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Protect interest of investors -
Batra
Accra, March 25, Ghanadot/GNA – Mr. Sumant Batra, Vice-President
of INSOL International, a worldwide federation of restructuring
and insolvency practitioners, on Wednesday called for effective
and efficient insolvency laws to protect the interest of
investors.
He good insolvency laws were essential in attracting Foreign
Direct Investment to different sectors of a country’s economy.
Mr Batre was speaking at a public lecture on the topic: “Need
for an effective Insolvency Regime in Emerging Economies in the
Context of the Current Global Economic Downturn,in Accra on
Wednesday.
He said a good exit law would provide investors the assurance
and comfort that their interest would be protected in times of
crisis.
The lecture was organized by the Ghana Association of
Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors (GARIA), an association of
insolvency practitioners in Ghana.
Mr Batra said while reforms of insolvency laws in developing
economies had been slow due to focus on other areas of
development, the trend was gradually catching up and most
countries were now in the process of revising their laws.
According to him, the global economic crisis had shown that it
would be impossible for developing economies to remain isolated
from impacts of developments in the world economy and these
required urgent measures to surmount any negative effects.
Mr Batra said efficient and effective insolvency regime could be
possible when institutions, government and professionals in the
field played their complementary roles to ensure that good
benchmarks were set and achieved.
He said the role of institutions such as the Judiciary was
paramount as no law could be successfully delivered unless
judges understood the insolvency system and its meaningful role.
On the side of government, he said, it was important that the
knowledge and capacity of the regulator be ahead of other
stakeholders to enable it to police effectively new developments
in the field and the activities of professionals.
Mr Batra emphasized the need for professional competence and
urged that any insolvency reforms must provide for the role of
practitioners, especially in institutionalising the practice as
a discipline to promote accountability, integrity and
qualification of persons who hold themselves out as insolvency
practitioners.
He said while there were many insolvency regimes, it was
important to follow one particular framework by drawing
experiences from global guidelines and adapt them to suit
domestic needs and urged that cross border insolvency should be
part of domestic legislation.
Mr Seyi Akinwunmi, President of Business Recovery Professionals
Association of Nigeria, called for a sub-regional response in
dealing with issues involving insolvency.
GNA |
