Chinanews, Shenzhen, July 19th, title: Bankruptcy equals not paying back the money?
The "bankruptcy confusion" behind the country's first personal bankruptcy case
Author Zhu Zuying
Shenzhen citizen Liang Wenjin received a ruling from the staff of Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court on the 19th, and his personal bankruptcy reorganization plan was approved by the court.
This is China's first personal bankruptcy law "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Personal Bankruptcy Regulations" since its implementation on March 1 this year, the first case in which a personal reorganization plan was approved.
Who can file for bankruptcy?
Is bankruptcy equal to not repaying the money?
Experts believe that protecting "honest and unfortunate" people is at the core of the personal bankruptcy regulations.
The first personal bankruptcy case was a landmark event in the reform of China's bankruptcy system, and it took a crucial step to fill the gaps in the legal system for bankruptcy of natural persons in China.
The 35-year-old Liang Wenjin chose the Bluetooth headset market to start his business in 2018, but has been unable to obtain stable customer resources. Coupled with the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, bank debts are increasing and unable to repay all debts.
On March 10 this year, Liang Wenjin applied to the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court for personal bankruptcy.
According to the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Personal Bankruptcy Regulations", natural persons who live in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and have participated in Shenzhen social insurance for three consecutive years have lost the ability to pay off debts or have insufficient assets to pay off all debts due to production, operation and living consumption. Bankruptcy liquidation, reorganization or settlement.
The court found that Liang Wenjin declared a debt of about 750,000 yuan and stopped interest calculation on the day the court accepted his personal bankruptcy application.
Since Liang Wenjin worked as a structural engineer in a company after failing to start her own business, and earned about 20,000 yuan a month, the court agreed that Liang Wenjin should apply the reorganization procedure and re-establish an instalment plan with creditors.
The reorganization plan ruled by the court showed that in the next three years, Liang Wenjin and his wife promised to use their other income to repay debts, except for the 7,700 yuan used for basic daily life and some necessities for daily life as exempt assets.
After the implementation of the reorganization plan is completed, 100% of the creditor’s principal will be repaid, and the debtor will be exempt from repayment of interest and late fees.
If Liang Wenjin cannot execute the reorganization plan, creditors have the right to apply to the court for bankruptcy liquidation.
Cao Qixuan, president of the Shenzhen Bankruptcy Court, stated that the purpose of the personal bankruptcy system is to help "honest and unfortunate" debtors achieve economic regeneration.
"Honesty and misfortune" is a prerequisite for the court to decide whether to accept an individual bankruptcy case, and it is also a condition for the court to decide whether to approve the debt relief application after the debtor enters the bankruptcy proceedings.
"Personal bankruptcy reorganization and reconciliation can actually prevent real bankruptcy and prevent the debtor's life from being overwhelmed by the last straw." Cao Qixuan said.
Data shows that the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court has received more than 600 individual bankruptcy applications. Compared with corporate bankruptcy cases, the scale of individual bankruptcy applications is small, and the applicants are mainly young and middle-aged people with experience in starting or operating businesses.
Xu Yangguang, secretary general of the Bankruptcy Law Research Center of Renmin University of China, said that at present, Wenzhou, Nanjing and many other places are exploring personal debt liquidation work that is equivalent to the personal bankruptcy system. The personal bankruptcy case from Shenzhen shows how to apply for personal bankruptcy cases. The statutory procedures of, review and adjudication can provide experience and reference for legislation in other regions and even the whole country.
How does the personal bankruptcy system work?
Does it provide room for the "old Lai" who owes money and does not repay them to escape debts?
The "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Personal Bankruptcy Regulations" stipulate that the types of personal bankruptcy are divided into bankruptcy liquidation, reorganization, and reconciliation.
Take Liang Wenjin’s case as an example. Due to the expected income in the future, the court did not declare bankruptcy and cancel the debts across the board, but chose to apply reorganization procedures to balance the interests of creditors and debtors, so that creditors can also accept it to the greatest extent.
When a debtor with no income applies for bankruptcy liquidation, it is not simply forgiving the debt.
The "Regulations" stipulate a variety of debts that cannot be exempted and circumstances that cannot be exempted, such as taking on major debts or significantly reducing property due to activities such as luxury consumption; liability for damage caused by deliberate damage to others, etc., taxes owed by the debtor , Fines, even after the individual goes bankrupt, the remaining debts cannot be forgiven.
In addition, from the effective date of the bankruptcy ruling, the debtor will face a shortest three-year and longest five-year exemption inspection period.
During the bankruptcy proceedings and during the exemption inspection period, the debtor’s various actions and rights are restricted, including restrictions on high consumption, inability to serve as executives of some companies, and truthful declaration of income and expenditure on a monthly basis. debt.
Legal experts suggest that in the future judicial practice, the system should be further improved, the court and the government should strengthen collaboration, promote information sharing, refine the standards for case acceptance, improve the legal system for personal credit and financial management, and increase The crackdown on debt evasion and abolition has promoted the criminalization of personal bankruptcy fraud, leaving nowhere to hide the malicious evasion of debt. (Finish)