Insolvency practitioner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United Kingdom an Insolvency Practitioner (usually abbreviated to IP) is a person qualified to act in connection with in formal insolvency cases and to given advice on the subject.
Quite often IPs have an accountancy background. A few active practitioners are lawyers, but it is not necessary to be qualified as either, as since 1986 there is a direct entry route to the profession.
Insolvency is a regulated profession under the Insolvency Act 1986 and anyone who wishes to practice as an IP needs to hold an Insolvency Licence. Such licences can be issued by any of the following recognised professional bodies:
- Insolvency Practitioners Association
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland
- The Law Society
- The Law Society of Northern Ireland
- The Law Society of Scotland
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
Licences are now only issued upon satisfactory completion of a professional examination held by the Joint Insolvency Examination Board. Some individuals who were acting as insolvency practitioners before the profession was regulated hold licences to act as an IP directly from the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
There are currently about 1,700 Licensed Practitioners in the United Kingdom, not all of whom take appointments – many lawyers hold licences but do not use them to take appointments, preferring to advise other practitioners.
[edit] Proceedings requiring an Insolvency Practitioner
Under UK law, any of the following types of formal insolvency procedure must be dealt with by a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner:
- Bankruptcy
- Liquidations
- Individual Voluntary Arrangements
- Company Voluntary Arrangements
- Fast Track Voluntary Arrangements
- Administrations
- Administrative receiverships
- Deed of Arrangement
