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View/Open - Research Commons - The University of Waikato

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Despite having included favourable terms in the contract, creditors cannot foresee all<br />

contingencies and there are bound to be lacunae in the contracts. In addition, not all<br />

creditors have access to information and can dictate terms <strong>of</strong> contracts in their favour,<br />

small creditors <strong>of</strong>ten do not have the choice. 71 For small creditors, the costs <strong>of</strong><br />

negotiating and drafting the contract may exceed the value <strong>of</strong> the contract itself and<br />

therefore it may not be worthwhile to pursue it. 72<br />

b) insisting on guarantee or security<br />

Since contractual terms used by creditors are limited by unforeseeable risks, and the<br />

monitoring <strong>of</strong> costs is only effective if the benefit is greater than costs incurred,<br />

security is used as device to reduce costs. 73 Security is perceived to be more cost<br />

effective than the costs <strong>of</strong> investigating the creditworthiness <strong>of</strong> debtors as well as<br />

costs <strong>of</strong> monitoring them. 74 Creditors prefer the use <strong>of</strong> security because they are not<br />

subject to the pari passu principle 75 in the event the company is wound up. <strong>The</strong><br />

assets which are subjected to security are not part <strong>of</strong> the general assets <strong>of</strong> the<br />

company to be distributed among the general creditors by the liquidator. Unsecured<br />

creditors may be discouraged from filing a winding petition if most <strong>of</strong> the company‟s<br />

assets are subject to security and thus will avoid premature liquidation. Creditors can<br />

also threaten to realize the security if the company fails to supply relevant<br />

information in order for them to make an accurate assessment <strong>of</strong> the company‟s<br />

71 Ramsay above n34 at 523<br />

72 Ibid; see also Cheffins above n8 at 503.<br />

73 Vanessa Finch “Security, Insolvency and Risk: Who Pays the Price?” (1999) 62 MLR 633 at 641<br />

[“Security”].<br />

74 Ibid.<br />

75 Pari passu is one <strong>of</strong> the insolvency principles in which proceeds <strong>of</strong> realisation is to be paid to<br />

creditors in proportion according to the quantity <strong>of</strong> debts owed. See Finch “Security” above n73 at<br />

634; Roy Goode Principles <strong>of</strong> Corporate Insolvency Law (Sweet & Maxwell, London , 2005) at [7-<br />

01]-[7-04].<br />

133

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