The FLA has joined forces with the Department for Education (DfE) and the National Association of School Business Management (NASBM) in producing a new document “Leasing Guidance for Schools”.
This document replaces the previous FLA publication from 2011 – ‘Tips for Successful Leasing in Schools’.
The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 came into force on 26 June 2017. The new Regulations implement the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive (“MLD4”) and entirely replace the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, and their provisions are markedly more comprehensive.
Following an extensive consultation process since 2009 the final version of the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims as dictated by the Ministry of Justice will come into force on 1 October 2017.
We are pleased to announce that the fifth edition of our popular Guide to Asset Finance Law is now published and ready to distribute. The guide provides up-to-date relevant legislative and case law developments.
Whilst it is too early to predict the likely effects of Brexit on legal issues in the asset finance industry, it is worth noting that much of the current legislation affecting consumer credit derives from EU Directives.
A difficult point of consumer credit law has for some years been the extent to which a one-off or occasional series of transactions may be subject to the need for licensing or authorisation. The issue arose in the recent High Court case of Newmafruit Farms Ltd v Pither [2016] EWHC 2205.
The FCA has now published its finalised guidance (FG17/1) concerning default notices and guarantors under regulated consumer credit and consumer hire agreements.
The FCA previously consulted on its draft guidance twice during 2016, resulting in revised draft guidance in October which took a more burdensome view of funders’ obligations. The Final Guidance is largely unchanged from the October revised draft.
We recently successfully represented a funder at a High Court trial which reaffirmed a number of interesting points for asset financiers involved in funding parts of the motor trade.
The funder had arranged for one of its motor dealer clients to look after vehicles which had been provided by the dealer with finance from the funder but had subsequently been repossessed. There was a verbal agreement for payment of a commission for sales which the dealer achieved in respect of these vehicles.
The FCA has published revised consumer credit information sheets to accompany arrears and default notices, which must be used by funders from 14 April 2017. Until then, the current versions (which have been in force since 2014) must be used after the initial draft of the new versions intended to come into effect this January were found to be defective and had to be withdrawn.
We will shortly be publishing the fourth edition of our popular Guide to Asset Finance Law , which brings the previous third edition published in 2012 right up-to-date with relevant legislative and case law developments, setting out differences between English and Scots law.