Experience suggests that the issue of fraud in invoice finance remains a persistent problem. Inherent in the operation of the sale of receivables is the temptation for unscrupulous or desperate directors to create ‘fresh air’ invoices, which do not represent the product of any genuine trading (or sometimes which exaggerate the extent of otherwise genuine trading), whether from the start of the facility or during times of poor trading.
Continue ReadingAt the end of this Summer, the Supreme Court delivered its anticipated judgment in the joint appeals in Hopcraft v Close Brothers Limited [2025] UKSC 33. The decision focused on motor finance, but the Court’s findings have far broader implications for all sectors in which brokerage services are available, including the invoice finance industry. The decision has come as welcome news across the UK finance world, though the story of compensation in relation to broker commission seems likely to rumble on for some time to come.
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Jonathan Berkson, (pictured) joined Bermans in June 2013 and is a Senior Partner in our Asset Based Lending and Litigation teams. We spoke to him to learn more about him and his work.
Invoice financiers grappling with the threats and opportunities posed by AI may be interested to learn of the impact AI, and in particular the recent developments in generative AI, are likely to have on their interactions with their lawyers and with the court system.
Continue ReadingOne of the most complex and uncertain areas of law which invoice discounters and their lawyers regularly have to deal with is transaction set off, namely the extent to which the customer’s claim arising from defective or late performance of the contract on which the relevant invoice is based can be set off against the value of the invoice.
Continue ReadingReaders will be aware that it is very rare for a reported case in the higher courts dealing with invoice finance to emerge, so we were interested to see a report of a recent case in another area of financial services which raised squarely 2 legal concepts which are fundamental to invoice financiers:
Continue ReadingThere was a time some years ago when a major selling point of disclosed invoice finance was the perceived ability of established Invoice Financiers practised in the art of collecting debts when compared to the frequent troubles of small businesses in persuading their customers to pay on time.
Continue ReadingUNIDROIT is a respected international organisation dedicated to the improvement of commercial law across its 65 member nations and beyond, and will be recognised by more established members of the invoice finance community (ie. older readers!) for its Convention on International Factoring which was adopted in 1988.
Continue ReadingA recent decision in the Commercial Court provided some comfort to invoice financiers facing technical arguments in litigation as to the accuracy of invoices submitted to debtors
Continue ReadingThere are a few very few cases in the law reports dealing specifically with factoring or invoice discounting, so we always pay particular attention to those that are reported, and in this respect it is worth reflecting upon the recent decision of the High Court in Elevar Finance SPV Photon LLC v Mr Sabesan Somasundaram [2023] EWHC 151(Ch).
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