Transfer of business or stock-in-trade

(1) Whenever any person desires to transfer his business, or to transfer or sell, with a view to the transfer or abandonment of any business, any stock-in-trade or other assets held or used for the purpose of such business, notice of the proposed transfer or sale, and the date thereof, shall be advertised by that person, before the date upon which the transfer or sale is to take effect, 17 in three consecutive issues of the Gazette, and once a week for three consecutive weeks in any local newspaper circulating in Belize. (2) Every agreement to transfer or sell any business, or to transfer or sell, with a view to transfer or abandonment of any business, any stock- in-trade or other assets held or used for the purpose of such business, or to reconstitute any business, shall be void as against creditors of the business, unless the provisions of sub-section (1) have been complied with. (3) Any person carrying on any business who fails to give the notice prescribed in sub-section (1), commits an offence and is on summary conviction liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or in default of payment to six months’ imprisonment. (4) For the purposes of this section, unless inconsistent with the context, “business” means any business carried on in Belize by one or more persons, whether in partnership or not, but does not include– (a) a company registered under the Companies Act; (b) a society registered under the Co-operative Societies Act; (c) the business of a hawker or pedlar; or (d) the business of an attorney-at-law.