Draft insolvency-chamber law adds licence, exam and second chamber duty

A draft law on insolvency office-holders would replace the current court-by-court pre-selection of InsolvenzverwalterBstbk with a single nationwide admission procedureBstbk, a separate professional chamber for insolvency office-holders and cross-proceedings supervisionBstbk. For Steuerberater who act as Insolvenzverwalter, Sachwalter, Verfahrenskoordinator, Restrukturierungsbeauftragter or Sanierungsmoderator, or who plan to cooperate professionally with such office-holdersBstbk, the draft means a second admission track, additional professional duties, an extra chamber membership and supervision alongside the SteuerberaterkammerBstbk. The Bundessteuerberaterkammer (BStBK) is fundamentally open to establishing this chamber, calling stronger self-administration of the Freie Berufe a core concern of the profession, but warns the new law should not run counter to efforts to unify the professional law of already-chambered professions.

Admission would require a university degree, practical training and a theory examBstbkination. The Steuerberaterprüfung would count in place of the degreeBstbk, keeping the route open for practitioners admitted via the Praktikerweg without university study. For Steuerberater the draft's standard five-year practical training would be three yearsBstbk, and Steuerberater could help deliver it: up to 40% may rest on restructuring, Sanierungsmoderation and out-of-court restructuring workBstbk.

The draft assigns each admitted office-holder to the occupational pension scheme (Versorgungswerk) of the Rechtsanwälte, Steuerberater or Wirtschaftsprüfer where they are already a member at the time of admissionBstbk, so insolvency-office work counts as scheme-covered activity. The BStBK welcomes that clarification and notes the Berlin gap: Berlin is the only Land with no occupational pension scheme for Steuerberater, after past attempts to found one failed on political resistance at Land level.

Among the friction points is the draft's blanket rule that insolvency-office duties prevail over the duties of any second profession in a conflictBstbk should be deleted without replacementBstbk: a Steuerberater remains bound by independence, confidentiality and conflict-avoidance dutiesBstbk, and practice resolves overlaps by applying whichever professional rule is stricter in the individual case, weighing the protected interestsBstbk. Data flows should run both ways between chambers, mirroring the mutual transmission rule for the tax-adviser profession, because loss of the insolvency admission or a serious disciplinary decision can affect chamber standing or a stake in a steuerberatende Berufsausübungsgesellschaft. Supervision of mixed firms needs a sharp boundary: the requirements on permissible shareholders, capital ties and independent practice continue to govern steuerberatende firms without exception, with no indirect widening of the shareholder circle and no evasion of the third-party ownership banBstbk, and an employed administrator in such a firm must remain personally independent and free from instructionsBstbk. A conduct clause demanding reputation-preserving behaviour at all times, even with no link to office-holdingBstbk, goes beyond the disciplinary threshold for the tax-adviser professionBstbk, which requires an unlawful act or regulatory offence seriously capable of harming respect and trust; the BStBK wants the clause confined to serious conduct bearing on fitness for insolvency officeBstbk.

Transitional protection tied to at least 20 appointments as Insolvenzverwalter or Sachwalter plus five settled regular proceedingsBstbk is too narrow for a new professionBstbk that also covers coordinators, restructuring officers and Sanierungsmoderatoren. On the Steuerberatungsgesetz side, the BStBK wants the role classified expressly as a Freier Beruf so existing cooperation rules keep working, teaching for the examination labelled precisely, and any crediting of an insolvency-mandated liability policy tied to meeting the full cover and sum requirements.

Legal basis: Referentenentwurf of a Gesetz zur Schaffung eines Rechtsrahmens für die Tätigkeit insolvenzrechtlicher Amtsträger (InsAG-E with InsO, StBerG and DVStB amendments); BStBK Stellungnahme of 22 October 2026; Steuerberatungsgesetz §§ 10, 32 Abs. 2, 50 Abs. 1, 57 Abs. 3, 89 Abs. 2; Insolvenzordnung § 56b.