ACCA director: Cost of insolvency regulation unsustainable

“It’s the final piece of the jigsaw,” says Sundeep Takwani, director of regulatory relations at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), on its application to give up its status as a recognised professional body (RPB) for insolvency practitioners.

The organisation applied to the Secretary of State for Business requesting its withdrawal in February 2019 for the purposes of section 391 of the Insolvency Act 1986 after recognising it was no longer commercially viable for its members.

“From our perspective, the cost of insolvency regulation was becoming unsustainable,” says Takwani. ACCA had slowly began transferring some of its regulatory aspects in 2016 to other RPBs.

“We wanted to look at an arrangement where members could still access the insolvency services market with the support of a specialist regulator and access to educational and technical resources in a cost-effective way. We felt that the collaboration and partnership with the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) would help us deliver that.

“The move out for us was done on a managed basis which allowed for a smooth as possible transition.”

The ACCA has worked closely with the IPA since 2016 to support its members. In January 2017, the body’s monitoring and complaints-handling arrangements for insolvency practitioners was transferred to IPA.

In October 2018, the licensing of ACCA’s authorised insolvency practitioners was moved to the IPA.

The Minister for Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility, Lord Callanan, is satisfied it is appropriate to revoke the recognition in accordance with the procedure set out in section 391N of the Insolvency Act 1986.

The Insolvency Practitioners Order 2021 comes into effect on March 1 to finalise the appeal.

“We have enjoyed a good relationship with ACCA, and we were pleased to note that the vast majority of their insolvency practitioners joined the IPA as their regulator when ACCA announced its intention to relinquish its insolvency licence,” said an IPA spokesperson. “We continue to strive to achieve the highest standards across the insolvency profession.”

The professional body notified its insolvency licence holders of its intention to request its withdrawal as being a recognised professional body in July and October 2019.

ACCA ceased all insolvency related regulatory activities after December 31, 2019. Insolvency practitioners who were licensed by the organisation are now licensed by other regulatory bodies.