Abstract

U.S. bankruptcy law offers a wide range of protections to a variety of debtors. The possibility of liquidation, reorganization, or rehabilitation is available to corporations, partnerships, individuals, and even some government institutions in the U.S. Conversely, the accessibility to bankruptcy in Belgium is restricted. In Belgium, only a salesman, as defined in the Belgian Code of Commerce, has access to bankruptcy protection, and this access is restricted in nature only to liquidation. This thesis analyzes the differences in the bankruptcy systems of the U.S. and Belgium, paying special attention to the role of the bankruptcy trustee in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. and in similar scenarios in Belgium. While the trustee is often viewed negatively by both debtors and creditors, the role of the trustee should be appreciated as the trustee often saves the debtor from a worse financial disaster and the creditors from going any longer without payment.

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