On Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:30:27 -0000, "John Smith"
wrote:

I know that one of the basic premises of a limited company is that should a
company go bust owing a significant sum, in most cases the company owner
will not be personally liable for its debts.

However, what is to stop a company with debts but also assets, starting up a
new company with a new registration, doing the same business but simply
transferring all of the assets to the new company, leaving the old company
with just the debts and closing it down?

I'm almost certain there are ways of doing just that. That's what
you'd pay an accountant for.