The long awaited Personal Insolvency Act 2012 was enacted on 26 December 2012. It is expected to become operative in the third quarter of 2013. Once the Act is commenced there will be a State-run Insolvency Service to operate non-judicial debt settlement arrangements. The Act also reforms the existing bankruptcy procedure. The Act is of particular interest to financial institutions and trade creditors. Some debts ("Excluded Debts") cannot form part of insolvency arrangements e.g.