WINDING UP

he knows the precise financial position of the company, al-
though he will generally not proceed actually to make calls
until he knows approximately how much is required to be
called up. It may in some cases be obvious at the outset
that every farthing of unpaid capital will be wanted, and in
these cases the work of settling the list of contributories
and making calls can be taken in hand at once.

S. 248 gives the liquidator in voluntary winding up the
same powers as the Court in the matter, and provides that
‘any list so settled shall be primd facie evidence of the
liability of the persons named therein to be contributories.’
A contributory is defined by s. 158 of the Act as a person
liable to contribute to the assets of a company in the event of
its being wound up. The term also includes any person
alleged to be a contributory before his liability as such is
finally determined. It has been held that the very wide
words ‘person liable to contribute to the assets of a company,
%c.,” do not include debtors to the company, but only past and
present members who are liable to contribute. On the other
hand, the word ‘contributory’ includes a fully paid shareholder,
although he cannot be placed on the list of contributories
against his will. And it may be stated that the term ‘con-
tributory’ is used in winding up, broadly but inaccurately,
as being synonymous with shareholder.

There are two lists of contributories, commonly called the
A List’ and ‘B List.” The ‘A’ list contains the names of
existing members of the company who are liable to contribute,
and the ‘B’ list the names of such past members as are liable
to contribute. The liabilities of both classes are regulated by
5. 157 of the Act, the effect of which may be summarised
as follows: Existing members are primarily liable to contri-
bute to the extent of the amount unpaid on their shares, or
it the company is limited by guarantee, to the extent of their
guarantee; if the amount is insufficient, then, and only
then, are past members liable to contribute, but subject to
the restrictions that a member who has ceased to be a member
for a year or more before the commencement of the winding
up cannot be made liable, that no past member is liable to
contribute in respect of debts incurred after he ceased to be
a member, and that his liability is limited to the amount un-
paid on the shares he held. It often happens that it is
unnecessary to settle the ‘B’ list at all. The liquidator is not
bound by Rules 78 to 83, since they apply only to compulsory
winding up, but in practice he will generally follow the pro-
cedure there indicated. His ‘A’ list will be in two parts, the
first part containing contributories in their own right. i.e.