Removal and replacement of office-holders

Why replace an insolvency office-holder?

The following circumstances may give rise to the need to replace an insolvency office-holder:

1. •

   the death of an office-holder

2. •

   the retirement of an office-holder from practice

3. •

   dissatisfaction with the office-holder by a stakeholder, or

4. •

   where an office-holder is otherwise unable or unwilling to continue in office

When an office-holder is replaced, it will be necessary for the newly-appointed office-holder to take over the conduct of the insolvency case in a smooth manner.

In the event that a change of office-holder occurs due to death, retirement or where an office-holder is otherwise unable or unwilling to continue in office (where they change firms or lose their licence to practice due to regulatory action) then a block transfer procedure is in place which allows for a bulk transfer of insolvency cases to one or more office-holders. This is generally likely not to be contentious.

Removal of an office-holder due to dissatisfaction in an individual insolvency case may be more contentious, depending on the circumstances.

Administrators

While it is possible to remove and/or replace an administrator,