we have answers.
Would you let an unqualified doctor operate on you? Would you be happy for an unlicensed builder to be building your house?
Then why would you risk using an unqualified insolvency expert or liquidator?
There are faceless operators out there who’ll try to sell you a liquidation offer by charging you a fee for their unqualified (and usually poor) advice, and then paying a liquidator a lower fee to do the actual work.
And the fact this “middle man” isn’t regulated, insured or part of a professional group makes it hard to complain about them, sue them or have them investigated.
So before you engage an insolvency expert, make sure they’re qualified by following these three steps.
Step one: Make sure they’re registered with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (or ‘ASIC’)
An insolvency practitioner is an independent and suitably qualified person, not a company. ASIC regulates licensed insolvency practitioners and liquidators by checking:
- their qualifications
- their winding-up experience
- their capability
- whether they’re fit and proper
- whether they’ve been disqualified
- whether they have professional indemnity insurance and fidelity insurance.
You can quickly check whether a liquidator is registered by visiting this web page.
Step two: Make sure they’re a member of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association (or ‘ARITA’)
ARITA is the professional body for Australian insolvency practitioners, as well as those working in the business reconstruction and corporate and personal insolvency fields.
All ARITA members are bound by the ARITA Code of Professional Practice, and must complete at least 40 hours of professional development each year to maintain their professional expertise. They must also adhere to ARITA’s code of practice, which sets and manages standards of professional conduct.
One of ARITA’s core objectives is to maintain and improve professional standards, and they’ll investigate any complaint about a member’s professional conduct as a practitioner.
You can search for ARITA members by visiting this web page. And it’s important that you do, because liquidators who aren’t members of ARITA aren’t bound by their code of practice.
Step three: Make sure they’re a member of an accounting profession.
A liquidator must be a member of an accounting profession. There are two main accounting professional bodies in Australia—CPA Australia, and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (or ‘CAANZ’).
Every Liquidator at Rapsey Griffiths is a member of CAANZ, which means they:
- comply with CAANZ’s code of conduct
- are regulated by the Australian Accounting Standards Board
- hold current and acceptable levels of professional indemnity and fidelity insurance.
Liquidation is never an easy thing to do—financially or emotionally. But choosing the right liquidator will make the process go a lot more smoothly. So why not contact Rapsey Griffiths today for a free consultation, and find out how we can help you get the best outcome.