Paul Smith, CEO
IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, February 2024
Dear members,
As you might expect, 2024 is shaping up to be a busy year, with company insolvencies at a 30 year high, trends in personal insolvency looking counter intuitive and requiring more data to be properly understood, regulatory reform under active discussion between the RPBs and the Insolvency Service, AML remaining a core focus, plus the prospect of a general election later in the year.
The IPA is fully engaged in discussion on regulatory reform. Early discussions post the consultation response issued in September 2023 have been encouraging, with a programme of discussion planned throughout 2024. Discussion thus far has focused primarily on how best to bring forward firm regulation for all insolvency firms, recognising that legislation may be some time away.
We will be continuing our work with media and other stakeholders to improve understanding of insolvency solutions, how the insolvency profession works, and how it is regulated. This includes regular engagement with media, parliamentary committees and other key stakeholders.
We will be publishing an annual Impact Report (previously titled Annual Report) and Volume Provider Regulation (VPR) Scheme Benchmark Report. Both are expected to be published in April and will provide members with a useful guide on the work the IPA is doing, as well as helping to convey to the public how we are supporting the public interest and promoting strong ethics in insolvency practice.
The 2024 IPA AGM is scheduled for May 30th. Formal notice of this will be issued at the appropriate time. The timing of the AGM will allow members time to fully reflect on the information contained in the above publications, and the IPA’s Annual Report and Accounts which are expected to be available in early April.
The first event of our pan-UK schedule in 2024 will be the delayed IPA Awards evening in London on March 5th which was deferred from December last year. This will be followed by our first roadshow in Cardiff on March 14th where we have a great programme including key government agencies. Our face-to-face events will be interspersed with our programme of IPA Learning webinars starting with AML on April 15th.
AML will also feature in this year’s Annual Conference in London, with the day’s programme bringing together experts from Government agencies, financial policy makers, market research, leading legal and insolvency practices and the IPA regulatory team, plus many delegates from the profession. I look forward to seeing many of you there.
Best wishes,
Paul Smith