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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR CONTENT Note from the Editor

Greetings from Stockholm: Piotr Badowski, Peter Wallwork, Andreas Aumüller, Walter Koch, Ivo Klimes

Dear members and friends of FENCA, Dear colleagues, The past months have been very eventful for FENCA and the European debt collection industry. We were glad to bring together international colleagues at the FENCA Congress 2015 which took place in Stockholm, Sweden. The interesting discussions, meeting old and new friends, as well as visiting another European capital made all the efforts well worth. Especially this year we were delighted to attract around 200 participants to our annual conference. A central topic at the Congress concerned again current trends in the General Data Protection Regulation and EU Initiatives. Having kept the whole industry on suspense through the last months we will also report on the latest developments in European Affairs. We are very sad to inform you that Ivo Klimeš and Walter Koch have retired from the Board of Directors after the FENCA Congress. We thank them for their contribution to the Federation’s work and are glad to have worked with them. Their devotion to our cause has been outstanding. At the same time we are also thrilled to welcome our new members to the Board. We congratulate Rayna Mitkova-Todorova (Association of the Collection Agencies in Bulgaria) and Erwin Falkner (German Debt Collection Association) on their election to the Board as well as Piotr Badowski to his reelection as Treasurer of FENCA. After a successful Congress in Stockholm our Executive Director Halina Heyn has left FENCA to take up her clerkship in Berlin. It has also been a pleasure for all members of FENCA to work with her and on behalf of all we wish her the best of luck for all her upcoming tasks. We welcome Marisa

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FENCA News Stockholm 2015 2 New Members to the FENCA Board 6 Thor Andersen 7 Congress 2016 in Berlin 7 Get to know Rayna Mitkova-Todorova 8 Collection in Turkey 9 Kay Berg: “America, you‘ve got it better?” 12 Bulgaria: New Survey 13 Romania: CoC online 14 New affiliate members 14 News from Brussels Data Protection Small Claims Safe Harbour

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Collection Agenda

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Member Countries

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CONTACT FENCA Federation of European National Collection Associations Friedrichstrasse 50-55 10117 Berlin | Germany Tel.: +49 30 206 07 36 30 [email protected] | www.fenca.eu twitter: @FederationFENCA Responsible: Andreas Aumüller Editors: Dr. Andreas Bücker, Marisa Krischer, Dennis Stratmann, Marco Weber

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Krischer who will now be supporting FENCA. She studied German and French law at the University of Potsdam (Germany) and at the Université Paris Ouest-Nanterre La Défense (France). In her Master’s degree she specialized in European Law and International Public Law. She speaks German, English and French fluently In this edition of the Newsletter we will report about the events at this year’s Congress. We will introduce you to our new Board Member, Rayna Mitkova-Todorova, and together we will find out more about debt collection in Turkey with Ayse Burcu Arslan from ARS Consultancy. I hope you enjoy the lecture of our Newsletter, best wishes,

Yours Andreas Aumüller President

FENCA NEWS Record Attendance at FENCA 2015 in Stockholm

The European debt collection industry met for FENCA’s annual Congress 2015 in the Swedish Capital of Stockholm.

The Conference took place from 15 to 17 October 2015 at the Hilton Stockholm Slussen offering a panoramic view of Gamla Stan, the old town and heart of Stockholm. The event attracted around 200 participants from all over the World. Participants flew in from China, Mexico, the US, Singapore, India, Pakistan, Egypt and Bahrain in order to meet their European colleagues.

FENCA president Andreas Aumüller welcomed a recordbreaking number of attendants at this year‘s European Collection Congress – almost 200 experts from around the world gathered in Stockholm

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At the Network Dinner on Wednesday the participants met for a first gettogether, which took place at the Restaurant “Fem Sma Hus” in the historic part of town. In this charming old-world setting participants enjoyed typical Swedish specialties and met old and new acquaintances from the industry in an informal atmosphere. A field trip to Klarna, a Sweden-based e-commerce company providing payment services for online storefronts, made the kick-off to the first Congress Day. Striving to become the world’s favorite way to pay, Klarna opened up to our participants and provided an exclusive insight into a dynamic, young and innovative company.

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A new FENCA Board was elected in Stockholm; left above you see FENCA‘s previous board for a last time; congress participants enjoyed an informative visit of Klarna, an innovative payment service company (bottom right)

Excellent workshops supplied useful information After a Welcome Lunch, participants had the chance to attend two different workshops: Dr. Oliver Fawzy, attorney at law from the German Association of NPL-Investors and Servicing Companies introduced participants to new aspects of Cross-Border-Enforcement in the EU by evaluating their impact on the debt collection. In the workshop on Crisis Communication, Frederik Barkenhammar, Strategic Communication Advisor, informed on how to prevent negative publicity and reduce the risk linked to negative press. 3

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The following Opening Session was dedicated to our hosting Country Sweden. To our participants’ curiosity, Mats Bergström from the Swedish Debt Collection Association, Ake Dahlqvist, the Chief Administrative Officer at UC AB, and Olof Dahnell, Senior Legal Advisor at the Swedish Enforcement Authority, brilliantly presented the different facets of debt collection in Sweden. Finally the Welcome Dinner was a wonderful note on which to end the day and reflect on the first day’s impressions. Andreas Aumüller, President of FENCA, welcomed all participants to the FENCA Congress 2015 and was supported by FENCA’s American guests Tom Brenan, President of IACC and Altus, as well as Patrick Morris, CEO of ACA International.

Differences and similarities in debt collection around the world Discussions about Debt collection across the world made the opening of the Conference day on Friday. Characteristics, trends and problems of the business in different regions of the world were illustrated by Tom Brenan, President of IACC, Ebrahim F. Jawad, Managing Director of NCS from Bahrain, William F. M. J. Bastiaan, Board Director of Creditreform China, and Erwin Falkner, Owner and Managing Director of the collection company Vynto GmbH & Co. KG in Germany. After that, the developments, challenges and opportunities on European level were at the core of our program. Dr. Andreas Bücker, FENCA’s Senior Advisor European Affairs, gave an overview of EU Initiatives 2015-2020 and their significance for debt collection. A following panel dealt with the EU Data Protection Regulation. Discussions were led by Dr. Andreas Bücker with Ake Dahlqvist (former Vice-President of ACCIS), Eric Leenders (Executive Director, Retail and Private Banking at BBA), Leigh Berkley (President of CSA), Luke Scanlon (Technology Law Expert at Pinsent Masons) and Sara Wahlberg (Legal Advisor at the European Consumer Centre in Sweden).

(From left to right) Opening Session Sweden: Ake Dahlqvist, Olof Dahnell, Mats Bergström / Panel on Data Protection Regulation: Dr. Andreas Bücker, Luke Scanlon, Leigh Berkley

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The question of how trade associations can leave a political footprint was debated in a panel by Eric Leenders (Executive Director, Retail and Private Banking at BBA), Heinz Kogler (Vice-Director EU Affairs at the Austrian Economic Chamber WKO), Karel Havlieck (President of the Czech SMEs Association AMSP) and Patrick Morris (CEO of ACA International). Interesting Presentations about Factoring (John Gielen, Chairman of the EU Federation for the Factoring and Commercial Finance Industry), Payment Systems Today and in The Future (Jan Hansson, Vice-President Debt Collection at Klarna), Single Digital Market, Mobile Payments and Data (Luke Scanlon, Technology Law Expert at Pinsent Masons) as well as European Payment Behaviour (Lars Wollung, CEO of Intrum Justitia) were lively discussed in the afternoon.

Next Stop: Berlin The FENCA Congress 2015 was closed by a Gala Dinner. Andreas Aumüller thanked old and new friends for attending the annual conference and was glad to invite all participants to Berlin in 2016. Among the Evaluation forms FENCA had received, Andreas Aumüller also picked two winners of free tickets to next year’s Congress. France was a clear winner that evening, as Saint-Louis Recouvrement and Cabinet d’Ormane were picked. Congrats! Touristic trips to the Swedish Vasa Museum, where the only still-existing warship from the 17th Century is preserved, as well as a Royal Canal Tour rounded up the FENCA program. Find all impressions of the FENCA Congress in Stockholm on our FENCAHomepage. We thank you all for attending the Congress and in making it happen! (From left to right) Happy participants at the Gala Dinner / Jan Hansson, Vice-President Debt Collection at Klarna

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FENCA Elections: New Members to Board of Directors FENCA’s AGM took place on Saturday, 17 October 2015. We congratulate Piotr Badowski on his reelection as treasurer of the FENCA board, and Rayna Mitkova-Todorova and Erwin Falkner on their election to the FENCA board.

FENCA Board (from left): Piotr Badowski (Treasurer, Poland), Andreas Aumüller (President, Germany), Rayna Mitkova-Todorova (Board Member, Bulgaria), Peter Wallwork (Vice President, United Kingdom), Erwin Falkner (Board Member, Germany)

Rayna Mitkova-Todorova has an M.A. in International Tourism from the University for national and world Economy in Sofia as well as an EMBA from Cotrugli Business School in Zagreb. She is currently President of the Bulgarian Collection Association since 2011 (reelected last year) and Managing Director of EOS Matrix Ltd. (debt purchase) and EOS Services (collection services). She started her collection business with a partner in 2002 so this year she will be celebrating 13 years in business. Erwin Falkner holds a Diploma in Business Law with a specialization in International Law from the University for Business and Management in Essen. He is a native Austrian, owner and managing director of the collection company Vynto GmbH & Co. KG. Falkner has over 22 years of experience in leading companies and associations in the debt collection and credit industry. Previously he also led IT businesses. Since 1963, his company is a member of BDIU e.V. where he was also head of the Committee on European Affairs from 2012 to 2015.

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FENCA says Goodbye to Thor Andersen The Norwegian Association Norske Inkassobyråers Forening (NIF), led by Thor Andersen, will cease on the 1 January 2016. The AGM of NIF in March 2015 decided to merge with Virke, the Entreprise Federation of Norway. Virke will establish a branch group Virke Inkasso where members of NIF can gain membership automatically. The constituting AGM was held on 3 November 2015. After a transitional period of two or more months, Thor Andersen will also be retiring from the Norwegian Association. On behalf of all members who had the opportunity to work with Thor we want to thank him for his commitment and devotion to the European cause. As a founding member of the Federation, he joined FENCA in 1993. He will always be welcome at our FENCA Congresses.

Founding member of FENCA: Thor Andersen

Save the Date: World Congress 2016 in Berlin FENCA is pleased to invite you to its annual conference 2016 to Berlin, Germany. Join us at the FENCA Congress from 21 to 24 September 2016. Find out about current trends in the debt collection industry besides discovering a vibrant city of diversity, contrasts and innovation. Meet like-minded peers and connect with the FENCA Network. We look forward to meeting you! For those of you who wish to connect with FENCA and friends all through the year, join us in the new FENCA NETWORK group on Linkedin.

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Get to know Rayna Mitkova-Todorova For the last 13 years I have been working in the collection business where I started by chance. While traveling around the Balkans and setting up companies for my first employer in the IT and consultancy industry, I met my future partner. When he came to Bulgaria with the idea to establish a collection business after having a successful company in Athens, he asked me to support him, which I diligently did, even without believing that this business could work in my country – it was the time when big mafia guys were doing the collection work very often by illegal means. But what happened was that the market was ready for professional and ethical services and this proved to be the right decision for me. The small start-up quickly grew to the biggest and most successful collection company in Bulgaria. In 2005 we were acquired by the EOS Group and today we are still the leader on the Bulgarian market. However, our industry continued suffering from the negative image from the past, so in 2010 we started discussions with other collection companies which lead to the establishment of the Association of the collection agencies in Bulgaria. Today it has 11 full and 1 associated member and we are all reputable companies. According to the turnover statistics, together we comprise over 75% of the market.

New Board member of FENCA: Collection entrepreneur Rayna Mitkova-Todorova from Bulgaria

During the last 4 years the association turned to a proven expert and partner to the media for all matters connected with our industry and we are actively working on providing opinions to draft laws and initiating legal changes. Another very important thing is that we have managed to create a very good spirit among the members – we are the biggest competitors indeed but have the common understanding that we need to be united in order to set high standards in the industry. This is something I believe we could also achieve at FENCA – knowing better one another, understanding what the challenges and achievements of each member country are, we can work together for the benefit of the collection industry. My vision for FENCA is to be a big and reputable organization with a remarkable influence in Brussels, supported by members from all over Europe and working for creating a better image and environment for the collection industry. I think FENCA is on the right track towards this goal and would be happy to contribute with the best I can.

Link up with FENCA! Join us in our new FENCA group on Linkedin. Members and friens of our association discuss about current topics and stay connected with each other. Click here to become a member of our group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/FENCA-Network-8428679/about

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Pioneer in the field of Debt Collection in Turkey Ayse Burcu Arslan is Managing Director of our Turkish affiliate member company ARS Consultancy.

Ms. Arslan, when did your company become an affiliate member of FENCA and what convinced you to join? In 2012, I attended the FENCA World Congress which was held in Madrid and it was amazing to meet with industry leaders from all around world. Next year, we decided to become an affiliate member. The very first reason was to be part of a professional body which protects the interests of international institutions and promote the development of member associations. In Turkey, currently no rules and regulations for collection agencies exist. And because ARS Consultancy pioneered the field of debt collection in Turkey with the aim of providing solutions to these international receivables, it has been our priority to cooperate with accredited partners in each and every country. FENCA membership brought this opportunity to know partners who work in accordance with the laws and rules of their respective countries.

Debt collection entrepreneur from Turkey: Ayse Burcu Arslan

Tell us more about your company: When did you start the business? How many employees work for ARS Consultancy? What does your company focus on? How many of your cases are crossborder cases? Established in 2011, ARS Consultancy aims at providing solutions to debt recovery and debt management needs of firms operating internationally. We are proud to offer the best of both pre-legal debt recovery, legal enforcement, as well as, full credit risk management services in Turkey. Based in Istanbul, our team of 15 collection specialists is highly qualified with a University Degree and fluently in English. In addition to their financial experience, legal knowledge, familiarity with local customs and culture, our agents are trained in negotiation, stress management and other techniques. This emphasizes our commitment to amicable debt resolution. We do not let cases go easily and make sure all negotiations/persuading skills/settlement offers are exhausted before advising legal action. I have been working in the field of ‘International Receivables Management‘ since 2007 as an industry consultant, entrepreneur, and a professional manager. I am a graduate of Political Science and International Relations from Bogazici University Istanbul / Turkey, and holding a Master’s degree in Organizational Studies from the University of Tilburg / Netherlands. I completed my Master’s thesis in 1 year and my successful research was about the international orientation of Turkish Airlines. In 2011, I recognized the need for a dedicated, Istanbul-based, international debt collection and credit risk man9

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agement firm. ARS Consultancy helps companies around the World to navigate the global market.

Is there a debt collection association in Turkey? Unfortunately we don’t have a debt collection association in Turkey, yet. I had intended to lead an association in Turkey and have been in close relations with our competitors. However, I noticed that there is still some sort of a concern among debt collection agencies to attract negative attention especially from other sector players such as law firms and attorneys. But actually lawyers are not experts in pre-legal, amicable solutions and are more eager to start legal action at soonest after sending one letter. Because when the legal enforcement is started, lawyers are able to enforce Turkish debtors to pay late payment interest, attorney and court fees. However for collection agencies in Turkey, the interest can only be demandable from debtors, rather than enforceable during pre-legal stage. Ensuring codes of conduct, establishing a proper compliance program, defining basic guidelines are among the main reasons of my intentions to lead a Debt Collection Association in Turkey.

Many of our readers are curious to know how debt collection is regulated in Turkey. If I were to start a company in Turkey what would it take (license, approval of an authority)? Debt collection in Turkey is regulated only for the legal stage. In other words, if Turkish companies fail to collect their debts themselves, the next thing they think of is hiring a lawyer. That’s why debt collection laws in Turkey are consisting of regulations about ‘how a lawyer can or cannot act’. This environment naturally leaves a big room for collection agencies whereas at the same time creates a gap between professional and incompliant collection agencies. For that reason we, as ARS Consultancy, have always prioritized to embody Turkish laws for attorneys and adopt the international compliance programs by becoming member of accredited global organizations and associations such as ACA International, International Association of Commercial Collectors, GCS Group and of course FENCA. In short, there is no license and/or requirement of an authority approval for debt collection agencies. Legally speaking, we are operating as a service provider for administrative and financial consulting whereas we are specialized in international debt collection in Turkey.

What are the main characteristics of the debt collection industry in Turkey and what challenges is it facing? Debt collection as a separate industry is a new concept in Turkey. Until the 1990s, it has been only the law firms who were involved in collections with 10

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the notion of administrative follow-up (idari takip) by hiring young people who are not lawyers but capable of negotiations. With the development of debt purchase industry in Turkey for banking claims (B2C) during the 1990s, asset management companies started to build up their collection teams in the form of a call center by hiring people experienced in phone conversations. These two facts about the historical development of debt collection industry in Turkey give the clue about the main characteristics. More precisely, debt collection industry has been shaped by threatening with legal action and also mass collection calls with standard transcripts.

According to EOS’ survey of 2015 on European Payment Practices, more and more customers pay their bills on time in comparison to 2014. Is this something you observe in Turkey as well? Contrarily in Turkey, the delinquency rates (for more than 180 days) have doubled in the first 6 months of 2015, compared to 2014. This was mainly caused by instable socio-political environment in Turkey coupled with economic distress and the devaluation of Turkish Lira (TRY) against USD as well as EUR. As an example, consumer confidence index was reduced to 64.3 in May 2015, which is the lowest rate in the last 6 years. This means Turkish people carried a tendency to delay their payments because of nonconfidence to collect their receivables. After the national elections on 1 November 2015, Turkey swept back to single-party government which increased the hopes of political and economic stability among majority of the society.

How is debt collection perceived in Turkey? As I mentioned before, perception of debt collection agencies in Turkey is under change. Turkish companies have recently started to understand the benefits of cooperating with a collection agency in terms of speed of collections and also the effectiveness of debt recovery. But this is a process.

You have told us that you are also a collection trainer for Turkish companies: What is your most important message to the attendees of your classes? Well, that’s not an easy question to answer. We are still at the level of educating people in Turkey about the existence of debt collection industry. Therefore all messages I attempt to deliver to the attendees, carry equal importance. A proper cash-flow management is a key to every company’s survival. Reducing costs in receivables management is every company’s desire. Increasing effectiveness in debt collection methods goes through trained personnel. Organizational structure of companies carries a vital importance for appropriate debt collection process. But if I have to choose one among many, I would prefer to emphasize on the role of professional 11

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debt collection agencies for a sustainable trade for every business. As ARS Consultancy, we do know the difficulties in each sector; we do know the effects of high competitive environment and low profit margins in certain sectors. Therefore, we do care for customer retention while performing our debt collection activities.

America, you’ve got it better? Impressions of debt collection in the United States by Kay Uwe Berg, Managing Director of BDIU

In July I had the opportunity of comparing this opinion – America, you‘ve got it better – held by a number of German receivables managers to reality. In Boston two of the largest U.S. debt collection associations had meetings: More than 1000 debt collectors from all U.S. states got together for the Congresses of ACA (American Collection Association) and IACC (International Association of Commercial Collectors) to follow up on the topics the industry is facing.

Kay Uwe Berg shares his views on America‘s collection industry

Even now, after the jetlag is long gone, I am still uncertain, if we who deal with receivables management in Germany and Europe should look to America in envy or pity. If for one instance the legal perspective on matters could be put aside something which the Head of the editorial board of a legal publication like myself would normally be strictly forbidden and, in any case, of a foreign nature – to be replaced by a purely economic view, a certain envy could arise, especially if you considered solely the efficiency of receivables management: Practically everything technically possible, especially concerning contact with debtors by telephone, is offered and practiced. The consideration of data protection is still fundamentally different, depending on which side of the Atlantic you work on. In America it is still largely held that everything which is not prohibited, is permitted, while in Europe in general and in Germany in particular the slightly modified old saying, “Everything fun is either forbidden or makes you fat”, continues to be valid. The EU’s General Data Protection Directive will not change this fact but will on the contrary furtherly intensify the European principle. During the next months and years the consequences this will have on American Internet giants allegedly targeted by the directive will be intensely discussed and enlightened, not least in this publication. Besides that, while the American receivables management industry works highly professional and efficient operation, you, dear readers, have no reason not to be self-confident when comparing yourselves to our American colleagues.

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Having said that, we should – at least when in discussions with American colleagues – stop complaining on how difficult it is to deal with 28 different legal systems in the European Union. In the U.S., all 50 states have a substantial and very heterogeneous influence on conduct and practices in receivables management. And since the financial crisis they use this influence in a consumer-friendly manner, as the US-government and the Congress do. And when during a discussion the acronyms CFPB & UDAAP are mentioned, the felt room temperature drops to a point where air-conditioning becomes completely unnecessary. The CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) is a federal authority, created five years ago in order to protect the consumer from the consequences of financial decisions. It has significant intervention rights, it can visit companies unannounced, impose drastic fines and even close businesses. It will do so particularly, if it comes to the conclusion that companies have demonstrated UDAAP, “Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts and Practices”. This is everything else than a blunt sword. And it is one that is effectively applied. What is left of the presumption “America, you’ve got it better!”? Finally just the realization: America, you do not have it better, but rather different.

Bulgaria: New Survey on Collection Market Banks increase the sales on NPL portfolios while telecoms focus on the outsourcing to collection agencies This is the result of a survey performed by the Association of the collection agencies in Bulgaria (ACAB) in partnership with the market research institute Ipsos Bulgaria. The B2C non-performing loans assigned to collection agencies during the first half of 2015 account to 983 million BGN compared to 820 million BGN during the same period a year earlier. Despite the increase, the levels of outsourced receivables are still below their values registered in 2013. The main reason for the increase of the outsourced debts to collection agencies is the change of internal policies for credit management of telecom companies. The assigned volumes of telecom bills for the first six months of

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2015 amount to 432 million BGN while for the same period of 2014 they were 146 million BGN. Telecom debts now represent a significant share of the overall portfolio managed by collection agencies: 44% (2014: 18%). The average debt assigned to the collection agencies remains almost the same as last year: 487 BGN (2014: 491 BGN). Telecom debts are still at the bottom of payment priorities of Bulgarian households which have led to the necessity of changing of the debt management practices of those companies.

Romania: Code of Conduct now available online The Code of Conduct of AMCC (ASOCIATIA DE MANAGEMENT AL CREANTELOR COMERCIALE) was presented in a press conference on September 16th 2015 at Atheene Hilton Palace Bucharest in the presence of Romanian journalists. It is available on the website www.amcc.ro and at the headquarters of the members. The Code of Conduct of AMCC was revised recently and it has strict provisions both in terms of frequency of calls to the indebted and in terms of written correspondence to them. It was drafted in order to provide a detailed and clear understanding of the basic conduct expected from each debt collection company member of AMCC and from the employees thereof.

FENCA welcomes the following 2 new affiliate members IGK AG Contact: Liza Serjant Email: [email protected] Phone: +371 67 186 914 Website: http://igk-group.com/

Milliken & Craig (S) Pte Ltd Contact: Ms Shirlin Tan / Ms Filza Email: [email protected] / [email protected] Phone: +65 6873 8955 (Main line) / +65 6873 8978 (Shirlin’s DID) / +65 6879 2409 (Filza’s DID) Website: www.mncgc.com

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NEWS FROM BRUSSELS Data Protection Trilogue Negotiations on the General Data Protection Regulation moving towards the finishing line Since 24th June the representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council have met seven times to negotiate and to find a compromise on the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The original timetable had foreseen that chapters II and III which contain the rules that are most relevant to the debt collection and credit management industries would be discussed on 16th/17th and 29th/30th September 2015. However, the longer the negotiations have gone on the clearer it has become that precisely these parts of the regulation cause the most controversy between the parties and compromises are difficult to find.

Will there be a compromise by 10th December? Given that the current Luxemburg presidency of the council has more than once confirmed that it would do anything possible to finish the negotiations before the end of the year, the frequency of trilogue meetings and the negotiations within each of the groups involved have increased and the debates intensified. The next trilogues have been confirmed to be held on 24th November and 10th December 2015, and the intention is to find a compromise position on Articles 6(1)(f) (Legitimate interests), 19 (Right to object), and 20 (Profiling/Automated processing). There is an indication that tentative agreements have been reached in trilogue on Articles 7 (Consent) and 17 (Right to be forgotten). In order to alert the negotiating parties to the potential dangers of rules that could – unintentionally – hamper established business practices and models such as debt collection and credit management, the Industry Coalition for Data Protection (ICDP) of which FENCA has been a member since April 2015, has sent a letter to all Heads of Government of the EU 28 member states as well as a final position paper on chapters II to IV of the GDPR to the leaders of the negotiations in the trialogue. (Dr. Andreas Bücker)

FENCA has been active in a wide spread industry coalition to prevent possible damages for the collection industry

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Small Claims Procedure European Parliament approves Compromise with Council On 7th October 2015 the European Parliament approved a regulation amending the European small claims regulation (EG) Nr. 861/2007 and the European order for payment regulation (EG) Nr. 1896/2006 with a large majority of 650 to 26 votes, with 28 abstentions. These amendments are based on a compromise reached between the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) on behalf of the Council and the European Parliament on 29th June 2015.

The key points comprise: 

the increase in the threshold for a small claim from €2,000 to €5,000. The possibility of raising the threshold even further will be examined after the first five years of application of the new rules;

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the obligation of the member states to ensure the court fees charged for European Small Claims Procedure are not disproportionate and not higher than the court fees for national simplified court procedures, as well as the obligation to offer remote means of payment for the payment of court fees;

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an increase in the use of distance communication technology for oral hearings and taking of evidence, and the establishment of a general framework that allows the use of electronic service of documents;

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the minimisation of the translation requirement (and related costs) as regards the certificate necessary for the enforcement of a judgment given in the European Small Claims Procedure;

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the creation of “a bridge” between the European Small Claims Procedure and the European Order for Payment Procedure by allowing the claimant to use the European Small Claims Procedure when a statement of opposition has been lodged against a European order for payment.

The threshold for small claims will be be raised to 5,000 Euros

In a next step the regulation will be submitted to the Council for adoption which – given the compromise found in June – should be a mere formality. The regulation will become effective 18 months after it has been in force. (Dr. Andreas Bücker)

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Safe Harbour Judgement by the ECJ On 6th October 2015 the European Court of Justice ruled that data sharing between the EU and the United States under the European Commission’s U.S. Safe Harbour Decision is invalid. According to EU legislation companies within the EU can only transfer data out of the EU if that data is sufficiently protected. The ECJ holds, however, that U.S. data protection laws are inadequate. On 26th October, the Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová, and the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament exchanged views on this decision in Strassbourg.

The document is available for download here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/ international-transfers/adequacy/files/euus_data_flows_communication_final.pdf

As intended the Commission published a detailed Communication on the judgement which provides the broader context of the decision and lists alternative bases for data transfer, among other things, on 6th November. Ongoing discussions with the U.S. government on what to do next are currently unrelated to and do not impact the position of the Commission on TTIP, as data protection is not part of that negotiation. The European Commission intends to meet with U.S. authorities in midNovember and will report back to the European Parliament on 10th December on the progress. Ms Jourová has stated that if a solution is not found for a revised Safe Harbour with U.S. authorities by the end of January 2016, the DPAs of the EU Member States would take all necessary steps, including bringing enforcement actions.

FENCA advises members to check location of their data servers On the basis of this judgement FENCA advises the national collection associations to ask their members to check where their sensitive data is stored. While many companies may have their sensitive data in their own collections database which resides in the EU, some may have started using cloud based systems. In these cases it would be important to check where the servers for these cloud systems actually physically reside. (Dr. Andreas Bücker)

Debt collection companies should check where their data is stored. If they use cloud based systems they need to know whether the servers on which the data is stored are located in the EU or not.

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COLLECTION AGENDA

6 December 2015

9° Credit Village Day, Milan, Italy Enjoy a 30% discount for all FENCA members and their members. http://www.creditvillage.it/sites/all/files/eventi/allegati/cvdaybrochure_inglese.pdf Contact: [email protected] Phone: +39 0187 503319

13 – 15 January 2016

IACC 2016 45th Annual Convention, Miami, USA

IACC is offering a discount rate of $675 for FENCA members usually reserved only for IACC members. This represents a $700 savings from the regular non-member rate. http://www.commercialcollector.com/iacc/events The Top 3 reasons for attending an IACC conference are: 

Fun-filled and casual environment where we do everything as one group!

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Great agenda with educational, networking and recreational items for all

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Great place to network with other collection pros and develop new relationships

To contact IACC: email [email protected] or call at (800) 859-9526 .

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MEMBER COUNTRIES Austria

Inkassoverband Österreich

c/o Österreichischer Gewerbeverein / Eschenbachgasse 11 / 1010 Wien / Austria / www.inkassoverband.at/

Belgium asbl ABR/BVI vzw - Association Belge des sociétés de Recouvrement de Créances Belgische Vereniging van Incasso-ondernemingen Chaussée de Marche 511 / B-5101 Erpent / Belgium / www.abrbvi.be/

Bulgaria

Association of the Collection Agencies in Bulgaria

4, Racho Petkov Kazandzhiyata street / 1766 Sofia / Bulgaria / www.acabg.bg/en

Croatia

Croatian Debt Collection Agency Association

Ilica 109 / 10 000 Zagreb / Croatia / www.udruga-huan.hr/

Czech Republic

AIA - Asociace Inkasních Agentur

Vyskočilova 1326/5a / 140 00 Praha 4 / Czech Republic / www.aiacz.cz

France

ANCR - Syndicat National des Cabinets de Recouvrement de Creances et de Renseignements Commerciaux 5 Rue Yvon, VILLARCEAU / 75116 PARIS / France / www.ancr.fr/

Germany BDIU - Bundesverband Deutscher Inkasso-Unternehmen e.V. Friedrichstrasse 50-55 / 10117 Berlin / Germany / www.inkasso.de/

Greece ESEDA Hellenic Association of Debt Management Companies 77 Vouliagmenis Ave / 166 73 Athens, Voula / Greece/ www.eseda.gr/

Italy UNIREC - Unione Nazionale Imprese a Tutela del Credito Viale Pasteur 10 / 00144 Roma / Italy / www.unirec.it/

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Netherlands

09-11 | 2015

NVI - Nederlandse Vereniging van gecertificeerde Incasso -Ondernemingen

P.O. Box 279 / 1400 AG Bussum / The Netherlands / www.nvio.nl

Norway NIF - Norske Inkassobyråers Forening P.O. Box 311 / Thor Dahls gate 1a / 3201 Sandefjord / Norway / www.inkasso.no/

Poland PZW-Polski Związek Windykacji ul. Bociana 22 / 31-231 Kraków / Poland / www.polskizwiazekwindykacji.pl

Portugal APERC - Associaçâo Portuguesa de Gestâo e Recuperaçâo de Créditos Avenida da República 48 - 2° Dir. / 1050-195 Lisboa / Portugal / www.aperc.pt

Romania AMCC (Asociatia de Management al Creantelor Comerciale) Bd. Dimitrie Pompeiu nr. 10A / Cl. C3, et. 7, sector 2 / Bucuresti / Romania / www.amcc.ro

Russia NAPCA - National Association of Professional Collection Agencies 56 bld. 3 / Mishina str / 127083 Moscow / Russia / www.napca.ru

Slovakia ASINS: Asociácia slovenských inkasných spoločností Soltésovej 14 / 811 08 Bratislava / Slovakia / www.asins.sk/

Spain ANGECO - The Spanish Accociation of Collection Entities (Asociaciòn Nacional de Entitades de Gestiòn de Cobro) Gran Vía 6, 4ª planta / 28013 Madrid / Spain / www.angeco.com/

Sweden Svensk Inkasso Post box 10022 / 181 10 Lidingö (Stockholm) / Sweden / www.svenskinkasso.se/

Switzerland VSI - Verband Schweizerischer Inkassotreuhandinstitute Advokaturbüro Küng + Hunziker-Küng / Lindenhofweg 9 / 3123 Belp / Switzerland / www.vsi1941.ch/

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Ukraine ACBU - Association of Collection Businesses of Ukraine 01054 / Kiev / 38 Turgenevskay st. / Ukraine / www.acbu.com.ua/en/

United Kingdom

CSA - Credit Services Association

2 Esh Plaza / Sir Bobby Robson Way / Great Park / Newcastle upon Tyne / NE13 9BA, UK / www.csa-uk.com/

SPONSORS We would like to thank our main sponsors of the FENCA Congress from 15 – 17 October 2015 in Stockholm:



CODIX



Svea Ekonomi

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