Insolvency regulator IBBI has firmed up a list of 1,090 insolvency professionals (IPs) who could be appointed as administrators by market regulator SEBI for the purpose of refunds to investors.

This first-ever panel will be valid for appointments during April-September. IBBI will forward this list to SEBI for further action.

It may be recalled that IBBI and SEBI had mutually agreed to use a panel of IPs for appointment as administrators.

MS Sahoo, Chairman, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) told BusinessLine that IPs already perform functions (recovery and distribution) akin to that of an administrator, and are, therefore, best suited to be administrators for making refunds to investors.

This arrangement flows from a memorandum of understanding (MoU) earlier inked by SEBI and IBBI.

The panel will be valid for six months and a new panel will replace the earlier panel every six months, Sahoo said.

IBBI will finalise different panels that will be valid for appointments during the subsequent six months (October-March 2020) and so on, he said.

Aseem Chawla, Managing Partner, ASC Legal, a law firm, said that SEBI’s latest move of empanelling IPs as administrators in matters relating to refunds to investors does suggest posing confidence in insolvency professionals and would assist in broad-basing the set of professional offerings of IPs.

A similar initiative is much desired for chartered accountants and lawyers possessing such domain expertise, Chawla said.

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