The arbitration manager is a highly qualified specialist prepared for independent work in the field of management and economics at various enterprises. Bankruptcy specialists work in companies with all forms of ownership, in local and state government. They carry out organizational and managerial activities, the main thing in which is the management of companies during the crisis, as well as the rehabilitation and liquidation of enterprises. Now you know what an arbitration manager is. Let's find out how long this profession has existed.
History reference
The institution of bankruptcy is a new phenomenon in our system of legal regulation. On the other hand, this procedure was already known in pre-revolutionary Russia and was actively applied to insolvent debtors. There was also a certain status of anti-crisis specialists.
In pre-revolutionary times, modern arbitration managers were called "trustees." The procedure for their election was simple. They gathered sworn attorneys or lawyers and chose someone from among them. The chosen trustee-guardian was to ensure the lawfulness of all actions of the bankrupt enterprise. At the same time, the debtor was completely removed from all the affairs and property of the company.
Legal status of the arbitration manager
Most people do not understand the essence of this profession. For some, the arbitration manager - is a civil servant taking part in bankruptcy proceedings. For others, this is a person who has come to the company in order to pick up the latter and bankrupt the company completely. And although both of these statements are incorrect, in each of them there is some truth.
Usually this concept designates three types of crisis management specialists: bankruptcy trustee, interim trustee and external manager. They differ in that they are connected to bankruptcy proceedings at its various stages. But the crisis manager must control all stages of the procedure. The fate of the company depends on his knowledge, skills and qualifications.
This new participant in the bankruptcy process appeared in the Russian economy in 1992, when the law “On bankruptcy of enterprises. " But the anti-crisis manager became a key figure in this procedure in 1998 with the adoption of the new Bankruptcy Law. Just at that time, an economic crisis erupted, and many lost their jobs. Therefore, the new profession has become very attractive and in demand in the job market.
Thus, banking workers, economists, as well as military and engineers came into this area. But at that time no one really knew how to become an arbitration manager, and in this regard, there were many low-skilled specialists in the bankruptcy market. And the requirements for workers were far from perfect. So any person could become a crisis manager (even without a higher education). Moreover, this specialist was not responsible for the results of his work.
Qualification selection
Everything changed in 2002 with the advent of the law on increasing the volume of professional criteria that an arbitration manager must meet. The requirements were as follows:
- higher education;
- experience in management (at least 2 years);
- availability of a certificate of special education according to a program approved by federal departments;
- the candidate must complete the courses of arbitration managers and undergo an annual internship in a self-regulatory organization, while receiving positive feedback and eventually becoming a member.
Liability mechanisms
A number of mechanisms of responsibility for the results of work have also been introduced. The first is the institution of disqualification. The second is insurance against damage caused by the arbitration manager. Responsibility also lies with the self-regulatory organization that has committed to this specialist.
According to lawmakers, financial liability through insurance will also help to avoid conflicts of interest. It is she who is provided by the insurance contract. The minimum amount of annual insurance is 3 million rubles.
Very many people are interested in the question of who appoints the arbitration manager. This is done by the court of the same name, considering candidates from among employees self-regulatory organization. But there is an important point. After the arbitration court has approved the anti-crisis worker in the bankruptcy case, he must insure his own liability in the event of damage to the organization within ten days.
SRO arbitration managers
Now the anti-crisis specialist does not work alone. By law, the arbitration manager must be a member of a self-regulatory organization. In addition to issuing insurance policies, he must give at least 50 thousand rubles to his company's compensation fund.
This money will be used to cover losses in case of incorrect actions of the anti-crisis specialist. Some organizations have a common compensation fund. It was created with the aim of controlling each other’s actions by arbitration managers. That is, there is a certain mechanism of mutual responsibility.
SRO arbitration managers must monitor the activities of each of its employees. In the case of his wrong actions, she determines for him the measure of punishment, up to and including expulsion from the organization. If this happens, then the anti-crisis specialist must leave the company where he worked.
Similarity to Entrepreneurship
The Bankruptcy Law stipulates that an individual registered as individual entrepreneur. In this case, it is necessary to have special skills and not have common interests with the debtor and creditors.
The fact that only an individual entrepreneur can be an anti-crisis specialist is very ambiguous and interesting. Consider this issue in the legal field. Who can be an individual entrepreneur?
According to Art. 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it can be any natural person who will carry out activities (taking into account possible risks) aimed at regular profit from the provision of services or the sale of goods to others. On the one hand, the work of an anti-crisis specialist contains features of entrepreneurship. After all, this is an independent, officially registered activity, carried out at your own risk in order to generate income.
But the legal status of the anti-crisis specialist as an individual entrepreneur has its own characteristics. They are related to the specifics of the bankruptcy procedure and find their expression in the special distribution of entrepreneurial risks and the implementation of the work process by the crisis manager on his own behalf, as well as on behalf of creditors and the debtor, taking into account the interests of all parties.
The arbitration manager may also participate in the bankruptcy process solely on his own behalf and exercise the powers listed in the federal law regarding certain bankruptcy procedures. In this case, they talk about the activities of an anti-crisis specialist carried out by their own power in the interests of the debtor and creditors.
At the same time, at various stages of bankruptcy, the duties of the debtor's manager fall on the crisis manager.That is, the arbitration manager becomes an executive body for him. This circumstance suggests that the activities of the anti-crisis specialist have a number of features that are not characteristic of other individual entrepreneurs.
Here the question arises that the remuneration of the arbitration manager from an economic point of view is profit, but is regulated by methods that are not applicable to it. Of course, the work of an anti-crisis specialist is paid. He receives a salary at the expense of the property of the debtor.
If this is not enough, then remuneration is paid by creditors. It is worth considering that the amount of profit will be approved by the arbitration court, regardless of the results of the work of the arbitration manager. The income of an individual entrepreneur and the remuneration of an anti-crisis specialist are of a different legal nature, but the tax structure remains the same.
In this regard, a logical question arises. It sounds as follows: “Can an arbitration manager engage in entrepreneurial activity?” He, in fact, is engaged in it. Only the independence of the anti-crisis specialist is severely limited. He cannot act only in his own interests, as an individual entrepreneur. Indeed, in the bankruptcy procedure, the interests of creditors and the debtor are always put in the first place. Also, the actions of the crisis manager are limited by decisions of the committee of creditors and legislation.
The paradox is that for an anti-crisis specialist, as well as for an entrepreneur, state registration is mandatory, but the initial stage of his work is determined not by this registration, but by a decision of the arbitration court. This is spelled out in the Bankruptcy Law, and it is unlikely that anything will change in the near future.
A few years ago, a survey was conducted among arbitration managers. They were asked: "Do you think the status of the anti-crisis specialist is correctly established? What should it be from the point of view of civilized legislation?" About 20% supported the status of anti-crisis specialist as an individual entrepreneur. 70% considered it necessary to change it. Moreover, as a model, they proposed the status of a notary or lawyer. And the remaining 10% were in favor of civil servants becoming anti-crisis managers.
Income
Above, we have already touched on the topic of remuneration of an anti-crisis specialist, but did not say anything about specific numbers and calculation methods. Surely our readers are interested in how much the arbitration manager earns. Just note that the income from this specialist is floating.
That is, in one month there may be no salary, and in another you can immediately receive a million rubles. The amount of remuneration is calculated as a percentage of the book value of the debtor's assets, to which a fixed amount is added. Each self-regulatory organization calculates it independently.
Essence of the work
At the stage of observation, a temporary anti-crisis specialist appears. The tasks of the arbitration manager at this stage are to deal with the financial situation of the debtor and determine whether it is possible to restore its solvency. Having made certain conclusions, the temporary anti-crisis specialist organizes a meeting of creditors.
There he gives a report and, depending on the results of the financial analysis, recommends one of four decisions to be taken: sign a settlement agreement (if the debtor agrees to pay the installments), introduce external management or financial recovery (if the solvency of the debt can be restored), open bankruptcy proceedings.
The interim manager shall perform his duties until a competitive or external one is appointed. In principle, he himself may become one of them.When the stage of external management begins, the head of the debtor is discharged, and in fact the company is headed by an external manager. He creates a plan that provides for the restoration of solvency by a specific date. Then this document is approved at a meeting of creditors.
The main function of the external manager is to restore the solvency of the debtor through various operations. First of all, due to the auctioning of non-core property or due to the lease of space. In this case, the anti-crisis specialist can independently manage the property of the debtor. But for the purpose of insurance, the arbitration manager tries to approve all transactions with property at a meeting of creditors.
His main duty is to conduct a complete inventory of the property. Moreover, it does not matter whether it belongs to the debtor or not. Entries in accounting documents do not matter. The external manager conducts statistical, financial, accounting and general reporting (usually his assistants are specialists in the field of economics and law).
He also draws up a list of creditors' claims, develops a series of debt collection measures, and helps the debtor formulate objections to claims made by creditors. When the external management plan is implemented to the end, the arbitration manager provides a report to the creditors meeting. If the solvency of the debtor has been restored, then settlements with creditors are carried out in accordance with the compiled register.
The powers of the external manager are valid until the appointment of a new head of the company in case of debt repayment or signing a settlement agreement. Or until the bankruptcy trustee appears in the event bankruptcy proceedings are instituted. This specialist takes measures to search, detect and return property owned by third parties, and to ensure its safety. He also draws up a complete register of creditors and conducts settlements with them. This is a fairly responsible position requiring specific skills. That is why it is so important to get training for a bankruptcy trustee.
Psychological aspect
Bankruptcy is a conflicting and painful process. Conflicts of interest begin from the moment of filing an application with the arbitration court and continue at the stage of appointing an anti-crisis specialist. After all, each side prefers to see its candidate in this position.
But even if the arbitration manager was appointed with the assistance of creditors, this does not mean at all that they will support his further actions. Since the severity of the conflict depends on the liquidity and size of the assets of the debtor company, the integrity of the anti-crisis specialist and his desire to act within the framework of the law may not always meet with due understanding.
In our country, anti-crisis managers and arbitration management as a whole have developed a negative attitude both from specific actors and society as a whole. An anti-crisis specialist is a potential threat to all parties: company executives, the work team, criminal structures, administrative bodies, etc. The exception is probably lenders, and even that is not all.
Upon appointment to the company, an anti-crisis specialist is forced to work with a discontented workforce that does not receive wages and yet does not want to change anything. The previous management is aware that with the advent of such a manager, things can end badly.
Especially if the authorities were engaged in illegal affairs and are resisting. Very often, the former leadership does its best to “put sticks in the wheels”, destroying documents, not providing the necessary information, sabotaging the work. It also happens that this bosses still need to be found. The administration, which had good relations with the previous management, can also hinder the activity.In general, the crisis management specialist is in a difficult situation: everyone perceives him as a stranger.
The main characteristic of the specialty “arbitration manager” is potential conflict. All participants in the bankruptcy process are not configured to interact with each other. They are in constant struggle and opposition.
The anti-crisis specialist is always at the center of existing and potential conflicts. This poses a serious threat to business, health and even his life. Therefore, the main task of the crisis manager is to defuse the conflict that has arisen in the interests of all parties (creditors and the enterprise itself).
Professionalism
Now the Russian bankruptcy institute has begun to gain strength. Anti-crisis managers are becoming more and more, which means that competition in the labor market is increasing. Therefore, professionalism is very important in this area.
So how to become a high-class arbitrator? First, let us give this term a definition. A professional crisis manager is a person who has the skills and knowledge of a competent lawyer, a subtle psychologist and an experienced economist, and most importantly, he has leadership experience.
Personal qualities are no less important. The arbitration manager must have a very high stress tolerance, as it will be necessary to make rational decisions even in conflict situations. And, of course, he must be honest and decent.
The specifics of this activity is such that specialists in this profile communicate with different people, so ideally you need to be a master of communication. This means that you need to be able to find a common language with any person in any situation, listen to and coordinate the interests and opinions of different parties during negotiations, convince others of their own rightness and, if necessary, compromise.
The professionalism of the crisis manager directly depends on his theoretical skills and practical experience. Well and, of course, to achieve success you need to constantly increase your level of knowledge and learn regularly.
Teamwork
Needless to say, even an excellent specialist who knows how to become an arbitration manager is unlikely to succeed alone? Therefore, employees of this profile do not have a rule fixed by law, on which the success of their activities depends.
The crisis manager participates in any bankruptcy procedure together with a team of specialists who are well versed in the areas of management, accounting and law. He can also resort to the services of private specialists or consulting companies. Also, all these concerns can be taken by the assistant arbitration manager. And the last: crisis management is an applied science. Therefore, most of the knowledge a specialist in this profile receives in the work process.
