Background and Summary Part 10: Insolvency
67.Insolvency practitioners (IPs) act as office holders in insolvency procedures. To be qualified to act as an IP, the Insolvency Act 1986 requires an individual to be authorised to act by virtue of membership of a professional body which has been recognised for this purpose by the Secretary of State. There are seven of these ‘Recognised Professional Bodies’ (RPBs). As at 1 January 2015 there are 1,745 authorised IPs, of whom 1,359 take appointments in insolvency procedures.
68.Once authorised, IPs are regulated through a system of self-regulation by the RPBs overseen by the Secretary of State acting through the Insolvency Service (an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) as oversight regulator.