NICHOLAS ETCHES, former managing partner of KPMG, who has just retired as No 2 of the accounting firm's local office, is probably the most well-known liquidator in Hong Kong.
This is not only because he has liquidated almost 100 local companies in the past 27 years, but also because he was the liquidator for the largest banking collapse in Hong Kong - the Bank of Credit Commerce International's (BCCI) Hong Kong office.
Mr Etches spent almost his entire career at KPMG, mostly involved in liquidation work. He joined the company in 1967 in London, where he trained for four years and qualified in 1971. In 1972, he was involved in his first company restructuring case - the receivership of the jet engine division of Rolls Royce, which was purchased by the British Government for GBP90 million (currently about HK$1.03 billion).
'This was a lot of money at that time. It was almost enough to pay all creditors in full. It was a good experience,' he said.
'It is good to act as a doctor to come to the rescue of troubled companies, preserve jobs for employees and help creditors recover their money,' he said.
He came to KPMG's Hong Kong office in 1975, at a time when the Mass Transit Railway was being built and the local economy was starting to boom.