Entered into force on January 19, 2013 new version of the Law of Ukraine "On the resumption of debtor's solvency or recognizing him as a bankrupt" (hereinafter - the Law) significantly changed the activity of insolvency officers.

First of all the Law gave a clear definition of the term "insolvency officer" - a person appointed in the prescribed manner by a commercial court in a bankruptcy case as an administrator of estate, financial rehabilitation manager or liquidator, from among persons who have received the appropriate certificate and have been listed in the Unified Register of insolvency officers (administrators of estate, financial rehabilitation managers, liquidators) of Ukraine.

Thus, the insolvency officer is no longer a business entity and his activity is not a subject of licensing. Now the insolvency officer acts as a subject of an independent professional activity, whose powers are confirmed by the certificate, issued after entering the relevant data into the Registry.

The Law also changes the way of the insolvency officer appointment. From now on, the choice of insolvency officer shall be made automatically from the Registry and shall be subsequently approved by the court order.

The Law expanded the rights of the insolvency officers, but also set higher demands for them. In particular, they are related to the subjects of corrupt activity, which prescribes possibility of criminal prosecution.

It should be also noted that the Law implemented compulsory insurance of the insolvency officer`s professional risks, which should recover a damage caused by unintended actions of the insolvency officer.