This Bill is largely capable of delivering the required solution to the problems it seeks to address. In many ways, it has brought us from having the dinosaur of insolvency legislation to leading the way through the provision of a non-judicial, low-cost and efficient process designed to minimise the long-term detrimental effects incurred by those engaging in the insolvency programme. Unfortunately, the Bill lacks the independent decision-making element in regard to the debt settlement agency programme. This is reflected in the potential consequence of a creditors' meeting at which one major creditor, in most cases a bank, could vote down the others, thereby frustrating the system and rendering it void. I would prefer to see this element being adjudicated upon by an appropriate independent, non-judicial authority with a view to strengthening the debt settlement agency section of the Bill and reducing the arm-wrestling capacity of the banks that have ungraciously accepted their re-financing packages, which appear to be safely deposited in some safe haven far away from the SMEs in this jurisdiction.

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