Now IBBI (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India) has mandated that the compliance officer of Insolvency Professional Agency (IPA) submit an annual compliance certificate. The certificate will state that the IPA has complied with the provisions of the Code, regulations, guidelines, circulars etc. issued by IBBI.
The compliance certificate has to be submitted within 45 days from the end of the financial year.
IBBI should consider whether this compliance certificate can be issued by Practising Company Secretaries. That would lend an independent external view which is unbiased and is able to pinpoint the deficiencies in the working of the IPA.
The relevant extracts of the IBBI circular is given below.
In terms of Regulation 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Model Bye-Laws and Governing Board of Insolvency Professional Agencies) Regulations, 2016, an Insolvency Professional Agencies (IPA) shall designate or appoint a compliance officer who shall be responsible for ensuring compliances with the provisions of the Code and regulations, circulars, guidelines, and directions issued thereunder.
The compliance officer is mandated to submit a compliance certificate to the Board annually, verifying that the IPA has complied with the provisions of the Code and regulations, circulars, guidelines, and directions issued thereunder.
In this regard, the format of annual compliance certificate specifying the list of the compliances was issued by the Board vide Circular No: IPA/009/2018 dated 19th April, 2018.
Now in consequence of amendments in regulations and in suppression of the above Circular, the revised format of Annual Compliance Certificate for IPAs is being issued by the Board as per Annexure. All the registered IPAs have to submit the annual compliance certificate to the Board in the said format within 45 days of the end of the financial year.