An insolvency practitioner (hereinafter - administrator) is a natural person appointed by the Director of the Insolvency Control Service, but the administrator is not an employee of the Insolvency Control Service.
In the activity of the position, administrators shall be treated in the same way as public officials and manage insolvency proceedings of a natural person and legal person. The Insolvency Control Service shall supervise the activities of administrators.
The liquidator shall also have the rights and duties specified in the insolvency Law and other regulatory enactments within the meaning of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings (hereinafter - Council Regulation No 1346/2000).
(As amended by the laws of 25.09.2014 and 22.12.2016, which enter into force on 06.01.2017. 25.09.2014 Section 2 of the Law on Amendments to the insolvency Law, by which Paragraph one of Section is supplemented with a sentence in the following wording: “In the activity of office, administrators of insolvency proceedings shall be assimilated to State officials.”, insofar as it does not provide administrators of insolvency proceedings who are also advocates at the same time with guarantees of professional activity for the preservation of the selected occupation, has been recognised as not conforming to Section 106, Paragraph one of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia by a judgment of the Constitutional Court of 21.12.2015, which comes into force on 23.12.2015)
In accordance with the requirements laid down in the Insolvency Law a natural person may be able to act as administrator:
- who has reached the age of 25;
- who has received a State recognised educational document regarding the acquisition of second level higher vocational education in legal sciences and has acquired the qualification of a lawyer or received a State recognised educational document regarding the acquisition of higher academic education in legal sciences and has obtained a scientific degree;
- who is fluent in the official language at the highest level;
- who, after acquiring the education and qualification referred to in Paragraph one, Clause 2 of this Section, has at least three years' professional experience in a lawyer or equivalent position;
- who passed the administrator's exam;
- who has a perfect reputation.
However, the administrator cannot be a person:
- which does not conform to the requirements of Paragraph one of this Section;
- who has been removed from the office of administrator in accordance with Section 17.2, Paragraph one, Clause 5 or 6 of this Law, if five years have not elapsed from the day of revocation or termination of the certificate;
- who has been punished for committing an intentional criminal offence or against whom criminal proceedings have been terminated for committing an intentional criminal offence on grounds other than exoneration of the person;
- to whom insolvency proceedings of a natural person have been declared and five years have not elapsed from the day of termination thereof;
- who has been a Member of the administrative body of a legal person and, by reason of his negligence or intentionally, brought that legal person to the insolvency proceedings of the legal person;
- who, on the basis of a decision in an administrative violation case, has been subject to administrative punishment – deprivation of the right to take up any position in a commercial company;
- which, on the basis of a decision in a disciplinary matter, has been revoked from the position of an administrator, excluded from the position of sworn advocates or their assistants, dismissed from the position of a public prosecutor or cancelled from the position of a sworn bailiff, his or her assistant, a sworn notary, his or her assistant or a judge, or whose certificate of a sworn auditor has been revoked, if five years have not elapsed from the day when the decision in the disciplinary matter has come into effect or a decision has been taken to revoke the certificate of a sworn auditor.
The functions of the professional organisation of administrators shall be exercised by the association “Latvian Insolvency Procedure Administrators Association”. The Association of Administrators combines all Latvian administrators on a professional basis.
Information on administrators can be found in the insolvency register.
The insolvency register shall contain the following publicly available information regarding administrators:
- the name of the administrator;
- the number of the administrator's position certificate;
- the date and period of validity of the certificate of office of the administrator;
- address of the administrator's place of practice in Latvia;
- the telephone number of the administrator;
- the electronic mail address of the administrator;
- the date of suspension, dismissal, revocation or suspension of the function of the administrator;
- date of entry.
The general duties of the administrator are specified in Section 26 of the insolvency Law:
Upon appointment of the administrator, the administrator shall:
- register with the State Revenue Service as a taxpayer;
- declare one place of practice to the State Revenue Service and notify the insolvency Control Service thereof.
The administrator shall ensure the efficient and lawful conduct of insolvency proceedings of a legal person and insolvency proceedings of a natural person and achievement of objectives.
The administrator shall have the following responsibilities:
- to participate in court hearings in matters of insolvency proceedings of a legal person and insolvency proceedings of a natural person;
- to provide information regarding the course of insolvency proceedings of a legal person and insolvency proceedings of a natural person to a court, creditors, Insolvency Control Service and other persons and institutions specified in regulatory enactments;
- notify the Insolvency Control Service within five days regarding the change of the place of practice, e-mail address, given name, surname;
- co-operate with authorised persons and institutions which, in accordance with the laws and regulations of other States, have the right to exercise their powers in insolvency proceedings of a legal person or insolvency proceedings of a natural person;
- upon request of the Insolvency Control Service to provide a report, documents and information regarding the insolvency proceedings of such legal person or the insolvency proceedings of a natural person in which the administrator has performed or fulfils duties;
- if supervision of the activities of a Financial and Capital Market participant in accordance with the requirements of regulatory enactments is performed by the Financial and Capital Market Commission, upon request thereof, to provide such Commission with information or a report regarding the course of insolvency proceedings of the abovementioned financial and capital market participant or legal person;
- to examine complaints regarding the course of insolvency proceedings of a particular legal person or insolvency proceedings of a natural person and to provide an answer to the complainant within two weeks;
- to provide law enforcement authorities with reports and materials regarding facts discovered in insolvency proceedings of a legal person or insolvency proceedings of a natural person, which may form the basis for commencement of criminal proceedings;
- to ensure accessibility to the place of practice of the administrator recorded in the insolvency Register in Latvia and the location of the debtor - a legal person - by performing the procedural activities specified in Section 174.2, Paragraph one, Clause 9 of this Law by the Insolvency Control Service.
The administrator shall also ensure that he or she can be reached at the address of the place of practice, using the specified contact information, as well as the receipt of correspondence addressed to him or her (including documents signed with a secure electronic signature).
During insolvency proceedings of a legal person the administrator shall organise the accounting records of the debtor in accordance with the requirements of regulatory enactments. If the annual accounts law applies to the debtor, the administrator shall submit to the State Revenue Service a true copy of the annual report and the report of the sworn auditor (if such is necessary) only in those cases when the administrator has taken a decision to continue the economic activity of the debtor in full or limited amount.
The administrator shall, in his or her place of practice or debtor, settle the case of insolvency proceedings of a legal person and insolvency proceedings of a natural person, which shall include all information and documents related to insolvency proceedings of a legal person and insolvency proceedings of a natural person, as well as draw up a list of the documents in the relevant case of proceedings.
The administrator shall keep records of his or her records at his or her place of practice, as well as records of revenue and expenses incurred in performing the duties of the administrator.
The revenue from the performance of the duties of the administrator shall consist of the remuneration of the administrator for the performance of duties in insolvency proceedings of a legal person and insolvency proceedings of a natural person.
The expenses of the administrator shall consist of expenses related to the maintenance of the place of practice and other payments specified in this Law and other laws.
However, the general rights of the administrator are determined by Section 27 of the insolvency Law:
The administrator shall have the following rights:
- to request and receive from the debtor and his or her representatives the information necessary for insolvency proceedings of a legal person or insolvency proceedings of a natural person;
- to request and receive from State and local government institutions, free of charge, the information necessary for insolvency proceedings of the legal person at their disposal or insolvency proceedings of the natural person regarding the debtor and the representatives of the debtor;
- to request and receive from other competent persons and institutions the information at their disposal, which is related to the course of insolvency proceedings of a legal person and insolvency proceedings of a natural person;
- to become acquainted with the financial situation of the debtor and all documents, as well as to request and receive all documents.
An administrator, in relation to whom the procedural activities specified in Section 174.2, Paragraph one, Clause 9 of the insolvency Law are performed, has the following rights:
- to be present during the performance of the proceedings, to make comments and requests;
- propose that the status of restricted access information be determined for the information to be provided or for any part thereof;
- to become acquainted with the minutes of the proceedings and the documents appended thereto, to recommend corrections and additions;
- within one month after signing the procedural activity protocol specified in Section 174.3 of this Law to submit a complaint to the Director of the Insolvency Control Service regarding the actions of an official of the Insolvency Control Service.