Insolvency Law Administration and Culture in Six Asian Legal Systems

Abstract

This paper reports on a comparative study of insolvency law administration in six Asian legal systems. This project draws upon empirical methods and seeks to locate different bodies of corporate insolvency law within particular cultural traditions and cultural responses to business debt in six Asian legal systems: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. This project was funded by the Australian Research Council. Face to face interviews were conducted by team members in all six jurisdictions. This paper is part of a larger study (Tomasic and Little, Insolvency Law & Practice in Asia, Hong Kong, FT Law & Tax, 1997) which seeks to contribute to an understanding of the theory and practice of insolvency law in various Asian legal systems. As companies increasingly undertake business activity across the Asian region they need to be sensitive to different approaches to corporate insolvency in different legal systems. The effects of cultural diversity are considered given the differing social contexts in which sometimes similar insolvency law rules operate in the Asian region. The research examines how local legal culture, such as Confucian and Islamic traditions, shape national approaches to corporate insolvency law and practice in transitional and more advanced economies.