The Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN), in partnership with Polaris Bank, has called for strengthened efforts to regulate insolvency, enhance corporate restructuring and support business recovery processes in Nigeria.
BRIPAN President, Chimezie Victor Ihekweazu, said this yesterday during a courtesy visit to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Polaris Bank, Kayode Lawal.
BRIPAN’s executives were received by Lawal, alongside the Executive Director, Retail and Commercial Banking, Chris Ofikulu, and Head Legal and Company Secretary, Pirzing Binwa.
The meeting highlighted ways to collaborate with commercial institutions, including small and medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs), to streamline business recovery.
Ihekweazu noted that BRIPAN is a professional body comprising accountants, lawyers and bankers with expertise in insolvency and business recovery.
“BRIPAN is an association of accountants, lawyers and bankers well-versed in the business recovery field. We have been in existence since 1991 with the core objective of building standard practices in business recovery and insolvency in Nigeria,” he said.
Highlighting the association’s training and capacity-building initiatives, he extended an invitation for the bank’s staff to become members and benefit from tailored training. He also sought the bank’s support for the association’s upcoming international conference.
Other members present reiterated the association’s legislative authority and stressed its focus on business rescue and restructuring rather than traditional receivership.
In response, Lawal welcomed the initiative and highlighted the importance of collaborations and partnerships in enhancing business recovery practices.
He, however, stressed the need to consider legal frameworks when entering into such partnerships. “While these opportunities are available, legal considerations must also be carefully integrated into collaborative partnerships of this kind,” he said.
He urged investors and professionals across the sector to contribute actively towards achieving the goals of BRIPAN. “We urge investors and colleagues to play their part in this role. It cannot be achieved by us alone or through meetings only; it has to be backed by action,” he said.
On her part, Pirzing noted that discussions on partnership arrangements with the association are already underway and progressing positively. “I can confirm that their approach is genuinely aimed at salvaging businesses, and we have confirmed this direction as well,” she said.
The meeting reiterated several strategies on how to improve business recovery in Nigeria and proposed several collaborative reforms across the insolvency and business restructuring sector.
