Receiver

Receiver

A bankruptcy practitioner appointed by secured creditors to oversee the repayment of debts.

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receiver

A person assigned by a court to handle affairs and assets of a business in bankruptcy proceedings. The receiver is charged with overseeing the firm for the benefit of its creditors and stockholders.

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Receiver

In corporate bankruptcy, a person or entity whom a court or regulator appoints as custodian to administer all assets and debts. The receiver's main duty is to pay off as many debts as possible as cheaply as possible. One obvious way to do this is to liquidate the company, but this is not always done. The receiver may restructure the company to put it on a path toward solvency. Some jurisdictions have a very short period during which a receiver may operate, sometimes as brief as two weeks. When a receiver has only this long, he/she usually liquidates the company.

When a receiver is appointed, the company is said to be in receivership. In the United States, different financial regulators have the authority to decide whether receiverships are necessary. The Office of Thrift Supervision may do this for savings and loans; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency may do it for national banks. In any federally-chartered savings and loan or bank, the FDIC must be appointed receiver.