Opinion: Radical bankruptcy reforms may raise new issues

The Coalition has pledged a radical reform of the bankruptcy laws here bringing the regime into line with the one year period that has long prevailed in the UK.

The reform has been generally welcomed — there is no longer any low-hanging fruit to be harvested from property developers and others, and a relatively harsh regime has only served to promote the phenomenon of bankruptcy tourism where people with means go abroad to Britain.

Central Bank figures published later this week will again highlight the huge mortgage arrears problem afflicting thousands of ordinary people seven years after the crash.