Section 53

This section shall not affect the rights of any person making title in good faith and for valuable consideration through or under a creditor of the bankrupt.

For the purposes of this section, “creditor” includes a surety or guarantor for the debt due to that creditor.

Avoidance of assignment of book debts 53a.  (1)  Where a person engaged in any trade or business makes an assignment of his existing or future book debts or any class or part thereof and subsequently becomes bankrupt, the assignment shall be void as against the Director General of Insolvency in respect of any book debts that had not been paid at the date of an available act of bankruptcy.

This section shall not apply to an assignment of book debts registered pursuant to any written law if the assignment is valid under that law.

Nothing in this section shall render void any assignment of book debts due at the date of the assignment from specified debtors or of book debts included in the transfer of a business, such transfer being made bona fide and for valuable consideration.

For the purposes of this section, “assignment” includes assignment by way of security or other charge on book debts.

Property or proceeds therefrom deemed to be property of

Director General of Insolvency 53b.  (1)  Where a person has acquired property of the bankrupt under a transaction that is void or under a voidable transaction

(that is subsequently set aside) and sold, disposed of, realized or collected the property or any part of it, the money or other proceeds from any such dealing, whether further disposed of or not, shall be deemed to be the property of the Director General of Insolvency.

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The Director General of Insolvency may recover the property referred to in subsection (1) or its value or the money or other proceeds therefrom from the person who acquired it from the bankrupt or from any other person to whom the person may have sold, resold or transferred the property or paid over the money or other proceeds therefrom as fully and effectually as the Director

General of Insolvency could have recovered the property if it had not been so sold, transferred, disposed of, realized or collected.

Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), where any person,

(not being the person who acquired the property from bankrupt) to whom the property was sold, resold or otherwise disposed of, had paid or given therefor valuable consideration and acted in good faith such person shall not be subject to the operation of this section and the Director General of Insolvency’s recourse for recovery of the consideration so paid or given or its value shall be solely against the person who entered into the transaction with the bankrupt.

Where the consideration payable for or upon any sale or resale of such property or any part thereof remains unsatisfied the right of the Director General of Insolvency shall be subrogated for that of the vendor to compel payment or satisfaction.

Fair market value may be fixed on review 53c.  (1)  Where a person who has sold, purchased, leased, hired, supplied or received property or services, as the case may be becomes bankrupt within twelve months of that transaction, the court may, upon the application of the Director General of Insolvency, review that transaction and inquire whether the bankrupt gave or received fair market value in consideration for the property or services at the time of that transaction.

Where the court finds that the consideration given or received by the bankrupt in the transaction under review was conspicuously in excess of or conspicuously lower than the fair market value of the property or services at the time of the transaction, the court may give judgment in favour of the Director

General of Insolvency against the other party to the transaction or against any other person who was privy to the transaction with the bankrupt or against all such persons and such judgment shall be for the difference between the value of the consideration given or received by the bankrupt and the fair market value of the property or services at the time of the transaction as determined by the court in accordance with subsection (3).

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In making an application under this section, the Director

General of Insolvency shall state what in his opinion was the fair market value of the property or services at the time of the transaction and what in his opinion was the value of the consideration given or received by the bankrupt in the transaction, and the values on which the court makes any finding pursuant to this section shall be the values so stated unless other values are proven.

Protection of bona fide transactions without notice