Insolvency technical update: August 2023
By Steven Wood, Practice Support Specialist (Insolvency)
5 September 2023
We share our latest insolvency technical update – your round-up of recent developments in insolvency.
Insolvency monitoring findings 2021 and 2022
Watch our on-demand webinar, which provides an overview of findings from ICAS insolvency monitoring visits conducted during 2021 and 2022.
Knowing the details behind the findings will equip you with a well-rounded view of monitoring visits, the common regulatory pitfalls, and allow you to ensure your firm remains compliant.
Companies House Edinburgh changes
Companies House in Edinburgh will move office location from 4 September 2023. From the same date, no public access will be provided and therefore all paper filings will need to be delivered by post to Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ. Office Holders will need to ensure that sufficient time is built in for the postal delivery of documents in relation to Scottish cases to meet statutory filing deadlines.
Monitoring volume individual voluntary arrangement and protected trust deed providers
The Insolvency Service has updated its guidelines for the monitoring of volume individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) and protected trust deed (PTD) providers.
Call for evidence: Review of the personal insolvency framework
The UK government has published its response to its call for evidence on its review of the personal insolvency framework in England and Wales, which ran from July to October 2022.
The response concludes that the information available indicates that there are shortcomings in how the current regime operates and it needs reform to reflect changes in the way society operates and attitudes towards personal financial difficulty during the last 40 years.
The government intends to work with stakeholders to develop proposals for reform for further public consultation. This work is likely to be wide ranging and cover:
- Routes into insolvency, the barriers to entry and how to ensure an individual accesses the most appropriate solution for their needs.
- The various current processes, the interaction between them and whether changes need to be made.
- How to tackle the few who are reckless or deliberately fraudulent.
- Options for structural reform of the overall framework.
The government aims to publish proposals for reform of the personal insolvency framework early in 2024.
AiB ‘Dear Trustee’ – debtor non-cooperation cases
The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) has issued a ‘Dear Trustee’ letter on the subject of a balanced approach to dealing with debtor non-cooperation in sequestration cases.
The letter sets out guidance to assist proportionate administration of these cases, balancing the interests of debtors and creditors in the costs and benefits of continuing to keep the bankruptcy process ongoing in different categories of cases.
HMRC insolvency guidance – submission of P11D
HMRC has issued guidance reminding IPs that reporting of employee benefits on P11d has moved to online reporting. There is a temporary concession to allow paper submissions by IPs where this is not possible.
UK Financial Intelligence Unit – new SAR portal launch
The new SAR Portal will be made open to all reporting organisations from 18 September 2023. Any reporting organisation yet to register for the new SAR Portal will be encouraged to do so at that point.
Further details and access to the portal will be provided closer to the launch date. To prepare your organisation to register for and use the new SAR Portal, please review the supporting materials and user guides on the NCA’s website.
Once onboarded, it is expected that the new SAR portal will be the sole reporting route for all registered organisations, as the current SARs online system is planned for decommissioning later in 2023.
Insolvency Service ISCIS online update
The Insolvency Service has issued an update regarding a number of technical issues affecting ISCIS and ISCIS online, resulting in online transactional data not being up to date.
Redundancy payments: Form HR1 - advance notification of redundancies
A minor update has been made to form HR1 to reflect that the Insolvency Service now sits within the Department for Business and Trade.
Legal update
Patley Wood Farm LLP & Ors v Kicks & Anor [2023] EWCA Civ 901: A successful appeal by trustees in bankruptcy (England & Wales) in connection with their decision not to intervene in an appeal in possession proceedings between the bankrupts and a creditor, following the sale of the bankrupts’ interest in a property. The trustees had taken the view that it was not in the interests of creditors to join in proceedings where there was unlikely to be a financial benefit to the bankruptcy estates. The Court of Appeal ultimately rejected the notion that the trustee’s actions had been perverse.
Register for the ICAS Insolvency and Restructuring Conference 2023