Administration (law)

As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – in the United Kingdom colloquially called "under administration" – is an alternative to liquidation, or may be a precursor to it. Administration is commenced by an administration order. A company in administrative receivership is operated by an administrator (as interim chief executive with custodial responsibility for the company's assets and obligations) on behalf of its creditors. The administrator may recapitalize the business, sell the business to new owners, or demerge it into elements that can be sold and close the remainder.

Most countries distinguish between voluntary (board-decided) and involuntary (court-decided) receivership. In voluntary administrative receivership, the administrator is appointed by the company directors. In involuntary administrative receivership, the administrator is appointed by a judicial court. The legal terms for these processes vary from country to country, and the processes may overlap.

In Australia, an external administrator, also called an insolvency practitioner, is an independent person that is formally appointed to control an insolvent company's affairs. External administrators can be appointed either by the company's directors, a secured creditor, or by a court, and include: provisional liquidators, liquidators, voluntary administrators, deed administrators, controllers, and receivers.

A receivership is when an external administrator known as a "receiver" is appointed by a secured creditor to sell off a company's assets in order to repay the secured debt, or by the court to protect the company's assets or carry out other tasks.

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Wikipedia