Regulation of Insolvency Professionals in India: International Regulation Standards Litmus Test and Cross-Border Perspectives

India transformed its business environment on May 11, 2016, by enacting the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”). The IBC is a robust and empowering legislation that has delivered tangible results within a remarkably short period post its enactment. Irrefutable proof of the same is India moving a whopping 56 places from 108 to 52 under the category of “Resolving Insolvency” in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report, 2020. One of the critical pillars of institutional infrastructure on which the robust legislative machinery created under the IBC rests is “Insolvency Professionals” (“IPs”). IPs exercise quasi-judicial powers in any insolvency/bankruptcy proceeding, subject to the review of the creditors and the adjudicating judicial authorities. IPs drive all the processes governed by and initiated under the IBC. Thus, given the critical position that IPs hold in the scheme of things promulgated under the IBC, their regulation and governance have become extremely critical in India. Given that the IP regulation system in India is five years old as of the date (i.e. December 12, 2021), now is a good time to subject it to the global standards of IP regulation, given that India hopes to and has the potential to become a global economic superpower. Thus, this paper intends to undertake an intellectual reconnaissance into whether or not the incumbent framework governing IPs under the IBC is in sync with the global standards of IP regulation and whether or not India needs to draw any perspectives on IP regulation from other countries (i.e. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Singapore) (collectively “Identified Jurisdictions”) that have experience in IP regulation.