Bankruptcy Ordinance

Any person who has been adjudged bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if, having been engaged in any trade or business during any period in the 2 years immediately preceding the date of the presentation of the bankruptcy petition, he has not kept proper books of account throughout that period and throughout any further period in which he was so engaged between the date of the presentation of the petition and the date of the bankruptcy order, or has not preserved all books of account so
kept:
(Amended
50 of 1991 s. 4
;
76 of 1996 s. 66
)
Provided that a person who has not kept or has not preserved such books of account shall not be convicted of an offence under this
section—
(a)
if his unsecured liabilities at the date of the bankruptcy order did not exceed, in the case of a person who has not on any previous occasion in Hong Kong or elsewhere been adjudged bankrupt or entered into a voluntary arrangement with his creditors, $5,000 or in any other case $1,000; or
(Amended
47 of 1984 s. 16
;
76 of 1996 s. 66
)
(b)
if he proves that in the circumstances in which he traded or carried on business the omission was honest and excusable.