Paul Smith, CEO
IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, March 2024
Dear members,
It was my pleasure to co-host the recent Awards Dinner, catch up with people from across the profession and enjoy the celebrations – congratulations once again to all winners!
I’m sure members will be aware of the changes to company law that came into effect on 4th March and include greater powers for Companies House to query information, stronger checks on company names, new rules for registered office addresses, new lawful purpose statements and a new requirement to provide a registered email address. Further changes are expected in the coming years, and a useful overview for the profession was given by Mark Buckley, Senior Implementation Lead at Companies House last week, when we began our 2024 Roadshows in Cardiff.
Martin Swain, Director for Intelligence and Law Enforcement Engagement at Companies House, will also be discussing the changes at next month’s Annual Conference. The conference programme is close to being finalised – follow the link to view more on the event and book any places.
On the subject of the Annual Conference, please note that the IPA Annual General Meeting is being arranged as a separate meeting this year, to be held on May 30th at the IPA’s offices in London. You will receive appropriate notice of this in due course.
In AML matters, changes to the list of high-risk third countries at the end of last month may affect your Enhanced Due Diligence measures. Kenya and Namibia were added to the list, and Barbados, Gibraltar, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates were removed. View further details here.
Following the budget announcement, we will be monitoring the impact of the recent changes to Debt Relief Order criteria, to include a particular focus on individuals who are in existing debt solutions.
Best wishes,
Paul Smith