First up
Mainstream myths 1 August 2011
Lending is down and there is no appetite for borrowing. Or at least that is the message the mainstream press is delivering. In it is the implicit conclusion that there is a credit freeze over the UK marketplace. Register or log in to read full article
Credit carousel 1 June 2011
When it comes to restarting the liquidity merry-go-round, those in the know realise the key is transparency Register or log in to read full article
Signs of hope 1 May 2011
Growth and recovery: words that are music to the ears of those in the corridors of power. Yet, these hopeful sentiments are not just being bandied about by optimistic (or beleaguered) politicians any longer. Instead they have entered mainstream parlance. Register or log in to read full article
The road to sell 1 April 2011
Debt sales have been in the doldrums over the past couple of years. While there have been pockets of activity – the odd portfolio sale here and there – most debt purchasers have been in limbo, awaiting investment. Register or log in to read full article
New horizons 1 March 2011
In January, PaydayUK and BCW Group were taken over by US-based Dollar Financial Corp and Norway-based Gothia Financial Group respectively. The fact that these two companies were keen to bulk up in Britain with leading businesses captures the feeling of an emerging international appetite for credit. Register or log in to read full article
Dukes of hazard 1 February 2011
"Successful investing is anticipating the anticipations of others." The words of influential British economist John Maynard Keynes might well apply to the mindset of certain private equity firms, the archdukes of business growth, which are eyeing up potential investment opportunities across the debt purchase market. Register or log in to read full article
A sense of proportion 1 January 2011
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) thrust several historical issues for the credit industry into the limelight last month, imposing requirements over charging orders, disputed debt collection and payday lending. Register or log in to read full article
Beware false dawns 1 December 2010
At the time of writing, as the coalition government desperately trawled through the scrap heap of the spending cuts for a slither of positive PR, we were told that a double dose of good news had arrived. Register or log in to read full article
Taken for a ride 1 November 2010
The Office of Fair Trading unleashed its invective against fee-charging debt management firms last month, instructing 129 firms that they must take immediate action to comply with its guidance. Register or log in to read full article
Regime change 1 September 2010
In an unexpected if not hugely surprising move, the Treasury has finally proposed to do what lenders have been urging it to do for several years – to bring consumer credit under a single regulatory regime. Register or log in to read full article
An unavoidable truth 1 August 2010
It may be one of those odd nuances of the "new politics" that the industry now faces, but the Budget pretty much lived up to its own publicity; it promised swingeing cuts and it delivered them. Register or log in to read full article
Sign of the times 1 July 2010
It was inevitable during a period of intense funding pressures within central departments, and vast volumes of debt owed to the taxman, that government officials would have to explore new options for recovering tax liabilities more proficiently. Register or log in to read full article
Age of indifference 1 June 2010
Across the credit industry the sense of apathy, if not moral indignation, towards the electoral campaigns of the three main parties has been palpable. The general election has dominated the news agenda over the past month, but even the parties’ manifesto proposals for changes that would directly affect the industry have been met largely with mild cynicism at best or, in most cases, regarded as genuflections to the court of public opinion. Register or log in to read full article
Ready to implode 1 May 2010
The claims management industry has gained almost unrivalled notoriety in the past three years as its main protagonists eschewed ambulance chasing for credit card killing. Register or log in to read full article
Data despair 1 April 2010
Data and personal information are at the heart of the credit industry and always a political hot potato when things go awry. Information may be the number one tool in the sector’s toolkit but it needs to work hard to make sure the government doesn’t take the tool away as consumer rights groups and privacy campaigners demand greater control over personal information. Register or log in to read full article
Election fever 1 March 2010
One kind of madness may be about to begin, politically, but the upcoming general election will also give the industry some breathing space and time to retrench. While the lobbyists in credit companies and trade bodies have been run off their feet with the onslaught of consultations launched in the pre-Christmas period, soon we enter ‘purdah’ – the pre-election period where no contentious political announcements can be made and civil servants are forced to down tools and allow the democratic process to run its course. At the end of it who knows what the political landscape will look like and what the priorities will be? Register or log in to read full article
Ringing the changes 1 February 2010
Here we are in 2010 and, despite the challenges of the recession, the collections industry did not disintegrate last year. At the start of 2009 many predicted that debt purchasers and collection agencies would be hard hit and copious mergers and failures would ensue. It’s certainly not been an easy 12 months, but the expected apocalypse failed to emerge. Now we’re at the turn of another year, the doom mongers are at it again, predicting painful destruction. Register or log in to read full article
It’s good to listen 1 January 2010
If anyone thought government would slack off now we’re close to Christmas they were wrong. If anything, the pace of consultation issuing seems to have accelerated – perhaps in a bid to meet annual targets and promises? Register or log in to read full article
The problem of profit 1 December 2009
A blow was dealt to the government’s proposed statutory debt management plans (DMPs) last month when lawyers for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had a look at the legislation in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act and discovered that there is no provision for providers to make any profit from them (see News, link below). It is something they probably should have looked at before issuing a consultation on the subject. Register or log in to read full article
Brave new world? 1 November 2009
What if collections differentiation no longer existed? What if we lived in a world where people in debt worked out what they could pay and then split it equally between their creditors? In a market where this behaviour predominated there would be no need for skilled collections call centres and elaborate strategies to be the first to be paid. Competition for payment would vanish and collecting debts would become more about process and paperwork than creativity. Register or log in to read full article
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