Coming Summer 2010
To register your interest visit
www.traceiq.co.uk
Recovery 'already started' says legal boss
Lee & Priestley solicitors in Leeds, a leading debt recovery law firm, believes that recovery rates will soon improve.
“According to our figures, the level of our client’s business debt is decreasing and at the same time we are obtaining greater levels of recovery,” says Steve Bailey, newly appointed Head of Debt Recovery. “I am optimistic that within the next six months we should all see an improvement with the way cash comes in.”
The deep-seated nature of the recession and the marginal growth has meant that there are mixed feelings about the growth continuing into 2010, Steve says. “Research by R3, the insolvency
trade body, showed that only 39 percent of businesses felt the outlook for the first three months of 2010 looked positive and city analysts felt that the rise in VAT and the decision by the Bank of England to stop their policy of quantitative easing could see the economy shrink again.
“We have all felt the pressure of the recession, and of course it has proved more difficult to get debtors to pay their debts as they withhold payment in an attempt to maximise their own cash flow,” Steve says. “Despite this, with the right approach there is always a way to reach a suitable agreement for the parties concerned.”
leepriestley.com
Listening comprehension
Pensions, ISAs, mortgages and other financial products should meet a ‘comprehensibility threshold’ before they can be sold and carry Fairtrade-style labelling so the public can see where savings are invested. Labeling and comprehensibility tests will make financial
products and services more transparent so that people can make informed choices about which products they choose, according to the Commission into the Future of Civil Society, in its report ‘Making Good Society’.
futureforcivilsociety.org
DDL plans European expansion
Global payments specialists Direct Debit Limited has opened new offices and announced plans to expand into Europe. The offices were unveiled in the company’s first-quarter review, which described Direct Debit Limited’s ‘exceptional performance’ since the start of the year.
Empowering the credit profession
At the review, the company’s senior management team revealed plans to open a research and development facility in Kosova and announced its intention to establish a Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) training academy in Hungary.
directdebit.com
IN BRIEF
PROTECTING BORROWERS
New rules that implement the European Consumer Credit Directive will come into effect from February 1, 2011 and will work in conjunction with the OFT’s irresponsible lending guidance for lenders due to be published shortly. The new rules for unsecured credit agreements include: a 14-day window for consumers to cancel credit agreements without penalty; the requirement for lenders to assess consumer’s creditworthiness before providing a loan; and a right for consumers to make partial early repayment (this is in addition to the existing right to repay early in full).
oft.gov.uk
UNHAPPY BUDGET
More than nine out of ten smaller businesses were left disappointed by the latest Budget, a snap poll has revealed. In a survey of its members, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) found that just five percent believe Alistair Darling’s proposals will create an environment for their businesses to develop. Similarly, 87 percent said the Chancellor’s measures will not increase business and consumer confidence. More than two thirds (70 percent) of respondents said they expect a more realistic budget to be delivered after the general election.
fpb.org
JOINING FORCES
HSBC Commercial Banking and Euler Hermes, the credit insurer, are to begin working together to support HSBC Invoice Finance’s service to UK exporters. The partnership brings together what is described as ‘the knowledge and experience’ of HSBC with the ‘judgment and information sources’ of Euler Hermes and will give HSBC Invoice Finance customers the benefit of credit protection when trading in up to 214 countries and territories.
hsbc.co.uk
www.
icm.org.uk May 2010
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