Your 2015 insolvency licence renewal must be completed in all circumstances and should be submitted as soon as possible.

Transcription

1 Renewal of your insolvency licence for 2015 Your 2015 insolvency licence renewal must be completed in all circumstances and should be submitted as soon as possible. Please ensure that you read the following documents before submitting your renewal and that you complete the appropriate additional information forms: Conditions for the renewal of an insolvency licence 2015 Appointments form Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for practising members Byelaw 8 The document headed "Conditions for the renewal of an insolvency licence 2015" is an integral part of the renewal. In submitting the renewal, you will be agreeing to comply with the undertakings contained in this document and to be bound by the Bye-laws and Global Practising Regulations made thereunder (and/or any subsequent regulations replacing or amending, in full or part, these regulations). Electronic submission You may submit your insolvency licence renewal online via your myacca account, available through our website: You are able to access myacca by entering your ACCA membership number and passcode. If you do not have your passcode you can request it through the website. The renewal process A member who holds, or seeks, insolvency appointments under UK legislation must hold an insolvency licence from ACCA or another professional body (or competent authority). A member holding an ACCA insolvency licence and engaged solely in insolvency work is not required to also hold an ACCA practising certificate. A member intending to cease holding an ACCA insolvency licence must still return submit a renewal, with the cessation declaration completed. Continued

2 Page 2 It should be noted, in cases where insolvency appointment-holding and all other forms of public practice are to be given-up, that the Global Practising Regulations place continuing obligations on former insolvency licence holders, including the requirement to maintain run-off professional indemnity insurance for a period of six years following cessation of practice. A member based in the UK/Ireland who intends to cease holding an ACCA insolvency licence in order to transfer to holding a licence from another professional body (or competent authority) will be required to apply for and hold an ACCA practising certificate. The renewal process has been made as straightforward as is consistent with legislative and other regulatory requirements. In addition to providing your confirmation and understanding of the conditions for renewal, you are required to submit details of: any changes to the address(es) or composition of your firm (or firms); the current professional indemnity insurance policy of your firm (or firms); your bonding arrangements*; the continuity of practice arrangements for your firm (or firms); the number of hours of insolvency work you have undertaken; and the investment business and consumer credit arrangements of your firm (or firms) applicable to UK exempt regulated activities only. * If your current enabling bond expires at the end of December 2014 you must provide the original or a copy of your new bond before the end of December If you foresee any difficulties obtaining an enabling bond you must notify Authorisation immediately (see below for contact details). You may be requested to provide further evidence of these. Appointment-holders are also required to complete and return with their completed renewal form an Appointments form. The Insolvency Service has requested that the Recognised Professional Bodies obtain information relating to the early failure of individual voluntary arrangements and to the number of "old" cases held. Continued

3 Page 3 This information, together with the additional information sought regarding the breakdown of insolvency appointments held, will also be used by ACCA as part of its desk-top monitoring process for prioritising insolvency monitoring visits. The fee for appointment-holders in 2015 is 1767 and the fee for non appointment-holders is 409. If you do not wish to provide payment when submitting your renewal, ACCA can send you an invoice for the fee. You may settle this invoice by cheque or by providing credit/debit card details. Card payment can also be made through your myacca account. However, should you choose not to provide payment when submitting your renewal you should note that your 2015 insolvency licence will not be despatched (and your authorisation will not be valid) until the invoice has been settled. Therefore, to ensure you remain eligible to undertake insolvency work on 1 January 2015, you should submit your renewal and payment as soon as possible. Any member who fails to submit a renewal, or pay an invoice raised in respect of a renewal, by 31 December 2014 will be subject to a late submission penalty fee of 65 in addition to the standard renewal fee and may become liable to disciplinary action. Insolvency levies ACCA will be issuing one joint invoice in respect of the Insolvency Service, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and insolvency complaints Gateway levies in early 2015, subject to receiving confirmation of the amounts set for these levies. Practising certificates and firms auditing certificates If you also hold an ACCA practising certificate you must submit your insolvency licence and practising certificate renewals separately through your myacca account. Continued

4 Page 4 Renewals for 2015 ACCA firm s auditing certificates may, where appropriate, be submitted online by nominated contact partners/directors for auditing certificate matters by logging into myacca using the firm s ACCA reference number and firm s passcode. Investment business and consumer credit - exempt regulated activities (UK) If your firm registered through ACCA to undertake exempt regulated activities in 2014, the nominated contact partner/director may submit a registration renewal online by logging into myacca using the firm s ACCA reference number and firm s passcode. If your firm did not register through ACCA for 2014 but now wishes to do so, the registration form can be downloaded from the Forms for Practitioners section of ACCA s website at There is no additional fee to pay for exempt regulated activities registration through ACCA for From 1 April 2014, the FCA assumed responsibility from the OFT for regulating consumer credit activities. ACCA s consumer credit group licence was not transferred to the FCA, and there is no longer any comparable group licensing arrangement. A new framework for consumer credit authorisation has been laid down by Government, which brings credit-related regulated activities within Part XX of the Financial Services and Markets Act This has been effected through a change to the Designated Professional Body Regulations 2001 (DPBRs). If you wish to carry on credit-related regulated activities in 2015, you must either elect for DPB authorisation from ACCA or obtain direct authorisation from the FCA. Further information can be found on our website at Technical queries regarding this matter should be directed to ACCA s Technical Advisory section on A firm cannot perform exempt regulated activities under DPB authorisation while also being directly authorised by the FCA. Continued

5 Page 5 Investment business (Ireland) If your firm held a firm s investment business certificate (Ireland) in 2014, the nominated contact partner/director may submit a renewal online by logging into myacca using the firm s ACCA reference number and firm s passcode. If your firm does not currently hold such a certificate but now wishes to do so, the form can be downloaded from ACCA s website at Please do not hesitate to contact Authorisation on 0141 (or ) (fax 0141 (or ) , authorisation@accaglobal.com) if you require any further information or assistance regarding the renewal of your insolvency licence.

6 Conditions for the renewal of an insolvency licence 2015 If you have been subject to matters within the terms of bye-law 8 and Governance Professional Conduct at ACCA is aware of this, you may sign and submit the renewal form. If you are concerned that you may be subject to matters under bye-law 8 of which Governance Professional Conduct is not already aware, please notify ACCA in writing to professionalconduct@accaglobal.com or 29 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3EE. Following this notification you may sign and submit the renewal form. In signing the 2015 insolvency licence renewal form I confirm that I will abide by the provisions of the Chartered Certified Accountants' Global Practising Regulations (GPRs) 2003 (and/or any subsequent regulations replacing or amending, in full or part, these regulations) and that in particular: A Fit and proper person none of the matters or events referred to in GPR 8 applies to me or to any matters referred to in the corresponding Annex(es); B Professional indemnity insurance I have professional indemnity insurance as required by GPR 9 and, following my current policy's expiry, will renew it on terms complying with GPR 9. Details of the name of the insurer and the policy number are provided in the appropriate part of the form; C Insolvency practitioner's bond I will not hold, or seek, insolvency appointments without a valid insolvency practitioner's bond and will, so long as I hold such a bond, submit to my bond insurer and ACCA monthly schedules of appointments taken or terminated ( bordereaux ), including nil returns where applicable, in accordance with regulation 14(3) of the UK Annex to the GPRs; D Maintenance of competence I will comply with the continuing professional development obligations of GPR 10. I have confirmed on the renewal form that I have maintained competence in the areas relevant to my practice; E Continuity of practice I have made arrangements complying with GPR 11 for the continuity of my practice in the event of my death or incapacity. Details of the continuity arrangements are provided in the appropriate part of the form; F Notification I agree to comply with GPR 12 and to notify in writing to ACCA all matters specified in the Regulation and will provide such notifications at least 28 days in advance of the relevant event where applicable. I undertake to notify ACCA immediately in the event of any information previously supplied to it in support of my application ceasing to be true, accurate or complete, or in the event of any change in circumstances, or any event that may call into doubt the validity of my application, or the continuation of any licence granted; G Conduct of practice I will comply with GPR 13, ACCA's Code of Ethics and Conduct and all technical standards/guidelines applicable to my work; H Disclosure of information I will comply with regulation 19(4) of the UK Annex to the GPRs; I Monitoring, quality assurance and compliance I confirm that I am aware of the requirements of GPR 14 and will co-operate with ACCA in the performance of its duties as a Recognised Professional Body under the Insolvency Act 1986 and Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order J Anti-money laundering I confirm that I will comply with the requirements of relevant anti-money laundering legislation and regulation, including specifically that: my practice has a nominated officer to take responsibility for compliance there are procedures in place to gather and retain evidence of the identification of all clients principals and staff in my practice receive appropriate training ongoing compliance monitoring is carried out suspicions of money laundering are reported as required by law. (Where reference is made to the GPRs, members/ applicants should note that they must also comply with the relevant Annex(es) to the GPRs) This document is an integral part of the 2015 renewal form. A false or misleading statement on any part of the renewal form may constitute grounds for disciplinary action being taken against you and/or your firm. IL-RNOTE

7 Insolvency Licence Renewal 2015 Appointments Appointment-holders are required to complete this form and return it to Authorisation, ACCA, 2 Central Quay, 89 Hydepark Street, Glasgow G3 8BW together with their insolvency licence renewal form. Full name ACCA membership number (if applicable) 1 Please complete the following table in respect of your insolvency appointments Type of insolvency No of open cases as at No of open cases as at the date appointment 1 January 2014 No of new cases No of cases closed of completion of this form Administrations Administrative receiverships Company voluntary arrangements Members voluntary liquidations Creditors voluntary liquidations Compulsory winding-ups Bankruptcies Individual voluntary arrangements Trust deeds Sequestrations Fixed charge receiverships Partnership voluntary arrangements Totals 2 Individual Voluntary Arrangements How many IVAs that have failed since 1 January 2014 did so within 12 months of approval? 3 Cases where you were appointed office-holder more than five years ago Please list below all open cases where you were appointed office-holder more than five years ago (continue on a separate sheet if necessary) Name of case Type of insolvency appointment Date of appointment 4 Current appointments held Please attach a complete list of all appointments currently held

8 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for practising members ACCA requires all members*, regardless of their role, to obtain CPD in areas relevant to their work; to maintain competence in professional ethics; and to keep their business and finance knowledge up to date. It is essential that practising members maintain competence in their areas of technical specialism, and obtain an appropriate proportion of CPD in those areas. Members holding an ACCA practising certificate and audit qualification must ensure they maintain their competence in audit even if no audit work is currently being undertaken. Members in Ireland who provide advice to consumers on retail financial products or arrange, or offer to arrange, retail financial products for consumers are required to achieve at least 15 formal hours of CPD each year relevant to the functions in respect of which they are a qualified or grandfathered person. Further details are contained in the code on the CBI website at Members in South Africa undertaking tax work, and those who intend to do so in future, should register on the South African Revenue Service (SARS) e-filing system. Registered members must ensure that they comply with SARS CPD requirements. SARS states that registered tax practitioners must undertake at least 15 hours of tax related CPD each year, of which at least nine hours must be verifiable. Members in spare-time practice who have other occupations outside of public practice must ensure that, in addition to maintaining their competence in the areas of their practice, they also undertake an appropriate proportion of CPD in relation to their other role or roles. This guidance sheet has been designed to support practising members with planning, completing, and documenting their CPD activity in accordance with ACCA s CPD policy. A set of common misconceptions about CPD is also included. Relevant CPD It is important that you undertake sufficient and relevant CPD. In order to ensure that CPD is effective, it is recommended that you reflect on your learning needs, act on these and subsequently assess the effectiveness of the CPD undertaken. You must not only obtain relevant CPD, but also keep documentation which clearly sets out the relevance to your current or future role. PLAn, DO, REVIEW Approaching your CPD methodically will ensure that the CPD you undertake is relevant to your professional circumstances, and derives the most value for you. The chart below will help you gain maximum value from your CPD, offering practical advice to help you think about maintaining and developing your knowledge and skills. keeping evidence of your CPD All members are required to keep evidence of their participation in the appropriate CPD route for three years as it may be required as part of ACCA s CPD review process. If you follow the unit route, you are required to maintain comprehensive evidence of your verifiable CPD units as well as a record of the non-verifiable CPD you have undertaken. You need to maintain evidence to show that your verifiable CPD was relevant and meaningful to your specific development needs. You should keep a record which shows why you chose the activity, how you will apply the learning and evidence of the learning outcome. To help you, ACCA has developed an online evidence record which you can access by logging in to myacca. Alternatively, you may wish to keep records in your own format. Plan Do Review What are the areas you could develop to help you support your clients more effectively, or make a positive impact on your business? What are the technical and business skills you will need? What knowledge and skills will you need to maintain or develop in the next 6 12 months? Will the activities you ve identified meet your and your clients needs? Have you thought about a range of different learning activities (e-learning, coaching, networking?) Can you make an impact by developing skills to support others? (your employer or business, junior staff or ACCA trainees, the community?) Did your activity meet your needs? Can you apply your learning in the workplace, for example by satisfying your clients needs? Has there been a positive impact on your business? Do you need to undertake additional activity or was the CPD you undertook sufficient and effective? Would you do anything differently next time? Are there additional needs you ve identified which you should act upon? * Firms holding an ACCA auditing certificate and/or firms which are regulated by ACCA to carry on exempt regulated activities in the UK or holding an ACCA investment business certificate (Ireland) must require the individuals who are partners or directors or agents of the firm who are not members but who are responsible for the firm s audit work or carry on exempt regulated activities in the UK or investment business in Ireland (including providing advice to consumers on retail financial products or arranging, or offering to arrange, retail products for consumers, on behalf of the firm) to comply with ACCA s CPD policy.

9 If you are following the unit route part-time/semi-retired you must firstly ensure that you meet ACCA s guidelines for parttime/semi-retired status. Practising members may only take this route if they are not responsible for audit or other regulated report work, and can show that they have technical support in carrying out their duties. In addition, any member taking this route cannot be involved in the preparation or presentation of accounts investors may rely on; it is also closed to nonexecutive directors of listed companies. Members following this route will need to keep a summary of non-verifiable CPD and evidence of the verifiable CPD undertaken with an explanation as to why it is a relevant and appropriate amount. ACCA will expect members to provide evidence of the number of hours worked, and confirmation that they are not working in a role that doesn t fall under the policy guidelines. To help you, ACCA has developed a CPD evidence checklist that you may wish to use to demonstrate why the activities you undertook were sufficient for your needs. If you follow the ACCA Approved Employer professional development route, you should keep evidence of your employment and evidence of your participation with your employer s development and appraisal processes. ACCA reserves the right to confirm with your employer that you followed their learning and development programme. If you follow the other IFAC body route, you should keep evidence of your membership of your other accountancy body and evidence of participation with their CPD requirements. If the other professional body has successfully reviewed your CPD evidence records, you should also keep a copy of the outcome letter. ACCA may ask for a copy of the outcome letter or alternatively a full set of evidence you have kept for your other professional body. What to expect if you are selected for a cpd review Promoting public confidence in professional accountants is vital. ACCA safeguards its reputation and that of its members by requiring that the highest professional and ethical standards are adhered to. In order to ensure that members maintain their knowledge and skills, ACCA conducts reviews of members CPD evidence, selecting a proportion of members annually. It is therefore possible that ACCA will contact you to confirm that you are undertaking CPD activity, irrespective of the CPD route that you follow. ACCA will provide feedback to you on your CPD activities and, where necessary, will give you guidance and support to enable you to meet the requirement. In cases where members do not cooperate with the review process (for example, by failing to respond to communications or submit CPD evidence), they may be removed from the register of members. CoMMon MisConCePtions I don t really need to plan my CPD If ACCA hosts a CPD event, it will definitely count as CPD Planning your CPD will help you to ensure you identify relevant learning. Some members do not plan their CPD and then find themselves having to complete all their activity at the end of the year. Others find that events which are most relevant are already fully booked. Planning will also help you to think about learning mediums other than courses and events while face-toface may be best for some types of learning, e-learning, research, or learning on-the-job may be far more effective for others. It is important that you take personal responsibility for your own learning needs. While ACCA hosts a wide range of CPD events, it is up to you to discern whether the event is relevant and sufficient to meet the needs of your role, business and clients. If an event is not relevant to your role, it will not count towards your CPD. If only some sessions at a conference are relevant to you, you should only include these sessions as verifiable CPD. It doesn t matter too much if the event didn t meet my personal needs I have got the units now If I have a certificate, I don t need to do anything else in terms of evidence I have to attend face-toface events in order to gain verifiable CPD units If an event is not relevant to you, it will not count as CPD. If an event is relevant, but did not meet your learning needs, it is important that you consider further learning interventions. The purpose of CPD is to reassure the public that your professional knowledge and skills are up to date if this may not be the case, consider what further CPD you need. In order for a learning activity to count as verifiable CPD, you must be able to answer the following three questions: 1 How was the learning activity relevant to your role? 2 Can you explain how you will apply the learning in the workplace? 3 Can you provide evidence that the learning took place? The certificate only addresses the third question. You must also be able to answer the first two and keep a record of this information. If you attend an ACCA event, these questions will be on your attendance certificate so you can record your answers easily. Alternatively you can keep evidence in other formats. Any learning activity can count as CPD, on the condition that you are able to answer the first question set out above being able to also answer the second and third question means that it is verifiable CPD. You are not restricted to face-to-face learning, but can take advantage of a wide range of different methods. Example: Lindsay has recently taken on a client who required support in an area Lindsay needed to research. Lindsay undertakes four hours of research and then prepares and delivers the work to the client. The four hours of research become four units of verifiable CPD. The work undertaken for the client is evidence of her learning activity. If this is highly sensitive, she could also ask a partner or colleagues to confirm her learning activity; notes from the client meeting and subsequent invoice would also corroborate her learning. For more information, including full information on verifiable CPD, evidence examples, and a wide range of learning opportunities, go to

10 Bye-law 8: Liability to Disciplinary Action 8 a A member, relevant firm or registered student shall, subject to bye-law 11, be liable to disciplinary action if: i he or it, whether in the course of carrying out his or its professional duties or otherwise, has been guilty of misconduct; ii iii iv v vi in connection with his or its professional duties, he or it has performed his or its work, or conducted himself or itself, or conducted his or its practice, erroneously, inadequately, inefficiently or incompetently; he or it has committed any breach of these bye-laws or of any regulations made under them in respect of which he or it is bound; in the case of a relevant firm, any person has in the course of the business of that firm committed any breach of these bye-laws or of any regulations made under them in respect of which that person is bound; he is a specified person in relation to a relevant firm against which a disciplinary order has been made and which has become effective or which has been disciplined by another professional body; he or it has been disciplined by another professional body; vii he or it has made an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or has made an arrangement for the payment of a composition to creditors, or has had an interim order made by the court in respect of him, or is a specified person in relation to a relevant firm which has made such an assignment or composition or been wound up as an unregistered company, or entered into a voluntary arrangement, administration or liquidation, in each case where applicable under the Insolvency Act 1986, or other similar or analogous event has occurred in relation to him or it under applicable legislation; viii he or it has failed to satisfy a judgment debt without reasonable excuse for a period of two months (the burden resting on him or it to prove such a reasonable excuse on the balance of probabilities) whether or not the debt remains outstanding at the time of the bringing of the disciplinary proceedings hereunder; ix x before a court of competent jurisdiction in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, he or it has pleaded guilty to, been found guilty of, or has accepted a caution in relation to, any offence discreditable to the Association or to the accountancy profession; or before a court of competent jurisdiction in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, in any civil proceedings in which he or it has been a party or witness, he or it has been found to have acted fraudulently or dishonestly. b c d e f g Each of the paragraphs in bye-law 8(a) shall be without prejudice to the generality of any of the other paragraphs therein. For the purposes of bye-law 8(a), misconduct includes (but is not confined to) any act or omission which brings, or is likely to bring, discredit to the individual or relevant firm or to the Association or to the accountancy profession. For the purposes of bye-law 8(a), in considering the conduct alleged (which may consist of one or more acts or omissions), regard may be had to the following: i whether an act or omission, which of itself may not amount to misconduct, has taken place on more than one occasion, such that together the acts or omissions may amount to misconduct; ii iii whether the acts or omissions have amounted to or involved dishonesty on the part of the individual or relevant firm in question; the nature, extent or degree of a breach of any code of practice, ethical or technical, adopted by the Council, and to any regulation affecting members, relevant firms or registered students laid down or approved by Council. For the purposes of bye-law 8(a)(ix), a copy of the certificate or memorandum of conviction or caution, and of any final judgment, ruling or determination given in the criminal proceedings, shall be conclusive proof of the conviction or caution, and of any facts and matters found, as the case may be. For the purposes of bye-law 8(a)(x): i where the person in question was a party to the proceedings, a copy of a certified judgment of the civil proceedings shall be conclusive proof of the facts and matters found; ii where the person in question was a witness in the proceedings, a copy of a certified judgment of the civil proceedings shall be prima facie evidence of the facts and matters found. Subject to bye-law 8(f) above, any other finding of fact in any civil proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction in the United Kingdom or elsewhere shall be admissible as prima facie evidence in any disciplinary proceedings.