Course Catalogue

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The course will study the theory and practice of corporate insolvency processes and financial distress, including a consideration of the role played by the insolvency profession. Issues of accountability, corporate governance, bank lending practices and stakeholder concerns will be explored in depth, primarily from a UK perspective but also with reference to practices in other jurisdictions.

3 hours of lectures for 10 weeks.

Normally a grade D3 or above in Financial Accounting 2 or suitable equivalent.

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1. Written Assignment, including Essay; Individual; 2,500 words, 40%; ILOs 1-6.
2. Degree exam: in-person; Individual; 120 minutes; 60%; ILOs 1-6.

The aims of this course are to:

■ Provide students with both a theoretical and practical understanding of corporate insolvency and financial distress.

■ Enable students to question the role of insolvency policy in society and hence to understand the impact of a change in policy on practice. 

■ Contextualise insolvency and financial distress against political, economic, social and international environments. 

■ Provide students with an understanding of the insolvency profession and to enable students to critically evaluate the role of insolvency practitioners and their impact upon distressed organisations and society.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Explain, compare and evaluate the different corporate insolvency procedures and restructuring processes available to financially distressed companies from a theoretical and practical perspective;

2. Explain and critically evaluate the impact of financial distress and the different procedures on different stakeholder groups, taking into consideration the economic, legal, political and social contexts in which distress occurs;

3. Identify and evaluate developments in insolvency practice and law internationally and assess their potential impact on stakeholders, organisations and society;

4. Describe the evolution of the insolvency profession in the UK, its historical significance to the development of the accountancy profession and critically appraise the role of the insolvency practitioner within society;

5. Critically evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of regulation of the insolvency profession and company directors, recognising and evaluating the inter-relationships between different institutional bodies and the effectiveness of legislation;

6. 6. Evaluate inter-disciplinary research and debate and evaluate its potential value to enhance knowledge, theory development and/or practice development.