The [discharge] rule going down to four years has opened up the floodgates. The process needs tightening.''
Mr Yuen has urged the government to boost public awareness of the consequences of bankruptcy and tighten the rules covering individuals declaring themselves bankrupt.
The deteriorating economy has also led to a rising number of delinquent debtors.
The number of consumers reported late in paying their loans had risen to 17,149 from 13,011 at the end of last year.
There was a 54 per cent rise in the number of delinquent consumers with single loans.
hk-imail.singtao.com |
