A Study of Global Bankruptcy Trends: Examples from USA, UK, Australia, China and other countries

Bankruptcy filings in the US have reached an all time high in recent years. But the European countries have been slow and less aggressive than USA. On the whole there is evidence more and more countries are reforming their bankruptcy laws, albeit at different rates and difference reasons. It appears that as the global economy slows down, countries are looking out for more efficient ways of controlling the economies internally. The USA Congress has took drastic steps and enacted stringent bankruptcy Laws which took effect on October 17(th), 2005. But between 2002 and 2006, many other countries reformed their bankruptcy laws to control spiraling bankruptcies within their borders. This paper examines some bankruptcy reforms, in USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Malaysia and the Ukraine. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get data on some countries. But explanation of new bankruptcy reforms are abundant.