You don’t have to be an ICAEW Chartered Accountant to qualify and be licensed as an insolvency practitioner (IP) with ICAEW. By choosing ICAEW as your single regulator, we can reduce the administrative burden and provide your current and future IPs with a wealth of benefits and support.
Whether you are applying for an IP licence with us for the first time, or you would like to transfer all your firm’s IP licences to us, our streamlined application process is efficient and straightforward.
Be licensed as an IP with ICAEW
We offer two types of insolvency licence:
- Appointment-taking licence (either a full licence or a partial licence for corporate or personal insolvency specialists). The cost depends on your estimated fee income from regulated insolvency appointments in a calendar year.
- A non-appointment taking licence (full or partial). This provides a cost-effective way of protecting your investment in qualifying as an IP and it's straightforward to upgrade to an appointment-taking licence if you want to do so.
We also collect the Insolvency Service and the Department for the Economy levies from our IPs. There’s also a levy for the operation of the Insolvency Complaints Gateway.
ICAEW has two logos which our IPs use to distinguish themselves in the marketplace: one for individual IPs, and a logo for firms if all the IPs in a practice are licensed by ICAEW. Both full appointment-taking and non-appointment taking IPs licensed by ICAEW can use the logos.
Benefits of consolidating your insolvency licensing with ICAEW
We work hard to understand our IP firms, which enables us to help and support you and your teams.
We offer an unrivalled service to help ease the regulatory requirements on your firm – use one licensing body for all your insolvency needs.
- More than five IPs? You can appoint a central point of contact who we can liaise with for all your IPs' licence fees.
- Your staff can apply for their JIEB exams and then register for their insolvency licence with ICAEW. You don't have to be an ICAEW Chartered Accountant to qualify and be licensed as an IP with ICAEW.
We also offer the ICAEW Certificate in Insolvency – the most flexible insolvency qualification available.
All ICAEW IPs, Certificate in Insolvency and JIEB students* benefit from the services and guidance available from ICAEW, the largest insolvency regulator in the UK.
- Membership of our Restructuring and Insolvency Community (RIC) and access to free webinars and newsletters.
- Free helpsheets and checklists providing practical advice on a variety of topics including file reviews, internal controls and systems.
- Access to icaew.com/talkinsolvency – the news portal for the insolvency sector and IPs regulated by ICAEW.
- Free technical helpline.
- Use of ICAEW specialist e-library resources, from articles and journals to industry guides.
- Discounted rates for our prestigious annual conference.
ICAEW IPs are also able to access the following benefits:
- A bespoke webinar for IPs new to ICAEW.
- Use of our distinctive ICAEW IP logo on promotional materials.
- Access to a number of communities which complement the work of IPs.
We also offer:
- the chance to broaden the knowledge of your teams with the ICAEW Certificate in Finance, Accounting and Business (CFAB). Find out more at icaew.com/cfab; and
- the hire of meeting rooms at Chartered Accountants’ Hall in the heart of the City of London.
*JIEB students who register for their JIEB exams with ICAEW.
Monitoring visits
We visit all our appointment-taking IPs as part of our monitoring process. For our larger firms that have consolidated their licensing with ICAEW or where we license several IPs in a firm, we will discuss the most efficient way to structure our visit. All our reviewers have significant casework experience and some were previously appointment-taking IPs so are able to provide support and share experiences and best practice.
ICAEW's responsibilities as a regulator
As well as being a recognised professional body for IPs, we are also a:
- recognised supervisory body for statutory and local public auditors and a qualifying body able to award the audit qualification;
- designated professional body for investment business and a supervisory authority for anti-money laundering; and
- regulator of probate services, and a licensing authority for alternative business structures.
Further information
Testimonials
ICAEW is a premier organisation which upholds the highest of standards in our industry, and it offers a level of support that we felt was not available elsewhere. In addition to this, their educational support is unsurpassed. We are most satisfied with our ICAEW licences and recommend similar 'hybrid' firms consolidate accordingly.
We chose ICAEW because of its professional approach to regulation. The monitoring cycle is structured around the demands of our business, and reviews are robust but fair, with potential issues signposted early in the process and no nasty surprises at the end. Most importantly, we are aligned in our focus on quality and work collaboratively with ICAEW to ensure we meet the high standards expected of IPs.
ICAEW and insolvency licensing
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Choose ICAEW as your single regulator to gain a wealth of benefits and support and reduce the administrative burden.
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