Bankruptcies decreased in January 2013
The number of bankruptcy filings in January 2013 has gone down when contrast with the numbers from the year prior. The decrease was seen both among business and private bankruptcies.
Bankruptcies have dropped
According to a press released issued by the Swiss Creditors Association Creditreform, the number of bankruptcies has gone down. On aggregate the number of occurrences dropped 11% compared to the same month the previous year. The reduction of private bankruptcies was stronger with 12.2% while businesses reported only 9.8% less insolvencies. With this reductions the total number of bankruptcies for the month was 1086 (1220 in January 2012). Notably, the number of businesses that have disappeared that month has dropped 16.6% compared to the previous year.
Inactive businesses were deleted
Most business insolvencies had to be noted because businesses were already inactive and still needed to be deleted from the commercial register by the authorities. The deletions took place because the company leadership was not able to overcome organisational deficits within these companies. The business failures arising out of excessive debt, however, dropped. The most susceptible, according to Creditreform, are small businesses that forgo a voluntary annual audit. This results in a limited or partial knowledge about the company’s finances, which can become very complicated very quickly if the company encounters a sudden liquidity shortage. Most threatened by the forgoing of a voluntary annual audit are limited liability companies (GmbH). Over 80% of GmbHs that filed for insolvency did not have an external auditor at the time.
The complete press release from Creditreform can viewed here.
