WINDING UP 
can apply to the Court under s. 252 to exercise the power con- 
ferred by s. 210 to fix a time within which creditors must 
prove their debts or be excluded from any distribution made 
before their debts are proved. 
The position of secured creditors requires some explana- 
tion. By s. 262 of the Act, the provisions of the bankruptcy 
law as to secured creditors are applied to insolvent companies 
in winding up. The result is that a secured creditor of an 
insolvent company in liquidation may adopt one of four 
courses: (1) he may rely on his security and not prove at all; 
although, of course, should his security on realisation prove 
to exceed the amount of his debt, he must hand over the 
surplus to the liquidator; (2) he may realise his security, and 
if it shows a deficit, he may prove for the balance; (3) he may 
give up his security to the liquidator and prove for the whole 
debt; (4) he may assess the value of his security, and, after 
deducting the assessed value, prove for the balance of his debt. 
If he adopts the last course, the liquidator can redeem at the 
assessed value; or if he is dissatisfied with the assessed value, 
require -the property to be sold [Bankruptcy Act, 1914, 2nd 
schedule, para. r3]. A creditor can, however, amend his 
valuation and proof under para. 13 of that schedule on show- 
ing to the satisfaction of the liquidator, or the Court, that the 
valuation and proof were made bond fide on a mistaken 
estimate, or that the security has increased or diminished in 
value since its previous valuation. 
An important duty of the liquidator arises in connection 
with secured creditors. The bulk of secured creditors of a 
company are ordinarily debenture holders, that is to say, 
creditors of the company whose debts are secured in most 
instances by a mortgage or charge upon the whole under- 
taking of the company, including, generally, its uncalled 
capital. The liquidator must ascertain whether the deben- 
tures were validly issued, and whether they are duly registered 
in cases where registration is required, remembering that, 
should the security turn out to be invalid, the unsecured 
creditors will receive the benefit of it with the debenture 
holders, who in such a case would be themselves, really, 
ansecured creditors. The question of what is the best policy 
for the liquidator to adopt, where the whole of the company’s 
assets are mortgaged to debenture holders, is often one of 
extreme difficulty, and sometimes it happens that a Scheme 
of Arrangement under s. 153 (see p. 222) is the best solution. 
[t is also within the province of the liquidator to investigate 
the validity or otherwise of any security held by any secured 
creditor, other than debenture holders. In this connection. 
Secured 
Creditors.