Going in witheyes open - LeasingWorld of 2012.pdf · asmaa xit ARD usts vice viders: the new...
Transcript of Going in witheyes open - LeasingWorld of 2012.pdf · asmaa xit ARD usts vice viders: the new...
Social Media CAN help leasingAndrew Denton, Director at CHP Consulting, shows how social media can grease thewheels for leasing in the SME market
www.leasingworld.co.uk DECEMBER 2012 31
REVIEW OF 2012 SPECIAL FEATURE
2012:
Going in with
eyes open
40
50
60
70
80
M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
May-Dec 2009
Jan-Dec 2010
Jan-Dec 2011
49.2
51.8
49.2
54.9
53.8
54.3
57.258.9
58.8
60.6
60.2
65.4
67.4
65.2
57.6
58.2
59.6
58.8
65.5
64.8
69.7
71.672.4
70.3
63.2
52.6
56.2
50
47.6
50.7
57.457.2
US ELFF MONTHLY CONFIDENCE INDEX – EQUIPMENT FINANCE INDUSTRY (MCI-EFI)
Letter to the Editor
Sir, I
saw with an increasingly bleak
outlook the latest and greatest
negative exposes on the industry in
relation to the education sector and
others. I could not help but feel that we
are as an industry shooting ourselves
firmly in the foot again. At a tim
e when
we should be at the forefront of
supporting recovery in UK plc it does us
no good to get publicity like this. Whilst
participant in this industry is d
amaged by
these sorts of reports.
A series of questions readily pose
themselves. Do we check our
suppliers/intermediaries sufficiently well?
This is not just about day one; it i
s about
continuing vetting and verification. D
o
we check that the asset (and the lease)
has been properly accepted, is as
described to us and exists before paying
1pm plc interimsAIM listed lessor 1pm, led by
Maria Hampton MD and
focused on financing business
critical assets between £1,000
and £40,000 for SMEs, on
condition of clear credit
histories, has announced its
independently reviewed interim
results for the six month period
to 30 November 2011.
Financial Highlights:
• Revenue for the period
increased 31 percent to
£1,151,331 (H1 2011:
£880,175)
• Profit before taxation increased 238 percent to £214,293 (H1
Lease accounting Review
Charlotte Lo, Senior Manager at KPMG, looks forward to the new ED in 2012
A s one looks over the last 12 months and then
contemplates the next 12 to come, a few things become
obvious. There seems to be, and has been, a spirit of fear
in the market place. This spirit of fear leads people to insulate
themselves, and not to take chances. For leasing companies this
means a number of their clients, as evidenced by the last few
years, have stalled on making new acquisitions unless they have
had cash on hand to purchase them. This obviously slows the
economy down as investment is not occurring in individual
businesses, which means investment is not occurring in the
economy at large. That was the scene entering 2011, with a lot
of youthful enthusiasm hoping that this state would change for
the coming year. Indeed, 2011 showed some very strong signs of recovery and
for a while we all believed that the dark clouds were passing,
until a number of events occurred; chief among them the USA’s
struggle to raise its debt ceiling, and of course the sovereign debt
Accentuating the positiveBill Dost, MD of D&D Leasing UK, believes that the best is still ahead IF we adopt th
right attitude
Bill Dost
F inancial leasing companies such as ICBC
Leasing Co Ltd are being encouraged by
the Ministry of Commerce to seek
opportunities in high-tech industries, to
develop the overseas financial leasing
Technologies Co Ltd, and leased these
products around the world. This system
was a good way for Huawei eventually to
sell products and expand overseas.
According to Cong, ICBC Leasing also
Chinese government pushes leasing abroadMis-selling: Time to crackdown
Tens of Essex schools lease-scammed
The trend in leasing since 2009has been for each year to be a bitbetter than the year before, so theLeasingWorld view in January wasthat 2012 would be better than2011, and as it turns out, it was.Bill Dost, D&D Leasing’s CEOwasn’t too worried either, sayingthat those of us still here have gota lot smarter about protecting ourbusinesses through adverse times.
Nevertheless, these are timeswhen it is wise to expect the
unexpected, and the unexpecteddidn’t disappoint, as we were tofind in January when a schools“leasing scam” hit the BBCheadlines, first on the radio, thenlater in the year on TV.
One unexpected developmentwhich had a very positivereception was our launch ofBrokerWorld magazine, which issent to over 450 UK asset financebrokers each month, and has been well received.
JANUARY
Should you sell a Non-Core business?
Non-core businesses are createdusually from acquisitions, mergersor as a result of synergies with the
core group activities. They may thenbecome like the forgotten child. Oncepurchased or set-up, the originalrecognition of the unique features thatwould add value to the group is forgottenand the core business takes over focus, tothe detriment of the non-core business.
It is common to see top companiesaccumulate non-core activities at boomphases of the economic cycle, only to divestthem to focus on their core activities indifficult times. One inevitable result is thatnon-core businesses are acquired at fullvalue, but disposed of under-value (butdon’t tell the shareholders that).
DECEMBER 2012 www.leasingworld.co.uk32
SPECIAL FEATURE REVIEW OF 2012
26 Martin Starck, LBBW Leasing Group
14 A seamless transition at Close
18 Should you sell a non-core business?3Step IT has enjoyed profitable growth
in 2011, and internationalisation has
been unaffected by recession. According to
preliminary unaudited figures group’s
turnover grew by 30 percent to €392
million (2010: €302 million) during 2011.
Profitability also improved as the operating
margin grew to €10.6 million (2010: €10.2
million). Last year, 3 Step IT expanded into
Asia where it opened three new subsidiaries.
For 3 Step IT, the financial year 2011
was a year of internationalisation and,
once again, profitable growth. The
company opened three new subsidiaries in
Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Asia is 3 Step IT’s third continent to be
conquered, in addition to Europe and
3 Step IT revenues at €392m
Artti Aurasmaa
LVM heads for the exit
MAN FINANCIAL GETS AWARD
“Monitor”ing NHS Foundation Trusts
and other NHS funded service
providers: the new licensing regime
LIBOR set to bite the banks?
Syscap appoints The Asset WorksThe Asset Works has been appointed by
Syscap, to implement asset verification
services and management solutions for
Syscap’s education and local government
clients. The new technology from The Asset
Works will mean that Syscap and its clients
can effectively track and monitor all
equipment throughout its lifecycle.
Syscap now provides funding for ICT
investment across many areas of the public
sector. Schools and local government find
leasing a straightforward way to spread the
cost of technology investment and future
upgrades, making them less vulnerable to
fluctuations in funding. A recent Ofsted
report noted that many schools had not
evaluated IT investments, and that there
was a low awareness of the consequences ofDavid De Silva
28 Patrick Beselaere heads up ING Lease Holdings
> ING Holdings to get new headWe covered the FLA Annual GalaDinner, surely the premier event ofthe UK calendar, and the choice ofcomedian, Jeremy Vines, was sosuccessful that there were calls forhim to be appointed the nextchairman of the FLA. That didn’thappen, but Lombard did parkLombard Vehicle Management(“LVM”) once and for all, and tocompensate for its winding downwould team up in a venture with ALD
Automotive to continue to offersome kind of auto leasing service toits customers, though presumablynot of the extreme customising kindthat LVM seemed to like doing.
There was a seamless transition atClose Brothers Asset Finance asMike Randall took the reins fromindustry legend, Roger Stone,whose first project upon retiring wasto paddle up the Zambesi in a canoe(or something like that).
FEBRUARY
Will Basel III
drive
business away from banks?
www.leasingworld.co.uk DECEMBER 2012 33
REVIEW OF 2012 SPECIAL FEATURE
FLA Lending Code
The FLA Lending Code has recently been
updated and all members of the FLA will
need to comply with the changes. The set
of rules now takes into account the new
Consumer Credit Directive and the latest
Office of Fair Trading Guidance. Key
elements include:
Measures to consider when an
individual is suffering with financial
difficulties and covers topics such as
mental health and breathing space;
Irresponsible Lending Guidance;
Lenders ensuring customers are fully
f the total cost of a short term
i tion on the
Top of my mind
Joanne Davis, partner in DWF’s Banking and Finance Group and head of its
Birmingham asset and consumer finance operation, writes about Codes, Directives,
Standards, and Data Protection hindering anti-fraud initiatives
12 State Securities Profile
24 Lindsay Town on future funding
29 Jacqueline Mills heads Leasurope
Research Fund
Going for Gold!
Peter McDonnell, of Cordoba Awards, wants empl
to instill motivation and pride in exceptional achie
Incentive, Reward, Recognition
and Motivation, it all seemed to
be so simple in the past, it was
just the sales generators, the
representatives, executives,
business development managers
that were rewarded with
Commission and Incentives,
today the environment is very
different. No longer is it just the
sales people that are rewarded in
this way, customers services,
service delivery, operations,
finance, HR and so I can go on,
all receive bonuses and incentives
in which we approach these
M Donnell
Aldermore takes PCFG portfolioNew British bank Aldermore hascompleted the purchase a portfolioof leasing receivables from PCFEquipment Leasing Limited,wholly-owned subsidiary of Private& Commercial Finance Group(“PCFG”).
The deal is for leases with a bookvalue of £11.5 million and theportfolio is predominantly vehicleassets with a good spread of SMEcustomer risks. The considerationfor the sale represents a premiumover the book value of the receivables The consid ti ill b
Brokers and Funders unite?
GE Capital in Glasgow deal
Willis
Safety is Scotland’s leadingniche, and it h
as the ambition
We published our recruitment feature,in which recruitment consultants gavetheir different takes on the market,advising candidates and employerson best strategies in these difficulttimes. The main message was thatthe market was starting to pick up,employers continued to be picky andnot at all predisposed to making anyhasty decisions. Recruiters uniformlyadvised candidates to lower theirpackage expectations, and gave tipson how to make the most of a CV. At
the same time there was somechivvying of candidates going on, ascertain categories of candidate werejust not countenancing moving at all,a case of better the devil you know,perhaps?
Aldermore Asset Finance picked up asmallish portfolio from Private &Commercial Finance Group, andSyscap made much of their financialresults, which suddenly looked stellarafter its venture capital owners,Anacap, re-jigged the balance sheet.
MARCH
The fork in the road
– which way now for leasing?
Two years ago, in March 2010, Leasing World asked me to write an article before the
general election. I chose to write a spirited piece forecasting that Labour would lose
the election, VAT would then rise to 20 percent, that the Greeks would need at least
one bailout, and that unemployment would rise to 9 percent
15 minutes with Allbrook & WhiteJohn Allbrook and Philip White, Chairman and CEO
respectively of Syscap Ltd, speak candidly about
their challenges to Jan Szmigin at Leasing World
Proving leasing is as good as it says it is
Aldermore targets haulage
Double-digit growth at DLL
Goodbye to UK GAAP
The recent KPMG Leasing and Asset Finance Forum held in London featured a session
entitled Goodbye to UK GAAP, and followed it up with a piece in KPMG’s April IFRS Wave
2 newsletter, which reiterated the position with UK GAAP and what users needed to do
� SPECIAL REPORT The world of the captive PAGE 34
� FEATURE The downfall of HBoS PAGE 12
� NEXT MONTH Know your assets
www.leasingworld.co.uk
LeasingWorldAPRIL 2012 VOL 7 I NO 76
F O R T H E E Q U I P M E N T L E A S I N G A N D A S S E T F I N A N C E P R O F E S S I O N A L
SET...READY
DECEMBER 2012 www.leasingworld.co.uk34
SPECIAL FEATURE REVIEW OF 2012
h f ll
Big online auction success
14PROFILE: Allan Clegg and Paul Sheedy of Liberty Leasing
> Profits lift off at LibertyHow should a Captive measure success?
Angel Trains beefs up systems
> The European banking
sector continues to
seek ways of shrinking
U.S.
vol
umes
and
con
fiden
ce U
p
DLL buys agri-book in Ireland
Fraud is rising again
A trade association at the heart of the Captives’ world
Top of My Mind, a regular legalcolumn by Joanne Davis of DWF LLP,was becoming a monthly must-readfeature, April’s topics for exampleincluded Unfair Contract Terms, TheBreedon Report, the outcome of theLloyds TSB Leasing case againstHMRC, and OFT Credit brokerscommentary. The special feature wasCaptives, a secretive world some say,but made crystal clear in an article
from IAA-Advisory describing theworkings of their Captives Forum.
Liberty Leasing was profiled as asuccessful up and comingindependent lessor, which operatesin a space between Prime and sub-Prime, especially since thewithdrawal of the high street banks from many SME funding lineshad placed much better credits inthis space.
APRIL
www.leasingworld.co.uk DECEMBER 2012 35
REVIEW OF 2012 SPECIAL FEATURE
years, and CDivision for importance oof all its mem“The major in the regulatiobusiness credit w– consumerThe FLA gives uneed with reguMinisters to enregulatory framewpolicy generallycontribution our mUK’s economy and soThe board at the FL
Director general
New FLA Chairman a
to the Spring Drinks reception, to join
with others who flowed in after a day’s
work in the office to check out the news
and views of senior leasing colleagues.
The director-general’s speech is always a
highlight of an FLA Drinks Reception,
second only to the jazz band, cocktails,
nibbles, and the welcoming smile of Linda
Charles. And Stephen Sklaroff had some
great lines, starting with, “For the first
time in living memory, the Government
has not only included asset finance in
various of its schemes designed to boost
business investment, but has positively
drawn attention to the fact!”
Geraldine Kilkelly, the FLA’s Chief
Economist, came in for warm praise as the
Bank of England had been taking a greater
38SPECIAL FEATURE: Know your assets
49M
OVES: Malcolm
Workm
an
13TOP OF M
Y MIND: Joanne Davis
Lloyds TSB Equipment Leasing (No.1)Ltd v Commissioners for HMRC
CIT Vendor sees Asian growth
NetSol in strong 3rd quarter
The most bidders Ritchie Bros has
had registered to bid on-site or
online at an auction was at their
Orlando, Florida auction site (February
2012) totalling 8,760 bidders. The sums
raised by these auctions can now reach
the realms of hundreds of millions of
dollars, per auction. And the total
package is so comprehensive that bidders
can even get pre-approved loan and lease
finance, so they can bid in the secure
knowledge that should they win their
new acquisition, they can pay for it as
they use it.
What is engaging is the story of the
From armchair bidding
to pre-approved finance
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (“Ritchie Bros”) is a highly successful global asset
disposal group, that has created a worldwide auction theatre for huge amounts
of used machinery, which in turn generate staggering sums for the sellers
Shire’s success withvendor and full-service
ite each day as I take the trainevelopment of the area with a
ord (now International) stationy packed with tourists who areeld shopping complex.
ndon will look fantastic to thealready demonstrated by thent London marathon. Like soy possible occasion, I haveof the events but we areosphere.
Thames Diamond Jubileeay 3rd June, where theessels watched by anriver bank.
f our industry ins and brokersement. Thethat there
eted acrosspoint out,ve have tovehicles to
arguments to make. His currenEuropean countries can possi
“Thank God wcurrency,”enough sshouldersonce the they are money at
better place“It sounds
here during th“Mrs Moore
planned,” he boaof events and we are d
places. Of course, these Matches, Wimbledon, Championship so it will b
Vaults will be the hub fowill be in regular a
magazine up to datto buy me lunch
October 3rd, Ed.]
Inconsistent markets in April
April d
oesn
’t have a
lot g
oin
g fo
r it busin
ess-wise, th
e Easter
brea
k m
akes it a
short m
onth
, only
19 w
ork
ing d
ays a
gain
st
March
’s 22 d
ays, a
nd it co
mes a
fter a ty
pica
lly b
usy
March
quarter-en
d. B
usin
essmen
with
fam
ilies like to
take a
week
off a
t
Angela Knight moved from CEO ofthe British Bankers Association toCEO of Energy UK, which made nodifference to her, as she started astatement claiming that energy is justlike financial services – well to her itprobably is. Philip Ross took over asFLA Chairman, and the FLA's AGMwas held at the Burdett Theatre,where their accounts were displayedfor all to see, after which members
needed a stiff drink at the FLA SpringDrinks Reception. At Bow WineVaults, Old Moore was proclaiming awonderful year for Great Britain, andthe EBRD got an UK president, SirSuma Chakrabarti, a senior civilservant in the Ministry of Justice. OurAsset Management special featureexplored Ritchie Bros' onlineauctions, repossessions and HP'snew recycling plant in Scotland.
MAY
DECEMBER 2012 www.leasingworld.co.uk36
SPECIAL FEATURE REVIEW OF 2012
20 BROKERS: NACFB comes to town
47Just a Hobby?
23BROKERS: Liz Archer and Richard
Carter, Nostrum Group, at NACFB Expo
The Leasing Lunch held on the Tattershall
Castle on a sunny day in June enjoyed a
set in the cellars of
McDonnell hastSomething in the air?
The imprecise world of accounting
On 20 June 2012 Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the IASB, addressed the
International Association for Accounting Education & Research (“IAAER”) conference
in Amsterdam, with a speech entitled “The imprecise world of accounting”
IN THIS ISSUE
11 NEWS: Alex Baldock7 NEWS: Robert Murray and Roger Pullen at the Leasing Lunch
10 NEWS: Lord Mitchell
Field Solutions acquires Tritech
Barclays’ new leasing head
Intricate niche for Squirrl.com
The Outsourced Captive
NH
S T
rust
to
go
in
to a
dm
inis
tra
tio
n?
Innovation and Invention was thetheme, some said there hadn't beenany in leasing, but undoubtedlysystems and mobile computing hadmoved ahead. The main innovationwas alternative funding and P2Plending, which had incorporated assetfinance in its offering. The NACFB heldits mega-Expo in Birmingham NECwith an 800-plus crowd, meanwhilesome 140 leasing professionals hadgathered at the Tattershall Castle onesunny afternoon, and nearly formed
their own new leasing association! Abig surprise was Alex Baldock, head ofLombard who moved on seamlessly tohead up Shop Direct, an online retailoperation. His place on theLeaseurope board (it is thought henever managed to attend it) was takenby the ubiquitous George Ashworthfrom Aldermore Asset Finance. Ournew Just a Hobby column revealedPaul Bartley of Close Brothers Leasingto be a racing driver in his spare time.
JUNE/JULY
www.leasingworld.co.uk DECEMBER 2012 37
REVIEW OF 2012 SPECIAL FEATURE
CEOs and chairmen of finance companies are not
generally associated with poetry, or the arts and
humanities. Even though one can think of Plato
favouring the concept of the philospher king, or more
recently Czechoslovakia revering its poet and
philosopher President, Vaclav Havel, rhyme at the top
has been the exception rather than the rule.
So it may surprise leasing folk to learn that the
leasing industry has its very own published poet, one
David G. Anthony, for many years head of Hitachi
Capital UK, and now chairman of AIM-listed Private
& Commercial Finance Group. After accessing his
Just a hobby?David Gwilym Anthony: Poet
Crystal Business Finance – looking to grow further
Crystal Clear Financial Solutions C rystal Business Finance Ltd was established in late 2007
following the coming together of three highly
experienced individuals: Martin James, Mike Austin,
and Alex Callister. The three Directors knew all too well the pitfalls and
constraints of either working for a large corporate body or being
a “one man band”, they wanted to create a friendly and creative
environment to work within that embraced old fashioned values
and promoted individual reward for effort, in fact, the brand
name “Crystal” was chosen to represent clarity and growth!
Crystal quickly established a relatively small but highly
professional team of sales associates spread across its two offices
in the Midlands and Hertfordshire along with satellite branches
encompassing the whole of the UK. Associates are self employed
but under contract and essentially enjoy the flexibility of
working for themselves within a supportive and structured
environment and being masters of their own success.
Great British Pub Quiz success
Bank of America’s Got Talent (Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Global Vendor Finance)
The start of a Golden Era?
I began writing this month’s City Chatter from Mala A
CITYCHATTER
Auto captives and financing flows
Writes Pascal Martinez, Linedata Leasing & Credit Sales Manager
Make paperless a reality
Don’t let your project fail
Systems
and software
IASB “unfit for purpose”?
Systems integration – Science or Black Art?
Shire Leasing has launched a new
finance scheme specifically to help
printers finance investment in software
and other intangible assets, such as
training and consultancy. Lease2Print,
which is the brainchild of national
account manager Chris Hobson, is a
hybrid finance vehicle that combines
elements of a loan with a lease rental
agreement. It is intended to finance
investment in software such as
management information systems,
workflow, web-to-print and colour
management, without having to bundle
them with a hardware purchase.
Hobson said that the scheme allowed
printers to take advantage of the tax
Shire Leasing to
finance print software A month of sport, several leasingnames participated in the Olympicsas volunteers, and De LageLanden's year long round the worldrace finally saw its ship come hometo Southampton among the leaders.AssetCo, that one timeleasing/outsourcing marvel originallysold for some say £30 million, whichheld the whole of London's fire
engine fleet, was ignominiously soldoff for £2 after a roller-coasterbattering from the credit crisis. Anew phenomenon, the LeasingFoundation was launched, forcharity and research purposes, witha glittering array of chiefs, while thenuts and bolts of leasing, namely thelease accounting project, ended themonth in top level rows and disarray.
AUGUST
30 LeasingWorld EXPO 201233 Leasingworld Awards 2012
22 More women needed at the top
FLA responds On 14 June 2012 the Government delivering stability and supporting Government’s detailed proposals foIndependent Commission on Bankiof banking in the UK
EXPO
2012LeasingWorld
yscap remains on the front foot
DECEMBER 2012 www.leasingworld.co.uk38
SPECIAL FEATURE REVIEW OF 2012
ALDERMORE’S SME LENDING HITS £1BNPhillip Monks, head of Aldermore Bank, has
said in an interview that it should see its SME
lending reach a billion pounds by the end of
September. He is quoted as saying, “We
haven’t spent a bean on marketing. We don’t
go out there and make fancy statements.” The
bank’s total balance sheet currently stands at
£2 billion, and boasts over 12,000 business
customers. Monks makes the point that most
of the foreign banks that contributed so
greatly to the deluge of credit in earlier years
have drastically reined back, or left our shores.
> IN BRIEF
Stephen Sklaroff
Margaret Hodge MP
The last
quarter o
f 2012 st
retches
ahead towards a
hopefu
Awards, Events, and Conventions
Left to right: (back) Alan Leesmith (IAA-Advisory); Professor Iwan Davies(University of Swansea); John Bennett; Professor Rob Macredie (Brunel University);Andy Hart (Lombard); Andrew Denton (CHP Consulting); Professor Peter Thomas(Manifesto Group); Tarun Mistry (Grant Thornton); Chris Stamper (ING Lease); MikeOxby (Santander); (front) Mary McNamara (Close Asset Finance); John Hooper(National Australia Group Europe); Bret Thomas (Xerox Global Leasing); DerekSoper (IAA-Advisory); Jonathan Andrew (Siemens Financial Services)
What did you think of the Panorama
programme about schools caught out
the darker side of leasing, in “Reading,
Writing and Rip-offs,” BBC One, Monday,
Oh dear, we’re on telly!
Bad performers drag
Euro Leasing Index down
This is the month when leasingbusiness kicks off again, as does acomprehensive series ofconferences, conventions, Awards,cocktail receptions and other events,which makes one wonder when thereis time for any work to get done. Butit does get done, with lessors doingless and less of the foot-slogging tofind deals, as the deals these daysusually come knocking on the doors.Leasing finally got onto the TV, with
the BBC Panorama expose of leasingscams to schools, but thankfully theprogramme appeared to accept thatjust because the the scams involvedleasing, it didn't necessarily meanthat lessors were the scammers. TheNACFB moved its HQ from Exeter tocentral London, and new figures fromthe NACFB showed asset financebrokers annual business volumesdoubling from £1 billion to £2 billion.
SEPTEMBER
Goodbye ING Lease (UK)
>
Assilea – the Italian leasing association –
said, “The appointment of Moi as
President of Leaseurope is a recognition
that comes after years of active
participation in the Italian association and
the work of the [Leaseurope] federation,
in which Massimiliano Moi participated
New President of Leaseurope
to participate.
> The Treasury said that
it will enshrine in law
the way Libor is set
and create a criminal
offense for those who
misreport it
Why did ING Group do it?
part of the firm’s expansion plan
comes to CIT from DISKO Leasing
he ran the company’s sales teams
Northern Europe.
Rich Green added, “CIT Vendor
has experienced strong perform
Europe with volumes up significan
first nine months of this year. Th
demonstrate our continued inve
the future of our European bu
increasing numbers of SME’s ar
CIT Vendor Finance boost
> IN BRIEFLANDMARK LEASING QUALIFICATION
A common topic of discussion over the years
has been the need for a professional leasing
qualification, but at last the Finance &
Leasing Association (“FLA”) has announced
www.leasingworld.co.uk DECEMBER 2012 39
> Lessor of the Year Close Brothers Asset Finance
REVIEW OF 2012 SPECIAL FEATURE
> IN BRIEFBELARUSIAN EXPORT LEASINGPresident of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko,
has proposed a revision of the legislation on
export leasing. In particular, if a lessee turns
out to be insolvent due to any reasons and the
insolvency has been confirmed by documents,
the leased product may remain in the
Econocom SA has been busy
A glittering start with LeasingWorld'sAwards Dinner and EXPO, and amemorable Leaseurope annualconvention in Cannes, but the end ofOctober heard the first mutterings ofwhat was probably the shock story ofthe year, the demise ofING Lease(UK). When the news became official,that by the end of November, it wouldcease to take new business, thebroker-driven segment went intooverdrive, with lessors engaging in
some fast footwork to grab some ofthe £1 billion a year now goingbegging. It was one of the largestand fastest redeployments ofrelationships, funding, and staff theUK leasing industry had ever seen,but so far it seems to have worked.Now that the pack has been shuffled,new market leaders are emerging -one day people will look back andsay, "That was the watershed."
OCT/NOV