IPA 2025 membership and licence renewals now open

Paul Smith, CEO

Dear Members. You will have seen from our recent alerts that we are continuing to work with the FCA to flag up companies that are in breach of FCA permissions or acting without the required permissions and offering unregulated debt advice. We have recently seen more unauthorised firms purporting to provide debt advice – please see our latest alert, which includes requirements for Insolvency Practitioners that must be noted.

On the same topic, the agenda for our Birmingham Roadshow on 21st September will be dedicated to fraud and Anti-Money Laundering, and I would encourage you to join for an update on this very fast-moving and particularly pressing subject matter. I look forward to meeting Members at our upcoming Cardiff event on 23rd May, where we will look at the economic and political landscape, hear from the Insolvency Service on its response to Bounce Back Loan abuse, examine recent cases in insolvency law, look at how to defend yourself against cyber crime, hear from the IPA Inspection team, and more. With important updates from both Companies House and the Insolvency Service featuring in the programme, I recommend that our members in Wales and the South West attend this event. Read more about the Roadshow series here.

You will be aware that we determined to propose a resolution to adjourn indefinitely the AGM called for 27th April 2023. This resolution was approved on May 4th, following a short adjournment of the initial meeting which was not quorate. The replacement AGM has been called for May 30th, for which you will have received notice on April 21st. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused Members.

With the IPA Presidency due to change hands at the AGM on 30th May, I would like to take a moment to thank Samantha Keen for her leadership as IPA President over the past year. Samantha’s hard work and dedication have been instrumental in advancing the IPA’s work, and we are all grateful for her contribution.

I am looking forward to working with our incoming President, Paul Davis, Partner at Opus Restructuring and Insolvency. Paul brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge, and I am sure that he will be an excellent advocate for our members and for the sector as a whole.

Best wishes,

Paul Smith