The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), in an effort to help infirm businesses in Nigeria, has established what it calls a ‘business rescue advisory committee’ to render free advisory services to prevent unnecessary liquidation of companies.
The cross functional committee with competencies drawn from professional disciplines such as Law, Finance, Audit, Human Resource, Information and Communications Technology and Business Management is constituted in such a way as to render expert advice in divergent fields of human endeavour to companies that voluntarily indicate their interest to go through the process, the Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
Business Rescue is a concept that allows for suspension of bankruptcy proceedings and appointment of Business Rescue practitioner whose primary responsibility is to try and resuscitate the company.
If resuscitation efforts fail, the practitioner will be required to orderly wind down the company in the interest of all stakeholders.
The establishment of the Committee is a strategic pro-active step taken to place the Commission in a strong position to discharge its responsibility in global or cross-border insolvency practice,” Churchill Williams, director, public affairs, noted in the statement signed by him.
According to Williams, the Business Rescue concept is quite different from striking-off the names of dormant companies from the register of companies provided for in Section 525 of the Companies And Allied Matters Act CAP C20 Laws of the Federation 2004, which allows for removal of inactive or shelf Companies from the data base. Business Rescue is a window availed a company that could otherwise been liquidated, he further explained.
