Information relevant solely to our UK Insolvency and restructuring practice

In the UK the following applies:

Azets staff taking insolvency appointments are licensed in the United Kingdom by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland or the Insolvency Practitioners Association to act as insolvency practitioners.

Work undertaken under insolvency appointments is subject to insolvency law and regulation (primarily the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016, Insolvency Act 1986, the Insolvency Rules 1986, The Insolvency Regulations 1994 , The Insolvency Practitioners Regulations 2005), court practice notes, Statements of Insolvency Practice in England and Wales and Statements of Insolvency Practice in Scotland.

In addition, insolvency practitioners are subject to the ICAEW's Code of Ethics D or, for members of those bodies, the equivalent codes set by the Insolvency Practitioners Association or Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. All insolvency practitioners are also expected to comply with the Joint Insolvency Code of Ethics.

When a company undergoes insolvency, one or more Azets insolvency practitioners may be appointed to manage the company’s affairs, business and property.

In the case when an individual is subject to an insolvency, one or more Azets insolvency practitioners may be appointed to manage the individual’s affairs, business and property. Initial advice and the administration of Debt Arrangement Schemes is provided by Azets Debt Solutions Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority registration 799455.

Should the individual wish to proceed with a trust deed or sequestration, Azets Debt Solutions Limited will refer the individual and pass their details to Azets Holdings Ltd. The administration of formal insolvency appointments will be administered by Azets Holdings Ltd.

Use of personal data in our insolvency and restructuring practice

We process personal data to enable us to carry out our work as insolvency practitioners which includes processing data that was held by companies and individuals before our appointment, together with data collected during an insolvency procedure or a fixed charge receivership. Our legal obligation to process personal data arises from work we are required to carry out under insolvency and other related legislation.

As appointees of a court, licensed insolvency practitioners are defined in data protection legislation as controllers of personal data. Azets Holdings Limited functions as an agent acting on the explicit instructions from such licensed insolvency practitioners about personal data in relation to an insolvency procedure or fixed charge receivership.

Personal data are kept secure and processed only for matters relating to the insolvency procedure being dealt with.

Personal data processed in the insolvency and restructuring practice

The personal data Licensed Insolvency Practitioners processes are usually basic details that may identify an individual and are typically sufficient to allow us to carry out our work as insolvency practitioners. For example, dealing with the claims of individuals who are owed monies by the companies or individuals over whom we have been appointed.

However, insolvency practitioners may be appointed over entities that process personal data that is considered more sensitive (special category personal data), for example health records and this special category personal data has usually been created before our appointment. Although we take appropriate steps to safeguard special category personal data (or to destroy it where it is appropriate to do so), subject to limited exceptions, for example, where we identify previous conduct and/or action that requires further investigation, we do not process special category personal data.

The company or individual subject to insolvency and the Azets insolvency practitioners process personal data for the purposes of complying with the following legal obligations and/or legitimate interests:

  • the provision of references or reports to financial institutions, regulatory authorities, appropriate bodies in connection with the holding of public office;
  • analysis for management purposes and statutory returns;
  • the provision of business services including the realisation of assets, agreement of claims and the payment of dividends;
  • the reasonable and lawful provision of information to interested parties;
  • the calculation and analysis of payroll, billing, credit control and other data relating to the company’s finances and the transfer of such data for use by financial personnel and other appropriate independent third parties;
  • maintaining security of the company, any personnel and data;
  • the prevention and detection of crime or fraud;
  • quality and risk management purposes;
  • compliance with any request from regulatory authorities or other relevant public authorities or agencies;
  • legal proceedings (including prospective legal proceedings);
  • obtaining legal advice;
  • establishing, exercising or defending legal rights;
  • compliance with certain legal obligations to which the company or individual may be subject;
  • processing for personal purposes of employees in accordance with the law and the company’s and/or individual’s policies and rules.

The Azets insolvency practitioners may collate, process and disseminate statistics based on an aggregation of data held by them, the company and/or individual provided that any individual is not identifiable from the resulting analysis and the collation, processing and dissemination of such information is permitted by law.

Personal data retention in the insolvency and restructuring practice

Personal data is retained by Azets insolvency practitioners for as long as any legal or regulatory requirement requires it. Typically, this is seven years after the matter has been concluded, after which it is securely destroyed.