ACCA has decided to relinquish its Recognised Professional Body (RPB) status, which will mean that ACCA will not issue any insolvency licences to members after 31 December 2019.

For ACCA, the costs of insolvency regulation have risen very substantially in recent years and this trend has continued with the regulatory arrangements becoming bespoke to insolvency regulation.  Consequently, ACCA’s position as an RPB for insolvency has become unviable. The challenges faced by ACCA are not unique and other UK regulatory bodies faced similar challenges and have withdrawn completely from insolvency regulation in recent years.

In October 2016 ACCA entered into a collaboration agreement with IPA, the specialist insolvency regulator, and, in October 2018, fully consolidated insolvency regulatory activities with those of IPA.  This move therefore fully aligned the arrangements of the two bodies with IPA handling all insolvency regulatory activities meaning ACCA is no longer undertaking any of the activities of an RPB.

As you are aware, IPA is the only RPB that is solely dedicated to the complex field of insolvency, and it prides itself on its leading role in the development of professional insolvency standards across the range of insolvency services.   IPA has around 2,000 members and more information on IPA can be found here.

A member who acts as an insolvency practitioner but who does not hold an insolvency licence from ACCA must hold a practising certificate from ACCA.  Therefore, if you obtain an insolvency license from another body, and you intend to hold or seek appointments, please complete and return an application for a practising certificate.