Cap. 13 Art. 510List of creditors. Meeting of creditors. Organisation of debts. Contents of debt register.

(1) Within fourteen (14) days of filing the inventory in the registry, the bankruptcy trustee shall make a list of all the creditors, and file such list in the registry.

(2) Within fourteen (14) days of the filing of the list of creditors in the registry, the registrar shall, by order of the court, summon a meeting of the creditors by means of a notice published in the Gazette and in one (1) or more newspapers, which meeting shall be held not later than thirty (30) days from such order, in the presence of the court on the day and at the place fixed in the notice:

Provided that a copy of the notice shall be served upon the listed creditors at their residential or business address, by means of registered post.

(3) The bankruptcy trustee shall, at such meeting, present a written debt register, by virtue of which the bankruptcy trustee shall examine the bankrupt’s debts and organise the debts separately into commercial debts and personal debts, having regard to the quality and nature of such debts, and the manner in which they arose or were incurred:

Provided that, in the event that the debt register comprises a debt that has not been incurred exclusively in the pursuit of a trade, business, craft or profession, the bankruptcy trustee shall designate the said debt as being a commercial debt only to the extent that the debt has been incurred in a manner that would cause the debt to be treated as a commercial debt in accordance with article 477, having regard, in particular, to:

(a) the manner in which any asset, good, or service that has been acquired by virtue of the debt under examination has been utilised or consumed;

(b) the importance of any asset, good, or service that has been acquired by virtue of the debt under examination, to the trade, business, craft or profession of the bankrupt and the manner in which said asset, good, or service has been integrated into the bankrupt’s commercial practices and relied upon for the purposes thereof; and

(c) the extent to which any asset, good, or service that has been acquired by virtue of the debt under examination, has been enjoyed for purposes extraneous to the trade, business, craft or profession of the bankrupt.

Therefore, and for the purposes of this Part, any debt that has not been incurred exclusively in the pursuit of a trade, business, craft or profession shall, to the extent that the said debt has been designated as being a commercial debt in terms of this article, be treated as a commercial debt, and otherwise as a personal debt.

(4) The debt register shall comprise, as a minimum:

(a) the value of each debt;

(b) the name and address of the creditor to whom each debt pertains;

(c) the date on which each debt arose;

(d) the bankruptcy trustee’s classification of each debt as a commercial or personal debt, provided that, where the debt has not been incurred exclusively in the pursuit of a trade, business, craft or profession, the bankruptcy trustee shall set out the extent to which the debt has been designated as being a commercial debt in terms of sub-article (3), and shall provide any relevant documentation or information substantiating the manner in which the debt has been designated;

(e) the cause and nature of any preference or security, if any, attaching to each debt; and

(f) the manner in which all of the bankrupt’s debts shall rank according to law.