Our commitment  

Insolvency Practitioners are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics when carrying out all professional work relating to an insolvency appointment. We are committed to carrying on its business fairly, openly and honestly.

The purpose of the Code is to provide a high standard of professional and ethical guidance among insolvency practitioners.

The Code describes five fundamental principles that underpin an insolvency practitioner’s approach both in accepting instructions and appointments, and in the conduct of such work.  These are:

• Integrity:Insolvency Practitioners should be straightforward and honest in all professional relationships.
• Objectivity:Insolvency Practitioners should not allow any bias or conflict of interest to cloud their decisions.
• Professional competence and due care: Insolvency Practitioners have a duty to maintain professional knowledge and skill based on the latest developments in practice, legislation and techniques.
• Confidentiality:Insolvency Practitioners should respect the confidentiality of the information acquired as a result of professional and business relationships and not disclose such information to third parties.
• Professional behaviour:Insolvency Practitioners should comply with relevant laws and regulations and conduct themselves with courtesy and consideration when performing their work.

The Code sets out a framework that insolvency practitioners can use to identify actual or potential threats to the fundamental principles and determine what safeguards, if any, may be available to meet such threats.  The Code provides many specific examples to help with conflicts of interest situations and when they can, and cannot, be overcome.

The environment insolvency practitioners work in and the relationships they form can expose them to threats to the fundamental principles. There are a broad range of threats included in the code which fall into the following categories::

• Self-interest threats: as a result of the financial or other interests of a practice or an insolvency practitioner or of a close immediate or family member of an individual within the practice;
• Self-review threats: when a previous judgement by an individual within the practice needs to be re-evaluated by the insolvency practitioner;
• Advocacy threats: when an individual within the practice promotes a position or opinion to the point that subsequent objectivity may be compromised;
• Familiarity threats: when, because of a close relationship, an individual within the practice becomes too sympathetic or antagonistic to the interests of others; and
• Intimidation threats: when an insolvency practitioner may be deterred from acting objectively by threats, actual or perceived.

Where threats to the compliance with the fundamental principles are identified, we must consider whether there are safeguards they need to put in place. The code provides some examples of the safeguards that could be applied, but the list is not exhaustive. The nature of the safeguards to be applied will vary depending on the circumstances.

Examples of the safeguards detailed in the code, include:

• Leadership that stresses the importance of compliance with the fundamental principles.
• Policies and procedures to implement and monitor quality control of engagements.
• Policies and procedures to consider the fundamental principles of the code before the acceptance of an insolvency appointment.
• Policies and procedures to prohibit individuals who are not members of the insolvency team from inappropriately influencing the outcome of an insolvency appointment.

A copy of the code of Ethics can be found here.