Bankruptcy or insolvency is a legal status of a person or an organisation that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In the majority of cases, bankruptcy is initiated by the debtor . An involuntary bankruptcy petition can not be filed against an individual debtor who is not engaged in business.

The word bankruptcy is formed from the ancient Latin bancus (a bench or table), and ruptus (broken). A “bank” originally referred to a bench, which the first bankers had in the public places, in markets, fairs, etc. on which they tolled their money, wrote their bills of exchange, etc. Hence, when a banker failed, he broke his bank, to advertise to the public that the person to whom the bank belonged was no longer in a condition to continue his business. As this practice was very frequent in Italy, it is said the term bankrupt is derived from the Italian banca rotta, broken bank.