Bermuda’s Registrar of Companies (ROC) will host the world’s annual meeting of government insolvency regulators next year.

The International Association of Insolvency Regulators (IAIR) Conference and Annual General Meeting will bring receivers and liquidators to the Island for a meeting scheduled for August 31 to September 3, 2015.

This weekend, officials from the ROC travel to Washington, DC, to participate in the 2014 meeting at the The World Bank conference venue.

Members of the IAIR include government departments/ministries, agencies and public authorities which have responsibility in their countries for one or more of insolvency policy and legislation, insolvency practice and administration, or insolvency regulation.

The Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver Stephen Lowe said: “The insolvency process is integral to business in Bermuda. People won’t invest in companies in a jurisdiction where there is no way to protect that investment in the event of a company failure. There needs to be a process by which investors and creditors are protected.

“This is an important event in the professional calendar of official receivers and we believe our opportunity to host next year’s event will also showcase the island as an important business centre and a wonderful environment in which to conduct business.”

The official receiver may deal with corporate liquidations, but is also concerned with personal bankruptcies.

Mr Lowe noted a changing view in how some of these cases are handled.

He said: “Typically, the laws were drafted to protect the creditors and punish the debtors. There is some measure of a global shift toward a kinder and gentler treatment of rehabilitating debtors, where possible.”

Education and Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons said: “This is an example of the important work undertaken by the Registrar of Companies and an indication that Bermuda is highly regarded as a premier financial centre.

“Many jurisdictions have successful companies, but a financial centre can also be measured by how it treats firms, or individuals, when their enterprise comes to an end — either voluntarily or involuntarily.

“Although there is no preponderance of involuntary liquidations in Bermuda, the fact that a corporate body can be efficiently wound up in an orderly fashion is a testimony to the structure of our regulatory system and the depth of our professional expertise.”