The last published .gov.uk update on the new Insolvency Rules was July 2015, when the expectation was that the Rules would be made in “Spring 2016 with a commencement date of 1 October 2016”. As that day fast approaches, where are we..?

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

At the ICAEW’s London roadshow last week, Simon Whiting, Senior Policy Advisor of the Insolvency Service, gave us the news:

“we are aiming to lay the Rules before Parliament in the week commencing 10 October 2016”

“commencement will be 6 April 2017”

“… all subject to Ministerial approval”

Technical and compliance directors, managers and consultants have been fearing and dreading this day for several years now. Although my stomach still turns when I think of all the candle-burning days and nights ahead, personally I feel like I’ve done enough waiting: I’m ready!

Spare a thought for colleagues

This is a short plea to all appointment-taking and practice-heading IPs in England & Wales: please try to avoid giving your technical and compliance staff any other projects over the next six to twelve months.

The new Rules will be well over 400 pages long and they will introduce changes from the blinding to the subtle. Okay, many changes will be neither here nor there; if some changes are overlooked, the worst effect will be a red flush at the next monitoring visit. However, some crucial processes – such as how to get appointed and how to obtain fee approval – will change fundamentally and you will want to get these correct from the start.

Also, don’t be misled into thinking that the changes won’t matter until you get your first new appointment after 6 April 2017. The plan is that, with the exception of a few common-sense items, the new Rules will apply across the board, to both existing and future appointments. This does have an advantage – we won’t have to devise and endure dual processes, as we have done since 2010 – however, it will be impossible to introduce the changes gradually: when we wake up on 6 April 2017, we will have to be ready to implement the new Rules for cases at any stage from cradle to grave.

The headline changes

Deborah Manzoori summarised some of the planned changes in an earlier post (https://goo.gl/qGLZWv). We’ve known about these ever since the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and the Deregulation Act 2015 came into being. These changes are set in stone and we’ve simply been waiting for the new Rules to tell us “how to”.

They include:

• Abolition of physical meetings (unless requested by creditors who meet prescribed criteria)
• Introduction of decisions approved by “deemed consent”
• “Qualifying decision procedures” – i.e. the methods by which positive responses to proposed decisions can be sought
• Allowing small debts without proofs
• Official Receiver immediately being appointed as Trustee in Bankruptcy

If you want to learn more about these changes as set out in the two Acts, which are good foundations to the detailed changes to come, Jo Harris will be recording a webinar in a week’s time. Email info@thecompliancealliance.co.uk for more information.

The “how to”s… and more

If you have a chance to attend one of the ICAEW’s roadshows – or indeed one of the IPA’s – I would recommend it. Hearing first-hand how the Insolvency Service plans to implement the Acts’ changes is quite an experience: I challenge you not to leave the room feeling baffled and just a little depressed!

I’m sure things will become crystal clear when we finally get to see the new Rules… won’t they?

I don’t want to steal the roadshows’ thunder, but here are some items that furrowed my brow:

• Complicated S98s

I am very keen to see how S98s will work: Centrebinds will still be 14 days max, but creditors will have some time after receiving notices (for a virtual meeting or a proposed deemed consent) to request a physical meeting… for which directors (/IPs) then will need to issue notice. I am sure it can be done, but timescales will be very tight (perhaps it will mean that more company meetings will be adjourned) and companies/IPs will need to manage unexpected hiatus periods.

• Complicated Statements of Affairs

It will take some careful managing to comply with the requirement for statements of affairs submitted to Companies House to exclude details of “consumers and employees”, whilst ensuring that creditors receive the full schedules. Will this mean a new creditor code in IPS etc.? What about cases where the director submits a hard copy SoA (e.g. Administrations); will insolvency staff need to type up separate schedules for RoC? Will “consumers” always be obvious, e.g. will they be easily distinguishable from other individual creditors? What is the risk if an IP gets it wrong..?

• Complicated ADM-CVL Conversions

The Insolvency Service has made several attempts in the past to manage the move from Administration to CVL. Their latest method sounds better, but still not ideal. It seems that the conversion will happen when the final Admin report is filed at RoC… and, if in the meantime “anything” has happened, the Administrator will inform the Liquidator. So the final Admin report won’t actually present the final position and IPs will still be on tenterhooks waiting for the RoC to bring down the shutter.

These are only some of the meaty changes. There are many, many more, affecting every part of what we do, even to the extent of changing some of our language: you may think that it is not before time that “defray” is being removed from Notices of No (Further) Dividend, but think of the template-editing to be done as a consequence.

Standing on the starting blocks

As we take our places on the starting blocks – working (/support!) groups are created, timetables are formulated, and we wave goodbye to holidays – we steel ourselves for the next six months: bring it on!

We at the Compliance Alliance are planning a suite of progressive webinars and document pack updates to help clients prepare for the big day. Call us sceptical, but we’re reluctant to set out exactly what we’re planning until we see the new Rules land – we’ve been here before! However, if you want us to explain to you what we think we’ll be doing, please do get in touch with us.