banking & finance | In Principle

Businesses are not required to use the split payment mechanism. But the initiative left to them does force them to examine whether it would be worthwhile to take advantage of this new instrument. Lawmakers went to some effort to encourage taxpayers to say yes.

The split payment mechanism for business-to-business transactions entered into force on 1 July 2018. Introduction of this mechanism was motivated by the aim of closing gaps in the tax system. But split payment affects not only the situation of VAT payers, but also banks.

Factoring is growing rapidly in Poland. According to the Polish Factors Association, the value of receivables that are the subject of factoring is growing year on year by an average of 18%. Introduction of split payment may strike at the financial liquidity of firms seeking financing, but it may also drive growth in the factoring industry. But every rose has thorns. Split payment complicates factoring transactions and introduces new risks for factors.

The Act on Consideration of Complaints by Financial Market Entities and on the Financial Ombudsman provides that a complaint not resolved within the stated period “is regarded as” resolved in accordance with the customer’s request. In a surprising resolution, the Supreme Court recently ruled that this does not mean that a delay in consideration of a complaint mandates that it is resolved in the customer’s favour, but such a delay merely increases the burden faced by the entity during litigation. If, of course, the matter ever reaches the courts. Was this what the legislature intended?

Less than two weeks ago the Act of 13 April 2018 Amending the Civil Code and Certain Other Acts reached the desk of the President of Poland. The act has become the subject of debate, as it calls for shortening of the general limitations periods for claims and modifies the ability of enterprises to pursue claims against consumers after the limitations period expires. There is also a change in execution procedure affecting the ability to conduct electronic attachment of the debtor’s bank account.

Environmental protection is a major issue today, and many organisations and enterprises attempt to incorporate environmental protection requirements into their operations. Banks are also trying to keep up with the trend by offering eco-loans or green loans.

Reports released by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance leave no doubt that Europe has fallen a long way behind the United States and Asian countries in development of modern financial services. This is especially noticeable in crowdfunding. In Asia Pacific countries, this method generates more than USD 200 billion per year, but only some USD 8 billion in Europe. The proposed crowdfunding regulation is intended to change this by harmonising European laws and introducing a European passport for service providers operating crowdfunding platforms.

In various types of financing transactions, one of the borrower’s main assets is a portfolio of receivables, e.g. under leases (when financing commercial property) or under loans (when the borrower is in the business of granting loans). In such cases, the lender seeking effective security will often require such a portfolio to serve as collateral.

What banks should pay attention to when granting consortium financing or considering restructuring of consortium debt.

The pre-packaged insolvency (“pre-pack”) may become an effective debt recovery tool for financial institutions who are secured creditors, when the debtor is insolvent and the lender seeks to quickly cash out its collateral at the best price. This can also apply when in-court restructuring proceedings for the debtor are commenced but then discontinued.

Can receivables governed by Polish law be effectively encumbered by a pledge governed by foreign law?

Operators of crowdfunding platforms should carefully follow the work on the Network and Information Security Directive. The last draft of the proposal suggests that crowdfunding platforms could be covered by the directive.