Bitfinex are based in Hong Kong.  Liquidation of a company in HK is set out in the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordnance.

Generally, if the company is unable to pay a debt of $10,000 or above.

The stolen/hacked btc is alleged to be worth in the region of $78M USD. If Bitfinex can show that they have enough by way of reserves to cover this amount, they would avoid Liquidation.  If they have insurance against theft (and assuming the insurance covers hacking) then they would avoid Liquidation.

Ultimately, a creditor will have to make an application to the court, after following the correct procedures for Liquidation.  In HK, I do not believe class actions are allowed by the Court.  There has been much debate in HK about class actions and maybe this event will lead the judiciary to accepting a class action system.  For now, that is not an option.

I hope this is not another Mt Gox situation, I truly hope that Bitfinex are somehow covered here but due to the large amounts taken, it is inevitable I believe that many BTC customers of Bitfinex will lose out. 

I hope people will now agree that digital currency exchanges have to be regulated properly in order for trust to grow in the industry.  If proper procedures were in place at Bitfinex, this simply would not have been possible.  Why they had such a huge amount of BTC in hot wallets and not cold storage is no doubt a question that will be asked a million times.