| Cameroun, High court of mezam, 12 décembre 2012, /22

The President of the court was petitioned to order preventive settlement pursuant to section 6 of the Uniform Act on Collective Proceedings for Wiping Off Debts. As per section 8 of the said Uniform Act, as soon as the proposal for preventive composition agreement is lodged, it shall be forwarded forthwith to the President of the court of competent jurisdiction who shall take a decision to suspend individual lawsuits and appoint an expert to prepare him a report on the economic and financial situation of the company, the prospects for redress considering the deadlines and cancellations granted or liable to be granted by the creditors and any other measures contained in the preventive composition agreement proposals. Sections 6, 11 and 15 UACP (Ah Ad Ab BAfX, Ai Ap Al and An Ae Ag Aq BA) v. All Ak C A (Ao AaX, suit no HCB/22M/11 of 12 December 2012)
This is an application pursuant to the Uniform Act on Collective Proceedings for the Discharge of Debts, wherein the applicant prays for
1) SUSPENSION OF ALL LEGAL ACTIONS AGAINST THE APPLICANT FOR A PERIOD OF 03 YEARS WITH A FREEZE ON THE INTEREST AS FROM THE DATE OF THE ORDER.
2) APPOINT AN AUDITOR ONCE MORE TO EXAMINE THE BOOKS OF THE APPLICANT AND MAKE A REPORT ON ITS ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SITUATION, HOPES AND PROSPECTS AND DRAW UP A SCHEDULE FOR THE REPAYMENT OF DEBTS OWED AFTER THE SAID 3 YEARS OF GRACE.
3) AND FOR SUCH FURTHER OR OTHER ORDER(S) THE COURT MIGHT DEEM FIT TO MAKE IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
Having a careful perusal of the annexes exhibited in the application, I am satisfied that the applicant has included all the documents listed in article 6 of the Act of instance to wit: 1° An extract of registration in the Trade and Am Ac Ak Aj; 2° Summary financial statements comprising, specifically (notably), the balance sheet, income statement and statement of source and expenditure; 3° A cash position; 4° A statistical statement of claims and debts, mentioning the name and residence of the creditors and debtors;
5° Detailed statement (assets and liabilities) of collateral securities and secured debts granted or received by the company and its managers; 6° An inventory of the debtor’s property showing the movable property subject to claim by their owners and that affected by an ownership reserve clause; 7° The number of workers and the amount of wages costs; 8° The turnover and profits of the last three years; 9) The name and address of staff representatives; 10° The list of persons jointly and severally liable for its debts, with their names and residences, as well as the names and addresses of its managers.
It is thus apposite herein to appoint an expert to ascertain the economic and financial situation of the applicant; the latter will produce a comprehensive report for court to rule in consonance with the provisions of article 15 of the Act. For absolute clarity, the expert’s mission is thus;
a. He shall appraise the debtor’s situation. To this end, he shall, notwithstanding any laws and regulations to the contrary, obtain from auditors, accountants, staff representatives, public services, security and social insurance agencies, banking or financial establishments and services in charge of centralising banking risks and payment incidents, information likely to give him an exact picture of the economic and financial situation of the debtor;
b. The expert shall be responsible for notifying the competent court of any breaches of the provisions of article 11 hereunder cited.
c. The expert shall hear the debtor and the creditors and assist them in order to reach an agreement on modalities for redressing the company and discharging its debts.
Worthy of mention is the fact that as of the date of service of the ruling all individual lawsuits for payment of the debts indicated in this application and contracted prior to this application shall apply to measures of execution as well preventive measures.
It shall also apply to all unsecured creditors with general liens or special secured debts such as, a special personal property lien, a pledge, a collateral security or mortgage, with the exception of creditors due wages.
However, the suspension shall not apply to action for the acknowledgments of rights or disputed claims nor to actions relating to exchange against the signatories of negotiable instruments other than the beneficiary of the suspension of individual lawsuits.
It is also incumbent on me to remind the applicant herein that he is precluded from; - Paying either in whole or in part, debt contracted prior to this ruling and which have
been cited in the application. - From making any alienations out of the normal operations of the company or from
undertaking any security. I herein make the following orders:
ORDERS 1) THAT THE APPOINTED EXPERT IS WALTERS NKOU SONG, AN
EXPERIENCED BANKER; 2) THE EXPERT WILL PROCEED AS STATED IN THE RULING AND IN
CONSONANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLES 11, 12, 41 AN 42 OF THE UNIFORM ACT ON THE COLLECTIVE PROCEEDINGS FOR THE DISCHARGE OF DEBTS.
3) THE EXPERT WILL REPORT HIS FINDINGS AND SUBMIT SAME TO THIS COURT WITHIN TWO (2) MONTHS OF NOTIFICATION OF THIS RULING.
4) THE EXPERT WILL REQUEST ANY EXTENSION OF TIME BY A WRITTEN APPLICATION TO THIS COURT IF THE NEED ARISES.
5) THE FEES OF THE EXPERT WILL BE PAID BY THE APPLICANT; SAME WILL BE DULY TAXED BY THIS COURT.
6) UPON TAXATION OF THE EXPERT’S FEES BEFORE THE EXERCISE, THE APPLICANT WILL PAY HALF OF THE AMOUNT TAXED.
7) ALL DEBTS MENTIONED IN THE APPLICATION ARE HEREIN SUSPENDED FOR A PERIOD OF TWO MONTHS.
8) IN CONSONANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 10 OF THE ACT OF INSTANCE THE INTEREST ON ALL THE DEBTS CONTINUES TO ACCRUE ALBEIT NOT RECOVERABLE PENDING THE PERIOD OF SUSPENSION.