Insolvency profession rejects OFT report
Insolvency practitioners have voiced anger at the Office of Fair Trading's report on competition in the professions, saying the nature of their work demands exacting standards.
Insolvency practitioners have voiced anger at the Office of Fair Trading's report on competition in the professions, saying the nature of their work demands exacting standards.
The report, published earlier this month, said restrictions on entry to the profession could bring about a bottleneck in cases. Increasing demand and a small number of practitioners could bring about problems ‘restricting competition and forcing up prices’.
But Stephen Gale, president of R3, said high requirements are necessary.
‘Insolvency practitioners are placed in a position of trust with other people’s money, where the penalty of abusing this trust is people losing their livelihood.
‘High standards are therefore imperative,’ said Gale.
And Maurice Moses, council member of professional watchdog the Insolvency Practitioners Association, claimed the high standards were not causing a problem.
‘I’m not actually aware of any bottlenecks,’ he said, ‘what I am aware of is that there and if anything the competition is squeezing things down rather than pushing prices up.’
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