Mark Sands, Head of Personal Insolvency at RSM Tenon, has been appointed Deputy Vice President of the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA), and will serve as President in 2015-2016. The IPA is a membership body which licenses Insolvency Practitioners (IPs) under the Insolvency Act 1986.

Mark qualified as an IP in 1991 and after a career encompassing all aspects of insolvency has specialised in personal insolvency, professional practices and investigating fraudulent transactions for the past fifteen years. Mark has worked on several high profile personal insolvency matters.  

Mark has worked on several high profile personal insolvency matters. In one, the debtor had instructed the petitioning creditor to renovate his family home at great expense which was then awarded to his wife in a divorce.  He was made bankrupt and claimed that his entire buy to let property portfolio was held on trust for his father.  Mark is challenging both the divorce and the deed of trust as shams.

In another matter, HMRC were the only creditor of an individual who had failed to pay any taxes for more than 10 years.  Mark's team at RSM Tenon were appointed to secure and sell not only his trading business which had generated (untaxed) profits for many years, but also properties in the UK, Dubai, Spain and the USA.

Commenting on his appointment, Mark says: "At RSM Tenon we are always keen to invest in our people. For my part, the IPA has played an integral role in the development of my career, so I am honoured to devote some of my time to this important membership body. Over the past five years, the number of people choosing to use the IPA for their licensing has increased in an environment where the number of insolvency practitioners (IPs) has remained fairly static. I look forward to helping the IPA build on its success."

President Ed Bible comments, "I congratulate Mark on his appointment as Deputy Vice President.  I am sure that he will make an effective contribution to maintaining and enhancing the Association's reputation as the specialist Insolvency regulator."

David Kerr, Chief Executive of the IPA, added, "Mark has long been a contributor to the IPA, through its various committees and Council, and Council has chosen an experienced practitioner who will serve the Association well over the next three years and beyond."

The IPA is at the forefront of developing professional standards, creating insolvency qualifications, widening access to insolvency knowledge and encouraging those involved in insolvency-related work to maintain appropriate levels of competence, skills and integrity.

It also leads in debates on regulatory reform, and has been at the forefront of developments in personal insolvency.

-Ends-

This press release has been issued on behalf of both the IPA and RSM Tenon

For further press information, please contact:

For RSM Tenon:

Deborah Rothfield, Communications Manager on 0207 535 5579 or e-mail deborah.rothfield@rsmtenon.com

For the IPA, Hermes Financial PR:   

Trevor Phillips, 07889 153 628, trevor.phillips@hermesfinancialpr.co.uk

Chris Steele, 07979 604 687, chris.steele@hermesfinancialpr.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Restructuring service line at RSM Tenon

The Restructuring service line at RSM Tenon is the leading trustee in personal bankruptcy and the second largest corporate appointment taker in the UK. Specialising in turnaround, restructuring and insolvency in both the corporate and personal sectors, the Restructuring service line of RSM Tenon is led by 34 partners and supported by over 300 staff operating from a network of over 30 offices across the UK.

About RSM Tenon

RSM Tenon is the 7th largest accountancy and business advisory firm in the UK, employing more than 2,600 people across over 35 offices. RSM Tenon Group is an independent member of RSM International, the 6th largest network of independent accounting and consulting firms worldwide with more than 700 offices across more than 100 countries.

Visit the RSM Tenon website - www.rsmtenon.com - or to understand more about RSM International - www.rsmi.com.

About the Insolvency Practitioners Association

The IPA is the only one of the Recognised Professional Bodies (RPBs) specialising solely in insolvency. It has approximately 2,000 individual and firm members and students and is the second largest, in terms of the number of licensed IPs, of the professional bodies recognised for the purposes of authorising IPs under the Insolvency Act 1986.

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