BODIES CORPORATE (OFFICIAL LIQUIDATIONS) ACT - 1963 (ACT 180)

Section - 3 - Procedure on Petition to Registrar

(1) Any person who is,

(a) a creditor of a company, or

(b) a member or contributory of a company,

may present a petition to the Registrar for the official winding up of the company:

Provided that,

(a) in the case of a company with shares a member shall not be entitled to present a winding up petition unless his shares, or some of them, either were originally allotted to him or have been held by him, and registered in his name for at least six months during the eighteen months preceding the date of the presentation of the petition or have devolved on him by operation of law;

(b) the Registrar shall not consider a winding up petition presented by a contingent or prospective creditor unless such security for costs has been given as the Registrar thinks reasonable and until a prima facie case for winding up has been established to the satisfaction of the Registrar.

(2) The Registrar may order the official winding up of the company on such petition if satisfied that the company is unable to pay its debts.

(3) A company shall be deemed to be unable to pay its debts,

(a) if a creditor, by assignment or otherwise, to whom the company is indebted in a sum exceeding fifty pounds then due, has served on the company a written demand requiring the company to pay the sum so due and the company has for twenty-one days thereafter neglected to pay the sum or to secure or compound for it to the reasonable satisfaction of the creditor;

(b) if in Ghana execution or other process issued on a judgment, decree or order of any court in favour of a creditor of a company is returned unsatisfied in whole or in part; or

(c) if it is proved to the satisfaction of the Registrar that the company is unable to pay its debts; and, in determining whether a company is unable to pay its debts the Registrar shall take into account the contingent and prospective liabilities of the company.

(4) A copy of the petition shall be served on the company by the petitioner on or before the day on which it is presented.

(5) Where two or more petitions are presented in respect of the same company, a winding up order made in respect of any of the petitions shall be deemed to have been made in respect of all the petitions so presented.

(6) No further petition shall be presented before the termination of the official winding up proceedings, in respect of a company regarding which a winding up order has been made.

(7) The Registrar shall place a copy of the winding up order in the file of the company concerned and shall publish the order in the Gazette.