What is Insolvency Regulation
Pursuant to the Insolvency Act 1986, the Secretary of State is empowered to recognise certain professional bodies (known as Recognised Professional Bodies) for the purposes of authorising suitable individuals to act as insolvency practitioners.
All insolvency practitioners in the UK require to be authorised by a Recognised Professional Body (RPB) or by The Insolvency Service as a Competent Authority. ICAS is an RPB and not only licenses ICAS members as insolvency practitioners, but also licenses various non members who have met the examination and competence requirements (called Regulated Non Members). Click for more information on becoming licensed as an ICAS Insolvency Practitioner.
Every RPB requires to regulate the practice of the insolvency profession. ICAS therefore maintains and enforce rules to ensure that our licensed insolvency practitioners are fit and proper persons and meet acceptable requirements as to education, practical training and experience. ICAS conducts all regulatory activities in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (see below).
What is Insolvency Monitoring?
Each RPB is responsible for ensuring that the insolvency practitioners it authorises are monitored in accordance with the Principles for Monitoring (see below).
Upholding standards is one of the Institute's main missions and ICAS Insolvency Monitoring is devoted to achieving this mission.
What is Memorandum of Understanding?
To underpin the insolvency regime the Secretary of State for Business has agreed a set of principles with the Department of Business Innovation & Skills BIS) and the Recognised Professional Bodies (RPBs) for the purposes of achieving consistency in the authorisation and regulation of Insolvency Practitioners. Each Body is monitored by the Secretary of State for adherence to these principles.
What are The Principles for Monitoring Insolvency Practitioners?
The Secretary of State and the Recognised Professional Bodies (RPBs) have agreed a common set of principles to be adopted when monitoring insolvency practitioners authorised by them.
The purpose of monitoring is to enable the Secretary of State and the RPBs to make an objective assessment of the conduct and performance of practitioners, and to ascertain whether the practitioner is a fit and proper person to be an insolvency practitioner.
The Principles cover the responsibilities of the Secretary of State and RPBs, guidance on the frequency of monitoring visits, key monitoring issues, liaison with other authorising bodies, and recommendations as to the content and timing of written monitoring reports.
Who is our Regulator?
The Institute's insolvency function is regulated by The Insolvency Service which is part of the Government's Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS). The Insolvency Service has, in the past, conducted regular monitoring visits to each RPB, including ICAS. However, as a result of the Hampton Implementation Review Report on the Insolvency Service published in July 2009, The Insolvency Service has also been carrying out specific "themed" reviews across all RPBs at the same point in time. These reviews are focussed on specific regulatory matters thus meeting the Hampton Principle that "no inspection should take place without a reason".
What are the Hampton Principles?
All regulations should be written so that they are easily understood, easily implemented, and easily enforced, and all parties should be consulted when they are being drafted.
When new policies are being developed, explicit consideration should be given to how they can be enforced using existing systems and data to minimise the administrative burden imposed.
Is there a Register of Insolvency Practitioners
Although the Insolvency Service maintains a register of insolvency practitioners on its website, this is not a compulsory register so details do not need to be given. If you want to add a reference, the web address is www.insolvency-service.co.uk.