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The Lord Chancellor's Department on the 3 August 2001 published statistics for company winding up, and creditors' and debtors' bankruptcy petitions issued in the High Court and county courts of England and Wales during the second quarter of 2001.
In the second quarter of 2001 the following number of petitions were issued: - 2,333 company winding up petitions - a decrease of 9% on the petitions in the same quarter of 2000;
3,866 creditors' petitions - a decrease of 8% on the petitions in the same quarter of 2000;
3,742 debtors' petitions - an increase of over 21% on the petitions in the same quarter of 2000.
Table 1 shows the number of company windings up, and creditors' and debtors' bankruptcy petitions issued for each year by quarter, since 1996.
Figures on insolvency petitions are published on a quarterly basis. The publication date for the figures covering the third quarter of 2001 will be Friday 2 November 2001.
The 2001 figures are provisional and liable to revision to take account of any late amendments.
No assumption can be made from these statistics about the number of companies that go into liquidation, or the number of individuals made bankrupt.
INSOLVENCY
A company or individual with debts that they are unable to pay is said to be 'insolvent'.
COMPANY WINDING UP
When it becomes necessary to terminate a company's existence, whether owing to insolvency or for some other reason, the process is called 'winding up'.
There is a restriction on proceeding that may be commenced in county courts which is based on the paid-up capital of the company. Well over half of winding up proceedings are commenced and handled in the Chancery Division of the High Court at the Royal Courts of Justice in London and at the eight provincial High Court centres.
Company winding up proceedings will normally be commenced at the court centre local to the registered office of the company, which will not necessarily be situated in the same geographical area as the company's base or operational area. The relative regional levels of winding-up activity do not therefore necessarily reflect the geographical distribution of the companies involved.
INDIVIDUAL BANKRUPTCY
For individuals the term bankrupt is used to indicate insolvency.
Proceedings for bankruptcy can be commenced at county courts with the appropriate jurisdiction, or in the Chancery Division of the High Court, either by a creditor (the person to whom the debt is owed) or by a debtor (the person who owes the debt).
INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY PETITIONS FILED
Table 1
Year Quarter Companies Creditors Debtors
winding-up bankruptcy bankruptcy
petitions petitions petitions
1996 1 3 094 5 603 3 030
2 2 865 5 314 2 617
3 3 025 5 269 2 614
4 2 996 5 082 2 428
11 980 21 268 10 689
1997 1 2 998 5 209 2 613
2 2 724 5 231 2 431
3 2 695 4 812 2 380
4 2 741 4 291 2 212
11 158 19 543 9 636
1998 1 3 122 4 157 2 665
2 2 849 4 616 2 500
3 2 840 4 562 2 522
4 2 960 4 420 2 693
11 771 17 755 10 380
1999 1 3 294 4 748 3 230
2 2 748 4 433 3 221
3 2 748 4 466 3 006
4 2 525 3 849 2 936
11 315 17 496 12 393
2000 1 2 940 4 546 3 314
2 2 560 4 166 3 074
3 2 699 4 229 3 158
4 2 801 4 279 3 211
11 000 17 220 12 757
2001 1 3 124 4 775 3 630
2 2 333 3 866 3 742