Corporate Insolvency: What the Advisor Needs to Know

Course Details

Covid has presented different threats to clients than those threats from previous recessions. Combined with the impact of Brexit the Advisor needs to be in a position to provide pragmatic advice to clients who are facing insolvency.

The online CPD course will cover:

• How to advise clients facing insolvency. The pitfalls to be avoided. Pre-Packs: How to advise your client to “buy back” the business from a liquidator.
• Overview of Turnaround strategies that do not involve formal insolvency.
• Brief overview of the various formal insolvency processes
• How to advise Tenants and Landlords.
• Overview of recent case law and proposed legislation on “Low Cost” Schemes of Arrangement

Online CPD Course Facilitator:

Jim Stafford – Friel Stafford

Jim qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1987. He is one of Ireland’s leading Corporate Recovery and Insolvency specialists.

Whilst training, he obtained Insolvency experience on a number of assignments. Upon qualifying, he moved to New York and joined Spicer & Oppenheim. During his 2 years with Spicer & Oppenheim, he had experience with Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedures. In 1989 he joined Cork Gully, the insolvency practice of Coopers & Lybrand (now PWC) in London. He spent five years in London specialising in Corporate Recovery and Insolvency. He returned to Ireland in 1994 and established Friel Stafford.

He has had extensive practical experience of all types of industries, ranging from aerospace and mining to hotels, construction and IT.

He also has extensive experience of resolving shareholder disputes where he uses his expert knowledge of the Companies Acts, tax legislation and case law and his extensive negotiating expertise to formulate solutions.

He is an expert on corporate governance and regularly advises Boards on corporate governance issues. He has assisted a number of directors to successfully defend Restriction applications.

He drafted the complete syllabus for the Diploma in Insolvency course run by Chartered Accountants Ireland. He wrote and presents two of the six modules on the course. Jim was selected by the CAI to present the Module on Corporate Turnaround Strategies given his expertise in the area.

He is also engaged by Chartered Accountants Ireland as a lecturer for their CPD (Continuous Professional Development) in the areas of Corporate Recovery, Insolvency, Personal Bankruptcy and Credit Management. He is frequently asked to speak about specialist Corporate Recovery and Insolvency topics by other institutes and organisations such as the Irish Institute of Credit Management, EBS, Goodbody Stockbrokers, IBRC, Bank of Ireland, Investec and KBC Bank. Jim has contributed numerous technical articles on Corporate Recovery and Insolvency for the magazines of the three leading accountancy bodies in Ireland, and for the Sunday Business Post. He has also done a number of radio and television interviews on Corporate Recovery and Insolvency.

He has extensive experience of all areas of Litigation Support and Expert witness. He has worked with private clients, SMEs, national companies, multi-nationals, county councils and various Government and Regulatory agencies in defending and bringing proceedings.

He is a member of the Council of The Irish Society of Insolvency Practitioners, a group which was established in 2004 as a forum for the development of expertise and experience of those practicing in the insolvency profession in Ireland. He is chairman of the Representation Committee of ISIP. He is member of the Fellows committee of the Irish Institute of Credit Management.

He is authorised to act as a Personal Insolvency Practitioner by the Insolvency Service of Ireland.