ICAS leads in introduction of insolvency Partial Authorisation
By David Menzies, ICAS Director of Practice
26 April 2016
ICAS becomes one of the first professional bodies to authorise insolvency practitioners (IPs) under the new partial authorisation regime.
ICAS has become one of the first professional bodies to commence authorising insolvency practitioners who wish to specialise in personal or corporate insolvency under the new partial authorisation regime.
Authorisations shall apply to IPs in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The new regime, introduced by amendments to the Insolvency Act 1986 and Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 through the Deregulation Act 2015 and the Insolvency (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, allow IPs to be authorised only in respect of appointments to individuals or only in respect of appointments to companies.
The new partial authorisation regime is in addition to ‘full authorisation’ which allows an IP to act in relation to any insolvency process under the Insolvency Act 1986 or Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.
In order to be considered for authorisation, skill and knowledge must be demonstrated by applicants having passed the examination papers set by the Joint Insolvency Exam Board (JIEB) as set out below.
- Full authorisation - Pass in all 3 JIEB papers
- Partial authorisation (individuals) - Pass in JIEB personal paper
- Partial authorisation (companies) - Pass in JIEB Liquidation and ACVAR papers
Candidates who have already passed the requisite JIEB papers are now eligible to apply for their insolvency licence with ICAS.
For those who do not yet wish to take appointments, but have passed the requisite JIEB papers, the option of a non-appointment taking licence is available at a nominal annual fee.
In future, an IP who is partially authorised shall be able to apply for full authorisation by achieving a pass in the remaining individual or company papers as appropriate.
All other eligibility criteria for partial authorisation remains in parity with the requirements for full authorisation. This includes, where considered necessary, conditions or restrictions on authorisation and may include for example requirements to undertake certain CPD/CPE, case number restrictions, a requirement for appointments to be joint appointments for a period of time, or such other conditions as the Authorisation Committee considers appropriate.
Disclosure of partial authorisation
Where an IP is partially authorised, the IP shall disclose their partially authorised status where appropriate. The IP shall otherwise be entitled to refer to themselves as an insolvency practitioner. The format of disclosure is suggested as follows:
- [IP name] is authorised by ICAS to act as an insolvency practitioner in the UK only in relation to [individuals/companies – delete as appropriate] as defined in the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.
The licence issued by ICAS shall also state the extent of partial authorisation.