Online news: Cross-industry compliance standard needed, says TDX 11 November 2011

More correlation is needed between debt sellers over the compliance requirements of their suppliers, a senior figure at intermediary TDX Group has warned.

Oliver Betts, head of client and product development at TDX, said that although many debt purchase firms had invested heavily in compliance, the lack of a standard applied by all sellers meant there existed the opportunity for inconsistency.

“It would be great if you could have a standard audit across the industry,” Betts said. “I know the Debt Buyers and Sellers Group are working on that, but we need to see it as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile John Godfrey, senior manager of external relations, collections and recoveries at Blackhorse, said there would be opportunities for smaller debt sale deals next year, allaying concerns expressed by some that the debt purchase playing field was turning into a narrow playing field of big deals done with big players.

Godfrey also told the audience that his firm would continue to look at selling in small tranches going into 2012.

“Some of the smaller players have something they can add,” he said. “It is possible for smaller creditors to sanction smaller deals that are not worth the time and investment for the bigger players. The smaller the package, the less the inherent risk.”