Credit Management in Australia - March 2018 by AICM

Volume 25, No 3 March 2018

The Publication for Credit and Financial Professionals

IN AUSTRALIA

2017 Pinnacle Awards 2,670 votes, 148 nominations with 27 winners

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re so proud of our industry and all participants, read more about the awards from page 53

Volume 25, Number 3 – March 2018

Message from the President

Best practice

Top communication tips for credit managers

53 NSW: NSW Credit Manager of 2017 Heather Spring with Mark Logue of AMPAC Debt Recovery (sponsor).

By Ali Cain

Connections By Alan Harries

Personal Insolvency

Personal insolvency and debt sales By Tom O’Malley-Jones

Credit Management Credit insurance supports companies’ growth ambitions

57 Qld: 2017 Credit Manager of the Year finalists Denica Saunders, Julie McNamara and Simon Dawson.

By Ali Cain

How to motivate your debt collectors By Adam Stewart

The credit equilibrium By Paul Burgess

New Payments Platform

The new payments platform commences roll-out By Adrian Lovney

The new payments platform – what does it mean for me

60 SA: Attendees at the 2nd part of the Toolbox 2 Collect with Confidence training.

By Trevor Middleton

Electronic Signatures Negotiating and executing binding contracts in the digital landscape

By Belinda Pinnow

Review and update on e-signatures in applications for credit accounts and guarantees By Frank Gambera

Legal Ipso facto clauses and unfair contract terms – a deep dive

By Geoffrey McDonald

Is it really a personal guarantee? Another personal guarantee gone wrong

62 Vic/Tas: Division Council (front L to R): Mahlee Terrell, Frank Gambera, Annemarie Gambera, Robyn Erskine, John Ng, Amaran Navaratnam, Rex Cheng, Donna Smith, Catrina Galanti and Lou Caldararo.

By Nicholas Boyce

66 WA/NT: Life Members Bob Blakiston and

Alan Harries

Adam Stewart

Paul Burgess

Adrian Lovney

Frank Vredenbregt with WA Director Rowan McClarty.

ISSN 2207-6549

Belinda Pinnow

Frank Gambera

42 Luke Howes

44 Jason Murrell

Open Banking Open banking and how it can help the busy credit professional make lending decisions

Is your business set for the new mandatory data breach notification laws?

Australian President – James Neate LICM CCE Australian VP, Finance – Gregg Odlum MICM CCE Professional Development – Rowan McClarty MICM CCE YCPA & CCE – Trevor Goodwin LICM CCE Legal Affairs – Greg Young MICM CCE Member Services – Jeff Hurst LICM CCE

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Nick Pilavidis MICM CCE Level 3, Suite 303, 1-9 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 PO Box 64, St Leonards NSW 1590 Tel: 1300 560 996, Fax: (02) 9906 5686 Email: nick@aicm.com.au

By Luke Howes

Cyber Security

DIRECTORS

PUBLISHER

By Jason Murrell

Married Hacked at first sight: Dating tips for your data response plan

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

By Ledlin Lawyers

AICM Training news What’s the difference in qualifications List of successful students and course dates

Around the States

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New Members

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Credit Marketplace

New South Wales Queensland South Australia Victoria/Tasmania Western Australia/Northern Territory

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NSW – Balveen Saini MICM Qld – Stacey Woodward MICM SA – Gail Crowder MICM WA – Lisa Marr MICM Vic/Tas – Donna Smith MICM CCE EDITOR/ADVERTISING Andrew Le Marchant LICM CCE Phone Direct 02 8317 5052 or Mob 0418 250 504 Email: andrew@aicm.com.au EDITING and PRODUCTION Anthea Vandertouw | Ferncliff Productions Tel: 0408 290 440 | Email: ferncliff1@bigpond.com THE EDITOR reserves the right to alter or omit any article or advertisement submitted and requires idemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA is published by the Australian Institute of Credit Management, Level 3, Suite 303, 1-9 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065. The views expressed in CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA are not necessarily those of Australian Institute of Credit Management, which does not expect or invite any person to act or rely on any statement, opinion or advice contained herein (whether in the form of an advertisement or editorial) and neither the Institute or any of its employees, agents or contributors shall be liable for any opinion contained herein. © The Australian Institute of Credit Management, 2017.

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From the President

James Neate LICM CCE National President

n the weekend of 24 February the National Board of the AICM met in Melbourne to continue our work with CEO Nick Pilavidis, to set the agenda for the national organisation and to coordinate programmes for our Divisions. On a national basis, we continue to represent members and their interests by written and direct representations to law and policy makers in various Federal government agencies. While not always a “good read guaranteed!”, our written submissions, do ensure that your voice is heard and is taken into consideration when legislative change is afoot. Full details of all detailed submissions can be found on our website here and are a useful resource when identifying the work that is done by the Institute to represent and promote the interests of our members. Another key area discussed in our Board meeting was the need for a review of our current Constitution and By-laws. I will shortly write to all members to set out in greater detail proposed changes to the Constitution which might allow for the direct appointment of Directors to the Board thereby creating a more flexible arrangement than the current structure where each Division simply nominates one Director. The aim of these changes is to enable the appointment of additional Directors who may have specific skill sets or represent a particular demographic of our membership, for example we have long noted that there is a gender imbalance on our Board. On other occasions we would benefit from a Director with a specific skill set, such as digital marketing/social media, consumer credit, brand development/engagement etc. This presents an opportunity and could be addressed by a modified appointment model. All members are to be invited for their input and comments on the proposed changes as we take broad soundings. We invite engagement from members to modernise our structure to allow a more flexible and responsive National Board to set the policy agenda and direction. Watch this space! This year we welcome a new partner in the law firm TurksLegal who’ve agreed to partner with the NSW and Vic/Tas divisions. Welcome to TurksLegal, your support is appreciated and members are encouraged to contact TurksLegal representatives at events and read more about their offering in the magazine. Events in each Division are well underway with a mix of formal RTO and informal training, one-off sessions and networking opportunities. Members of the

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Board were able to attend the Victorian and Tasmanian Division annual golf day and dinner which was a resounding success. The number attending from such varied backgrounds ensured a vibrant day. Networking is intangible, but is of great strategic importance. The opportunity to brainstorm with colleagues or to discuss potential new suppliers, all confirm that network opportunities are to be explored, indeed exploited. Some of the best value of engagement with the AICM is the ability to develop a broad network to call upon when needed. It is part of staying on top of your game. Businesses are starting their budgetary processes for the next financial year. Bear in mind what training needs your team may have and how the AICM can tailor training to suit your industry and specific skill set needs. Now is the time to plan any in-house or other training requirements. Our website and our national office team are there to inform and to assist you in planning training for your team. I encourage you to use this resource when preparing your training budget for 2018/19 as they regularly assist managers and their teams identify skill gaps and develop plans to close these gaps and the employer is the winner. We have also recently launched a new “no risk” early bird registration for our National Conference to be held in Melbourne on the 17-19 October 2018. Register now and achieve the early bird saving with the no risk option of a full refund if the registration is later cancelled within two weeks of the final programme being released. Such is our confidence as to the calibre of the programme that we will offer a full refund in the event that people believe the programme does not relate to them. Please call Nick Pilavidis on 1300 560 996 for any further information in relation to the Conference and/or our speakers. Another opportunity for teams can be to convene national team meetings to coincide with the Conference. Coordinating a team meeting allows a wonderful opportunity to maximise the education/conference spend and we encourage you to commence your planning process now to ensure you have these meetings in your budgets I urge all members to turn their mind to ‘how can the AICM assist me and my team?”. Look to our website or call National office or your Division leaders as we have all your answers! Credit Regards, – James Neate LICM CCE National President

The Power of Digital Endless Possibilities to Improve your Back Office Neopost Australia is delighted to invite you to a series of 'Power Sessions' run by some of the industry's biggest thought leaders. Digitisation These power sessions have been designed to cut through the digital clutter and demonstrate how to utilise digitisation to: • Improve efficiencies • Increase revenue • Decrease cost • Improve employee satisfaction FREE PARKING for all guests! Attend any Power Session in any state and enter the draw to win a pass to our upcoming Ferrari Day, which also includes flights and accommodation! *Terms & Conditions apply

Morning Times

Power Dates & Locations 14th March - Sydney, ParkRoyal Hotel Parramatta 20th March - Brisbane, Brisbane Convention Centre 22nd March - Melbourne, Melbourne Convention Centre

Power Sessions

Afternoon Times

Digitisation and the Back Office Symon Cook, National Digital Manager, Neopost

9:30am - 10:15am

This session addresses the key factors to achieving successful business process automation and will explore how digitisation can have a dramatic, positive impact on efficiency cost and productivity, if tackled the correct way.

2:00pm - 2:45pm

Financial Relationship Management - Are you across it? Lance Wickman, Founder & CEO, Officetorque

10:15am - 11:00am

Customer Experience. Staff Engagement. Customer Self Serve. A lower DSO. FRM brings to the back office, what CRM has brought to the front office. See first hand how the FRM platform will dramatically streamline the Accounts Receivable function.

2:45pm - 3:30pm

A Customer in Focus David Hunt, National Credit Manager, Fujifilm

11:00am - 11:45am

David will share his experience on how implementing FRM at Fujifilm has reduced the following: Time spent chasing slow payers by 40%, AR call time by 30%, Time spend managing disputes by 35%, Debtor days by 10% and Broken promise to pay by 80%

3:30pm - 4:15pm

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11:45am - 12:30pm

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Call 1800 822 349 to register your interest today or visit neopost.com.au/thepowerofdigital

Best Practice

Top communication tips for credit managers By Alexandra Cain* We spend between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of our time at work communicating, and the volume and velocity of messages we receive keeps rising. Research shows responding to emails takes up more than six hours of our workday and we answer around 121 emails a day. While the number of emails sent and received is predicted to drop as the communication preferences of the millennial generation start to predominate, it’s essential to use the right medium for the right message. Ken Tann, lecturer in communication management at UQ Business School, says good communication is important externally in customer engagement as well as internally in terms of interdepartmental coordination. “Good communication helps develop trust, loyalty and, eventually, a better reputation and customer experience. For credit managers, it is very useful in problem detection and early intervention. Good

communication can help the manager detect if the customer cannot pay and provide assistance or work out a repayment plan.” Tann says it is equally important for credit managers to communicate effectively with other departments. “They should be able to provide detailed information for the finance team and the marketing team.”

To choose the right channel credit managers should consider the context and purpose of the communication. “In terms of responsiveness, phones and social media can be extremely responsive if the other person is available when you call or send a message. Email depends on the other party, so it’s not as responsive,” says Tann. He explains one reason people hesitate to use the phone is because they are worried about saying something that they can’t take back. “Whereas, with emails and social media, there is a chance to look at

the message and reflect on it before sending.” Catia Davim is a partner in KPMG’s management consulting team. She says good communication is about encouraging people to understand the different communication modes available and when to use them. “The great benefit of email is the record. But there is no guarantee the person is going to receive the message. It’s also a slow process. Phone is more personal and it’s a two-way dialogue. You can have a proper conversation and build a relationship. The disadvantage is you don’t have a record of what was said. So, it’s an idea to follow-up a phone call or face-to-face meeting with a summary email,” says Davim. “Text is good for short, sharp messages and social media is great to build visibility in a market,” she adds. Tann suggests credit teams draw on change management techniques to encourage people to work with unfamiliar communication channels.

Amber Daines

Catia Davim

Kenn Tann

Using the right channel

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Best Practice

“This starts with identifying barriers to using a communication channel and enablers to get people to change their habits. Barriers include cost, speed, reliability, ease, trendiness and familiarity,” he says. Aside from overcoming barriers, it’s also important to encourage people to use the appropriate channel. For instance, it’s essential to establish the legitimacy of a particular channel, which involves sponsorship of the channel by senior management who actively use it. “Clear policies to prompt staff to use appropriate channels also help. This is especially the case when it comes to encouraging people to use a new communication channel. Education and an opportunity to experiment are also important,” Tann says. He says ‘change champions’ are also important in encouraging people to use a new communication channel or switch to a different one. This involves an authority figure promoting the use of a particular medium. Amber Daines, director of communication consultancy Bespoke Communication explains everyone has a different communication style. “If you prefer to email rather than make a call or arrange a meeting, it’s important to recognise that seems impersonal for some generations. Digital communication is fast and easy but not always the right way for every client or suitable for some serious conversations,” she says. Daines says one way to encourage people to try new forms of communication is by incentivising them to, say, make five calls for every 10 emails sent. “It’s also important to train staff to be more confident in digital skills and face-to-face meetings, where eye contact is vital,” she says.

Spoilt for choice Tann says it’s a myth high performing managers are skilled in a variety of communication channels. “High performing managers are able to

select the right medium for the right message.” This is important because the choice of channel has implications for the person on the receiving end of the message. “The medium can affect problem solving, decision making, the ability to come to an agreement and maintain relationships. And these depend on things like how sociable you appear to the person with whom you are communicating,” he adds. Getting the best outcome involves training and specific guidelines and policies about how to conduct phone conversations. “It is very important to have a communication strategy, involving an audit of the communication functions and processes needed for the business to operate. Then you can decide in advance which communication channel will be appropriate for specific functions and provide a very clear policy for employees,” says Tann. In the context of credit management, it is also important to consider multi-channel strategies. So instead of just considering the

pros and cons of individual channels the idea is to explore how they work together. “Investigate how different channels work in credit management. Let’s say you need to work out a payment plan with a customer. You will likely need to communicate over the phone and also by email. This approach allows you to personalise contact with the customer through phone and at the same time maintain an electronic record of the communication,” says Tann. “This might happen in a specific order. So you may want to speak to the customer first to win their trust and follow up with electronic communication,” he adds. Ultimately, the idea is to understand which channel suits specific communication situations, build the team’s skills around this and develop training and policies to back this up. That’s the best way to develop a credit management team with sophisticated communication skills to handle any situation. *Alexandra Cain is a freelance finance journalist who has written for many leading Australian and international business publications.

Applying the 5Ws in credit management UQ Business School’s Ken Tann says a good guide is to apply the five WH questions – who, what, when, why and how – when deciding how best to respond. needs to be communicated to? Are you including more ;;WHO people in the communication than you need to? That will produce many unnecessary emails people don’t need. is the required action? This is often unclear. Avoid ;;WHAT sending emails that include reams of information without providing a clear course of action. are you sending the message? How fast do you expect a ;;WHEN response? People are inundated with emails and it may not be practical to expect an immediate reply. are people receiving the message? Make the purpose of ;;WHY the communication clear from the start or they won’t bother reading it. is it presented or worded? Avoid sending a message ;;HOW without thinking about it. After typing an email, take a moment to read it through so it sounds the way it’s intended to sound.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Best Practice

Connections Alan Harries* looks at the purpose and value of being connected through a social media platform such as LinkedIn.

“For many in business being involved in social media is about developing connections...”

Alan Harries

Unless you have been living under a rock for a long time and surviving without mobile devices or computers, it’s unlikely you’ve missed the growing daily influence by social media over our personal and work lives. For many in business being involved in social media is about developing connections which are presumably for the purpose of business development and opportunities. In my own case, I do have connections through LinkedIn or as I often refer to it, “Facebook for Business”. My contacts are both from Australia and overseas, they include people I know through business and study, from this industry and from my involvement in rugby union administration. I haven’t set out to build a massive number of connections but rather the growth in my contacts has been pushed along by the invitations forwarded through the platform. My reticence is principally as I’ve been unable to appreciate a real purpose or benefit of building the network other than for the sake of doing so. Perhaps, I overthink it as I consider each invitation before accepting a connection or selecting “ignore” based on whether I know the individual or think there will be some likely engagement in the future with the individual/business. Despite this, some dubious contacts have slipped through into my network – by dubious, I mean contacts I’ve never heard from or whom I’m unlikely to do business with. From some online research for this article, it’s apparent others similarly question the value of having a large network of social media connections and with many now

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

deciding a smaller group may be more valuable. The push back being that with an enormous network it is so much harder to develop the trust and intimacy possible within a smaller group. As mostly we will want to connect with specific people for specific purposes this is unlikely to be achieved within networks which seemingly push the building of a connection list of many names, emails and telephones without rhyme or reason. One commentator, Alexandra Samuel1 uses “the favour test” when deciding who she will include as a connection – she only connects with people she “knows well enough to ask a favour of or to do a favour for”. The reason being, she explains is that the greatest value LinkedIn can offer is its “ability to help you get introduced to the people who can make a difference to your work”. Such introductions being possible only when the second degree connections in your search results are those who are connected to someone you know well enough to ask for an introduction. Samuel suggests a real enhancement would be if LinkedIn allowed you in your network to differentiate between those you regard as “close contacts” and those you don’t know well or even at all. She explains other platforms such as Facebook have some neat enhancements such as the ability to create lists of contacts with whom you wish to share specific content so for example you could share work related content with a “colleagues” list sparing those contacts from family related content which could be available to your “family” list and vice versa. She advocates that by “offering a more nuanced approach to how

Best Practice

we connect with people would turn LinkedIn into the engine of a new way of looking at the role of social networks in our working lives. Connecting online is now as big a part of our professional networking as face-to-face meetings and conferences. But just as in the offline world, some of those connections are more meaningful than others.” There is potentially good value in being connected through platforms such as LinkedIn but like most things in business, the effort you invest determines what you get out of the time investment and experience. Although the “favour” test described earlier is appealing, I think for now I will stick with my own assessment of “likely engagement” when responding to invitations to join my network of connections. Getting your network right is an essential step before you consider what you wish to communicate and how you will engage with those valuable connections.

As at 1 January 2018, LinkedIn had 500 million users with 250 million being monthly active users. 57% of users are male and 43 % female. 70% of users are from outside the US and after that country, India, Brazil, Great Britain and Canada has the highest number of LinkedIn users. Some interesting observations about LinkedIn usage includes: zz 41% of millionaires use it zz 1 million professionals have published posts on LinkedIn zz An average user spends 17 minutes monthly on LinkedIn zz The average CEO has 930 connections zz “Motivated” was the most overused word on LinkedIn in 2014 zz There have been 1 billion endorsements on LinkedIn zz The top skills cited on LinkedIn are Statistical Analysis and Data Mining zz There are 5.5 million Accountants on LinkedIn

Some stats about LinkedIn

How does this compare to Facebook?

I didn’t make up these statistics, they come from global digital advertising and marketing agency www.omnicoreagency.com:

Again www.omnicoreagency.com helpfully provides the statistical insights: As at 1 January 2018, Facebook

had 2.072 billion monthly active users with 1.66 billion being mobile monthly active users. 47% of users are male and 53 % female. The average Facebook user has 155 friends. There are some interesting observations too about Facebook usage, including: zz More than 40 million small businesses have active pages zz The Facebook like button has been pressed 1.13 trillion times! zz The average time spent on Facebook per visit is 20 minutes with the average monthly time spent being 600 minutes zz Every 20 minutes, 1 million links are shared, 20 million friend requests and 3 million messages are sent zz 55 million status updates are made every day

FOOTNOTES: 1 Alexandra Samuel: “The More People We Connect with on LinkedIn, the Less Valuable It Becomes”, 5 May 2016, https://hbr.org

*Alan Harries is the CEO of the Institute of Mercantile Agents and the Australian Collectors & Debt Buyers Association

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Personal Insolvency

Personal insolvency and debt sales By Tom O’Malley-Jones* The use of Part IX debt agreements by individuals unable to meet their debt obligations are on the rise. This asset class is of increased importance for creditors; with revenue growth in both the funds returned through dividends and amplified debt sale activity. This translates to increasing consolidation in the market and new strategies for credit managers. Our overview of incentives and structure in the field sheds some light on these changes.

Tom O’Malley-Jones

Personal insolvency is fast becoming a focus of credit managers and professionals as the volume of agreements continues to rise, drawing attention to the rate and structure of returns, as well as the impact on customers. The emphasis on alternatives to bankruptcy has been a concentration of legislative policy in Australia and overseas for some decades, with Part IX debt agreements being the predominant formal alternative. Yet it is only recently that the number of debt agreements proposed annually has neared the number of personal bankruptcies declared. Debt agreements provide an alternative to Bankruptcy where individuals pay a negotiated percentage of their total debt over a period of time where single payments are made to a debt administrator rather than individual creditors. Debt agreements are established once the majority of creditors (by dollar value) vote to accept the proposal with the remainder of the debt unrecoverable once the required payments have been made. On AFSA’s statistics, the number of proposed Part IX agreements

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

has increased at a rate of 8.43% per annum over the five years ending 2017. At Kessler, not only are we observing increases in volumes of these agreements consistent with this trend, but also more pronounced interest in the sale and purchase of the rights to debts under these agreements. Many of the reasons behind these shifts are likely to be familiar to credit professionals, but the long-term implications of strategic changes are anticipated to raise new opportunities as to how these accounts are managed.

Background to Part IX Agreements: Creditor strategies Debts subject to Part IX agreements are typically held by customers with a larger number of outstanding debts across a range of creditors. Creditors may be first alerted to a proposal by customers themselves providing notice or directly by way of a proposal from a debt agreement administrator. Many creditors have varying strategies or policies in place to guide their response to these proposals. When faced with a proposal for a debt agreement, often with an indicative rate of return in the range

Personal Insolvency

of 60-65c/$, many creditors may follow blanket policies in favour of approval, whereas others may more closely scrutinise the agreement and the customer’s situation. AFSA reports that creditor acceptance rates hover between 77% and 88% of proposals over the past five years. The dividend for equivalent bankruptcies is in the range of 6-7c/$, so it is at least intuitively reasonable for many creditors to support proposals generally. Once an agreement has been established, collections activity on the account is prohibited as the Debt Administrator works on the customer’s behalf to manage the impacted creditors. Payments made under the agreement are apportioned and distributed by the appointed Debt Administrator. To the creditor, a Part IX agreement looks like an agreed

series of cash flows, albeit one with a degree of volatility by way of variations and terminations. An agreed series of cash flows can be transformed by the financial services market to meet different liquidity and maturity preferences. They can be (relatively) easily priced, sold and purchased, securitised and otherwise transformed. It is because of this likeness that specialised insolvency purchasers value Part IX debts.

Current trends: Increasingly frequent sales Until recently, only major banks were engaged in the sale of debts pursuant to Part IX arrangements. Growth in the breadth of issuers has now meant that major banks have followed suit, alongside telecommunications providers, utility companies and automotive finance providers. Primary reasoning behind the

increasing transition to Part IX sales are operational for many creditors, with requirements to manage the formal voting and administrative processes via AFSA sitting outside the standard collections processes. Further to this, the presence of the Debt Administrator appointed by the customer who has opted to utilise the protection of the Part IX agreement reduces any brand and reputational risk exposure, with limited customer interaction for the purchaser of the agreement throughout the term of the agreement. The operational requirements become increasingly onerous as the volume of Part IXs continue to grow at extraordinary rates, with many creditors establishing dedicated teams to manage these agreements given the expected rates of return and potential compliance risk in the event of mismanagement.

Once an agreement has been established, collections activity on the account is prohibited as the Debt Administrator works on the customer’s behalf to manage the impacted creditors.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Personal Insolvency

Whilst this and other arguments have substantial weight, we find that the core reason for the sale of Part IX debt separately from other non-performing debt is essentially definitional. The management of traditional non-performing debt is fundamentally a collection activity, focused on distinguishing between customers with different payment capabilities, enforcing debts where appropriate, and potentially facilitating alternative repayment structures. It is relatively labour-intensive and subject to much regulation. On the other hand, the purchase of rights assigned under Part IX agreements does not give rise to the requirement to collect, rather a requirement to service the debt, principally through monitoring. Not only does a Part IX agreement represent a series of cash flows, it is a passive income stream (again, not without risk). Underlying this distinction is a profoundly different business model for insolvency purchasers as opposed to traditional purchasers, with distinct core competencies and risk appetites for each. It follows that even the traditional debt purchasers which own rights to Part IX debts look to the secondary market to on-sell debt to specialised insolvency purchasers.

transitioned into a Part IX agreement. Value can be best extracted by specialists with expertise, lower servicing costs or lower costs of funds. Rather than receiving a trickle of cash flows over the course of the debt agreement, a Part IX sale permits the creditor to accelerate their expected cash flows. For example, a portfolio of Part IX accounts with an expected return to the creditor of 60% over a 5 year time horizon may sell for between $0.30 and $0.40 in the dollar. This accelerates and guarantees up to 66% of expected returns, without exposure to potential variations or terminations to these agreements. In this way, maturity is transformed and immediate liquidity is provided. Part IX buyers are likely better placed to mitigate risks through a combination of diversification, pooling, and potentially other forms of hedging their exposures. Increased acceptance of Part IX sales is a testament to the development of newer, more efficient models of debt risk management. Under these conceptions, rights to a debt are assigned to different organisations across the debt’s life cycle, depending on who can best extract value from the debt at its particular stage.

Value as a unifying principle in debt sales

Making meaning for credit managers

The core rationale in all sales of Part IX agreements is this: both originating creditors and traditional debt purchasers have limited scope to add value to a debt once it has

There are a number of conclusions that can be drawn from our observations. The primary observation is that Part IX sales are likely to

The single largest influence on the future of this market will be the outcome of the referral of the Bankruptcy Amendment Bill to a parliamentary committee for inquiry. 12

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

further cement themselves as the predominant strategy in dealing with debt agreements. Our experience is that sellers are obtaining favourable pricing for these agreements, with prevailing market prices typically consistent with valuation on fundamentals. Provided that pricing remains acceptable to sellers, we shall continue to see a greater degree of Part IX creditors preferring the cash inflows from sales as opposed to maintaining an interest in the debt. This acceptance of the sale of Part IXs to specialist purchasers has extended to secondary sales, whereby originating creditors are approving the subsequent sale from a traditional purchaser, who has acquired the accounts from an originating issuer, to an insolvency specialist. Driving these approvals is the ability of the primary purchaser to deploy additional capital from the sale of non-core accounts on future purchasing, as well as minimal exposure to risk with limited customer interaction permitted under these agreements. The single largest influence on the future of this market will be the outcome of the referral of the Bankruptcy Amendment (Debt Agreement Reform) Bill to a parliamentary committee for inquiry. The proposed changes will see potential amendments to the term of debt agreements, proposed caps to payment to income ratios, voting rules for Debt Administrators/ related entities, asset thresholds and additional scrutiny of Debt Administrators. These changes are not expected to restrict sale activity, rather increase the volumes of accounts sold and alter the average rates of return. The committee is due to report in March before voting in parliament.

*Tom O’Malley-Jones Senior Manager Kessler Financial Services T: 61 2 9252 2811 E: enquries@kessler.com.au W: http://www.kessler.com.au

Recoveries

Sydney

Insolvency

Melbourne

TurksLegal is proud to be a New South Wales and Victorian Divisional Partner of the AICM. We look forward to partnering with the AICM to support professionals within the credit industry. TurksLegal is a leading commercial law firm with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. We specialise in recoveries, trade credit, insolvency and transactions, providing our clients with astute, effective and commercial legal solutions.

Transactions

Brisbane

CONTACT

Daniel Turk, Partner 02 8257 5727 daniel.turk@turkslegal.com.au www.turkslegal.com.au

Credit Management

Credit insurance supports companies’ growth ambitions By Alexandra Cain* As economic conditions improve, trade credit insurance is giving companies confidence when doing business with new customers or entering new markets. But it’s also easy for companies to forget to insure the accounts receivable asset on their balance sheet.

Stephen Allan

Chris Doubé, CEO of Australia and New Zealand for credit insurance firm Euler Hermes, says typically between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of a business’s asset base is tied up in accounts receivable. But often this risk is not managed. “A lot of businesses manage much smaller risks within the balance sheet, such as theft or fire but they don’t manage the biggest asset within the balance sheet. But a bad debt can ruin a business, particularly for small- and medium-sized firms,” says Doubé. “We’ve paid claims that have meant the business has been able to keep the doors open. That shows why credit insurance is so important,” he adds. John Sutherland, QBE’s general manager, credit and surety, agrees

credit insurance is important for a number of reasons. Appropriate catastrophe cover is one. “Catastrophe cover is important where one of the client’s largest debtors becomes insolvent while owing hundreds of thousands of dollars,” says Sutherland. “Credit insurance is also important when turnover grows. It means businesses can increase credit limits for existing customers and attract new ones. It gives policyholders information to make a more informed decision on a buyer’s payment patterns,” he adds. Additionally, he says financiers may feel more comfortable lending money to a business with trade credit protection. Mark Hoppe, managing director

Kirk Cheesman

Graham Crozier

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Credit Management

of trade credit specialists Atradius, says credit insurance allows a business to sell with confidence. “It allows the company to grow, enter new markets or start exporting. Many of our clients have never made a claim against their policy, they use the insurance as comfort to explore new markets.”

“Catastrophe cover is important where one of the client’s largest debtors becomes insolvent while owing hundreds of thousands of dollars”

Policy options Whole of turnover or portfolio cover is the most common type of trade credit insurance cover. “The policy can cover your entire debtor book above the policy deductible. It may cover domestic transactions, export debtors and political risk. Selective risk policies may cover a handful of large debtors or even a single account,” Sutherland explains. Kirk Cheesman, managing director of insurance brokerage Trade Credit Solutions, adds there are also ways to share risk. “This can be through the level of excess, qualifying losses or even a large first loss level prior to claiming on a policy.” There are also options for multicountry, regional and global policies. “We can write policies for clients with operations in Australia, Asia, Europe or across the globe,” says Graham Crozier, chief executive of credit insurance specialists Coface.

Another approach is for a business to insure their top 10 or 20 clients. “Or they could insure all accounts over $100,000. Or the business might insure a single, large debtor with which a company has just started trading,” Doubé says. The right cover depends on the client’s business. “Some clients have a large and varied debtor book which should all be insured. Others may have a couple of export clients they consider higher risk they may wish to insure. Generally, the more they insure, the better the pricing,” says Hoppe. The right cover can also depend on whether the business has taken out credit insurance in the past. If it already has a credit policy in place it will probably have a better idea about the type of policy required compared to a business that has never taken out this type of cover before. Says Doubé: “We look at the

worst-case scenario for the business, and explore what would happen if one of the its top ten clients failed. It’s about understanding the level of risk share the client can handle.”

Chris Doubé

Mark Hoppe

John Sutherland

Features and benefits Trade credit insurance has changed considerably in recent years as the market has responded to client needs. “We now have a collection offering,” says Doubé. “We can also engage early with the debtor to manage the receivable, which is particularly attractive for companies that can’t manage this internally.” He says this has become particularly popular for exporters entering a market in which they don’t know local debt collection practices and customs. “We have a global network where we either collect the debt ourselves or have partners who do it for us.”

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Credit Management

To determine the right cover it’s important for the business to talk through the company’s exposure, payment terms the business offers and how much risk the firm is prepared to take. Selecting the right policy

As Cheesman notes credit insurance has moved with the times. “It’s more flexible, credit limit decisions are faster, technology offers ledger washing and matching and policies come with overdue collection support, including the cost of collections.” He says credit managers looking for a total credit solution should consider trade credit insurance as a safety net for when a bad debt actually occurs. “Integrating electronic credit applications, company information reports, PPSR registrations and overdue collection actions into the policy gives credit managers a robust support service.” Ultimately, businesses will achieve the best results with credit insurance if they commit to being transparent with the insurer and their broker. Says Crozier: “It’s not the type of insurance you buy today and renew in 12 months. There’s activity required throughout the year, and the best way to make sure the insurance still applies to your business is to engage constantly throughout the year. That’s the best way to protect the business when it really matters.”

Premium trends

“Premiums have been rising for two years, due to high levels of corporate insolvencies and claims activities. But we’re expecting a flattening of premiums as insolvencies reduce,” says Stephen Allan, manager credit risks, GSA Insurance Brokers. “There’s increased competition in the market, with one new insurer, which has added fresh capacity,” he adds. Credit insurance premiums are often linked to the economy. “Premiums rose during and after the financial crisis when there was a 200 per cent increase in credit insurance claims. Premiums had fallen by 2011 and since then, rates have tended to rise and fall by around five per cent year-on-year, depending on the policyholder,” says Cheesman. Doubé says pricing is competitive for low- to medium-risk industries. “High risk sectors are generating more losses, for instance constructionrelated industries and premiums are higher for these industries.” Sutherland stresses trade credit policies don’t replace the credit management process. “We believe trade credit policies improve the credit management process and ensure credit managers are better informed when considering credit, which should lead to loss minimisation and preservation of the business’s lifeblood.”

Premiums are based on the business’ recent bad debt history, industry sector claims volumes and economic conditions. “We have seen an increase in recent years however, but competition is increasing with new providers joining the market,” says Sutherland.

Ultimately, businesses will achieve the best results with credit insurance if they commit to being transparent with the insurer and their broker.

Cheesman says with so many variables, using a specialist credit insurance broker to assess risk will help a business make the right policy choice. “A broker will take into account factors such as your spread of customer risk, size of credit risks, the terms of trade you offer customers, past loss history and industry trade requirements,” he says. To determine the right cover it’s important for the business to talk through the company’s exposure, payment terms the business offers and how much risk the firm is prepared to take. “The higher the excess, the lower the price. So, it’s about understanding what the client can afford to lose versus the premium they want to pay,” says Hoppe. Crozier explains every policy is bespoke. “We look at the client, their industry, their size, their credit risks, their credit management quality and loss history and tailor a solution. “The client is the starting point. We look at the motivations for buying the policy, what they want to achieve with the policy, the budget and the risks and the concerns the client wants to address.”

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

*Alexandra Cain is a freelance finance journalist who has written for many leading Australian and international business publications.

Credit Management

How to motivate your debt collectors By Adam Stewart*

Whether you have an internal team of debt collectors, or outsource to a debt collection specialist, motivating your debt collection team is crucial to the success of your credit department and to the bottomline of your company. When you want to improve the job performance and satisfaction of your debt collectors, there are several ways I have found useful over the years.

Self-esteem and happiness Nowadays, self-esteem and happiness are essential to your team’s success. This is because everyone wants to feel important and valued. In the debt collection arena, improving self-esteem among collectors can lead to greater productivity and debt collection success.

Here are some tips to help improve self-esteem:

Adam Stewart

zz Get your collectors involved in the decision-making processes. They probably know a better solution than you, so get them involved. This makes the collectors feel that you value their input. zz Always use the collector’s name when you are talking to him or her. Make it a point to remember each collector’s name, and knowing some personal information about each person is even better. zz Steer clear of arguments. Discussing subjects is fine, arguing is not. When you argue, the person you are talking to might infer that you think he or she is wrong. When a person feels criticised, self-esteem goes down. zz Give compliments to at least one of your collectors each day.

A compliment goes a long way to enhance self-esteem. zz Be a good listener. Don’t do all the talking. Let the other person talk and show interest in what he or she is saying. zz Keep collectors informed about all the information or issues that pertain to their jobs. I like to share with all of our collectors the outcome of any client meetings, so they feel involved and I can also get their input. Show them the same respect that you would like to be shown.

Teach your collectors to become good listeners This is a great skill that can be taught by example, so listen up and stop talking! Being a good listener enhances job performance because fewer mistakes are made due to misunderstanding or lack of information. In addition, debt collectors do a better job on claims when they are listening carefully to customers and giving customers the impression that they care about what is being said. Below are some tips to improve listening skills: zz As soon as you pick up the phone to place your call, be ready to listen. Sit up straight and focus on the person you are speaking to. zz Avoid being distracted. Remove anything from your immediate vicinity that will take your attention away from the phone call you are on. zz Take detailed notes when you are working a claim. These notes will be invaluable when you are inputting your data into your debt collection software after the phone call has ended.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Credit Management

“Money is a good motivator and in the debt collection industry it is considered mandatory to reward your staff with cash bonuses...” Time management Teach your collectors how to timemanage and plan their day and each of their debt collection calls. By gathering all relevant information ahead of time, the collector will be well prepared for the phone call and will have greater collection success. Here are some time management tips for collectors: zz Planning requires collecting facts and data. Collectors should have all contact information, invoices, payment history and guarantees at their fingertips before any phone call is made. zz Collectors should know the client’s likes and dislikes before picking up the phone. Do they like a softer or harder approach? Can you offer reduced lump sums without obtaining authority? zz Get to know your portfolio. Do a weekly scan of your entire portfolio of debts, including the ones that are not due for action. How many do you have? How can you reduce it quickly? What are you going to concentrate on? Have a plan before you start your day.

Rewards and goals Money is a good motivator and in the debt collection industry it is considered mandatory to reward your staff with cash bonuses, usually based on how much they collect. We have found, over the years, that all other KPIs fade into insignificance, compared to how much money a collector can bring in. Sure, it’s important, from a customer service point of view, to be able to answer the phone and respond to clients and

debtors queries promptly, action the debtor cases on a regular basis and review old cases, but money talks more than all of these put together. Your company or your client wants one thing only, money! So keep it simple. Reward your collectors for how much money they collect. Set other KPIs as you see fit, but make the amount of money collected the first priority and the most important KPI. Other KPIs you can consider are: zz Promise to pay rates. Firstly, collectors can be measured via promises to pay per hour statistics. The components of this metric are the number of negotiations concluded with a promise to pay in the time that a collector is logged on. zz Collector contact efficiency. The second performance measurement might be contact efficiency, which is calculated by the number of successful customer contacts expressed as a proportion of the number of outbound calls placed. The contact efficiency of individual collectors can be monitored by their availability to take calls. When average talk time is tracked it can give an insight into a collector’s call control capability when viewed alongside others, so that individuals can be rewarded accordingly. The contact efficiency generally changed from delinquency bucket to bucket and deteriorates with increasing delinquency. zz Promise kept rates. Monitor and assess staff through their individual promise kept rates. For a typical measurement period of a

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

calendar month a collector might have 300 promises reach maturity. If 200 of those pay on time and within tolerance, the promise kept rate for the period is 300 divided by 200. Carefully consider how specific objectives might corrupt the performance of staff and choose a collections tool that can control who is offered promises and the value of those promises. zz Results board. A regularly updated results board will ensure your team are results-orientated, making the incentive really effective. If you find this specific motivation technique works well for your team, consider targeting other aspects of their role in a similar way. It should be remembered that a collections team is only as good as its weakest member, rather than increasing the spread between the best and worst collectors, the aim should be improving the overall performance of the team.

Workload management Variety is important. Don’t overload your collectors. The requests made of your collectors on a day-to-day basis is a key contributor to their motivation and productivity. A resource manager needs to consider the level of workload and the skill required to do it, too much and your staff may feel overworked, too little will reduce productivity and demoralise most staff. It is a challenge for the credit or collections manager to be able to assign cases to collectors which they are able to manage but provide a level of challenge that will keep them interested and motivated.

Personal development Many staff also need to feel that they are developing within the realms of the business and increasing their professional status. This is why many workers will cite training and development opportunities as a key motivator, so consider arranging

Credit Management

collections courses and workshops for your team. This will equip staff with the skills they need to do their job better, and reinforces that they are valuable. If employees understand that they have a future with the organisation they will work harder to succeed.

Right tools for the job A good credit manager will take the time to ensure their staff are appropriately equipped for the task, so make sure that software is up to date and programmes are tailored to fit the requirements of the collections role. Investing in a debt management software solution designed to handle the entire collections lifecycle will streamline the workload and make each task as simple as possible. The best collections solutions will allow

collections managers to allocate worklists according to the experience and ability of collectors, ensuring an even, fair spread. An effective collections system will also control the way in which cash rewards are allocated, avoiding bonus corruption. Within any organisation, the key will be to make your employees feel a part of the company. As previously stated, get them involved in all levels of the decision-making process, so they feel they can be heard and more importantly, you will listen. If employees do not feel needed and necessary, productivity and ultimately profitability will suffer. Debt collectors can contribute significantly to the profitability of a company. Use these tips to keep your collectors on task and motivated.

You may also refer to my blog: 10 Tips to Become an Awesome Debt Collection Agent

*Adam Stewart is a Debt Collection Expert and owner of Debt Recoveries Australia. Debt Recoveries Australia is the expert at recovering your outstanding debt without the drama. For more information, email at us email@debtrecoveries.com.au or call 1300 799 511. Talk to us about your debt collection concerns via Skype at debtrecoveries.

A resource manager needs to consider the level of workload and the skill required to do it, too much and your staff may feel overworked, too little will reduce productivity and demoralise most staff.

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March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Credit Management

The credit equilibrium By Paul Burgess*

“...where the corporate strategy is to create stability in finances and reduce risk to its minimum, the two forces meld into a single vision...”

Paul Burgess

This is the difference between doing the job you want to do and the job that is right to do. Somewhat confusing at first glance, however, if you look at it from a holistic business perspective, there is an equilibrium of action a credit department can reach that supports the corporate strategy. If a ‘better’ job is done, this could be detrimental to the organisation and certainly counter-supportive of the corporate strategy. This is also verbalised in many circles as a ‘commercial’ view. It is difficult to pin down an exact explanation for ‘commercial’, given it has so many contextual connotations. For our purposes though, we will define ‘commercial’ as an internal view of the organisation where external risk and reward are balanced against the corporate strategy. It is certainly outside of the normal mode of conversation to discuss a Credit ‘strategy’, particularly when it doesn’t necessarily involve reducing DSO. But there are a myriad of strategies in the Credit sphere of influence that may indeed result in an increase to DSO against current results but still be within the key performance indicators; indeed still be aligning with and supporting corporate strategy. For example, where the corporate strategy is one of increasing market share, where extending credit terms, relaxing on hold constraints, and viewing/reframing rejection decisions become necessary in order to support the growth strategy. Where the organisation increases its appetite for risk with the view to gaining a greater market share, may mean strategies

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

that result in an increase to DSO, provisions, and terms. In this instance, the strategy may only be short term, with a view to re-stabilising once the growth target has been met. This would suggest the change to the Credit strategy would also be short term, and a move back to a more traditional Credit strategy will occur sometime in the near future. I am certainly not moving into a realm of hands off and turn a blind eye, but more into the space of controlling what you can and supporting the corporate strategy with energy and action, to the best of our ability. I know credit professionals are very passionate people, and as such do have at times overwhelming feelings about these kinds of ‘negative’ movements, but discussion of these feelings is probably for another time and place. Feelings aside, it is easy to see how these two strategies, the credit strategy and the corporate strategy, can get out of alignment, given the ‘normal’ credit strategy is to minimise bad debt and bring payments as close to terms as possible. Where the corporate strategy is requiring a different Credit strategy is where we move from doing the job we want to do to doing the job that is right to do. Certainly, where the corporate strategy is to create stability in finances and reduce risk to its minimum, the two forces meld into a single vision. It is a more natural motion from the Credit professional to reduce DSO, decrease risk through more stringent on boarding/limit increase processes, and reduced time frames for collections actions. Where

Credit Management

this supports the corporate strategy, happy days. In fact, the majority of external Credit resources are there to aid in this very noble pursuit. The irony is that more skill is applied and indeed required to maintain control and ‘guard’ the ledger in times when corporate strategy is requiring the credit strategy to be outside the norm. Without the full weight of the standard set of tools, it comes down to the softer skills: relationship building, problem solving, influencing others, etc. In this fast changing world we live in, corporate strategy is not the slow turning behemoth it once was. Organisations realise how intrinsically linked being able to change quickly is to their survival, so to have as valuable an asset as Credit moving with the same speed means the organisation’s desire to change their corporate strategy will be fully supported and ensure the success of such a potentially life changing moment. As Credit professionals, we need to be ever aware of the forces bearing down on our organisations, and where possible, be proactive with our strategies and support. Our credit

policies need to be robust enough to survive any test, but flexible enough for us to move through the myriad of changes likely to descend upon us, usually from a great height. How is it possible to have a robust yet flexible credit policy I hear you ask? By constantly questioning the ethos at its core, but placing each clause or point against the strategy in front of us/in our near future, and by testing each value proposition we share with the organisation. This is the way we ensure a robust yet flexible credit policy designed and administered for success and will stand the test of alignment. Adding to our suite of tools is the ever increasing requirement for softer skills, to balance the how with the why. Being able to use both sides of our Credit brain, the logical and creative, to harness all of our skills and abilities and turn them into value for the organisation under any strategy/ market requirements. If we go back to the original statement, and look at the ‘commercial’ view, we understand this as an ever moving set of variables that is driven by the market, corporate

strategy uses this to the benefit of the organisation, and credit strategy does not allow fatal or wounding blows to be freely felt in the ledger. Probably the most challenging of all aspects of a Credit professionals life. It falls to the modern Credit professional to protect the organisation’s greatest asset, the AR ledger, with all of our ability in the way the organisation needs us too. That comes back to aligning the Credit strategy with the corporate strategy, being ‘commercial’ in our view, applying the highest level of soft skills we possess or are working to possess, and seeing the organisational processes holistically. It comes to us having supportive rules of engagement in our credit policies and applying our craft in ever more valuable and creative ways. With this in mind, we change our view of the job we want to do and reframe our thinking into doing the job that is right to do. We achieve Credit equilibrium.

*Paul Burgess bbuscom CPA FIML MICM CDec (Qld) National Credit Manager Steelforce Australia Pty Ltd

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

New Payments Platform

The new payments platform commences roll-out By Adrian Lovney*

“For payments experiences, the Platform’s speed will be key, as well the convenience offered by the PayID addressing service...”

Adrian Lovney

Last year we told you about the New Payments Platform – infrastructure to enable customers with accounts at different banks, building societies and credit unions to make real-time data-rich payments to each other any time of day, any day of the year. Earlier this month the platform commenced rolling out to the general public from more than 60 banks, building societies and credit unions. The initial benefits of the platform – speed, data and simple addressing – are initially being offered to consumers via Osko, the first overlay service that has been developed by BPAY. But according to Adrian Lovney, while the Platform will solve a common consumer and business complaint – namely the time it takes to transfer money between accounts – its potential goes well beyond the ability to support real-time payments, including the potential for innovative efficiencies in credit management. “The New Payments Platform has a unique layered ‘open access’ design which allows for different entities to leverage the Platform’s functionality in different ways. Innovative organisations can choose to build upon the platform’s capabilities to develop and launch ‘overlay services’ on the Platform. These could be payments experiences, or they could be business applications that enable significant organisational efficiencies.

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

“For payments experiences, the Platform’s speed will be key, as well the convenience offered by the PayID addressing service and the data that can be transmitted alongside a payment. We see the Platform’s data capability as a potential boon for future business applications. From simpler invoicing to automatic reconciliation across core business processes; as organisations continue to digitise their back offices we believe the New Payments Platform will provide an important building block for innovation. “Or if an organisation wants to use the Platform to simply make and receive payments, they can access its broad reach by connecting to it via one of the 13 founding participating institutions,” Mr Lovney said. The Platform went live in November last year and has supported funds transfers between employees at a number of different banks, building societies and credit unions. The Platform’s public launch occurred in the very early hours of 13 February – at 12.01am to be precise – when CEO of NPP Australia Adrian Lovney marked the occasion by making a donation to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation Charity for Children. While the Platform was developed for Australia’s domestic needs, its design responds to gaps identified in other international systems. As a result, it has become a global

New Payments Platform

reference point because of the following world-leading capabilities: zz A layered architecture that can support multiple and competitive services. zz Significant data capability through the use of ISO20022. zz An addressing service called ‘PayID’ that enables payments to be made to simpler memorable identifiers rather than BSB and account numbers. zz Real-time settlement via the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Fast Settlement Service. Mr Lovney said the New Payments Platform has been designed and built by its founding participants with the future in mind. “Developed by SWIFT – an international leader in the provision of

secure financial messaging services – the technology and design that underpins it is world leading and highly scalable, positioning it well to respond to future payments trends and growth,” he said. Chair of NPP Australia, Paul Lahiff, said that while the launch is the result of unprecedented collaboration between 13 members of Australia’s financial services industry – including the major banks and the Reserve Bank of Australia – the Platform’s benefits will be brought to life over the next month by a much wider and diverse group of financial institutions who are connecting to the Platform by one of the founding directly connected participants. “The work to bring the New Payments Platform to life has been

comprehensive and robust. First the Platform had to be designed, developed and thoroughly tested. At the same time, the participating financial institutions have worked hard to connect their different and very complex systems. “For the past four years, thousands of people across the entire industry, and in our partners SWIFT and BPAY, have worked tirelessly to bring this technology to life through a comprehensive and robust process. We are incredibly proud to see this day arrive,” Mr Lahiff said.

*Adrian Lovney Chief Executive Officer New Payments Platform www.nppa.com.au For more information on the New Payments Platform visit: www.nppa.com.au

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

New Payments Platform

The new Payments Platform

– what does it mean for me? By Trevor Middleton*

Trevor Middleton

The New Payments Platform – what is it? The New Payments platform is a complete revamp of the Australian payment clearing process – catering for faster ‘near real-time’ payment clearance, new methods of requesting and making payments, and enhanced information on payment transactions. The catch phrase is ‘faster, simpler, smarter’. Technology is evolving so rapidly. Banking and personal transaction processing is changing at an amazing rate. Transaction processing is now being done by non-traditional, nonbanking players, such as Fintechs, Paypal and the like. Transactions are occurring at speeds and in ways that were previously undreamed of. Customer and consumer expectations are higher than ever before. No longer will they tolerate assured payment using only bank-guaranteed cheques, and payments that take banks days to clear. They expect immediate response using innovative, convenient payment methods, on mobile devices such as mobile phones and ‘portable/ wearable’ devices. As an example of this, as recently as last month one of the leading banks launched a credit card in the form of a ceramic, waterproof ring that you wear and “swipe to pay” with ease. Australia needed a payment platform to support these new and

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

not-yet-thought-of transaction methods and the demand for higher speed of payment clearance. Back in 2012 a review of the payment platform was completed and in 2014 a consortium of the Reserve Bank, major interested banks and financial institutions joined together to deliver a new payment platform, capable of delivering enhanced, high speed payment transactions. NPP Australia Limited (New Payments Platform) was formed to oversee the development, operation and management of the new platform. Stage 1 of that platform, delivered by SWIFT, is due to be launched early this year. No exact dates are available at time of writing, and of course the banks and other parties still need to ramp up to take advantage of this, just as we do. Some offerings are ready to be delivered – such as BPay’s Osko service. More will follow.

What functionality will NPP have? It is important to remember that what is being launched this year is just the beginning of a longer journey. Financial institutions and other parties will be using the NPP and extending it with innovative offerings using the extensibility of the platform.

1. Near real time payment clearance NPP’s stated aim is to be able to clear a payment in 6 seconds or less, 365

New Payments Platform

Customers will be quoting their PAY-ID when they pay. You will need to be able to verify, store and use their PAY-ID. This PAY-ID therefore needs to be tracked and managed in your systems. days a year, 24 hours a day, 7 days of the week. This is a far cry from the “days” that it can take at the moment. Of course any faster, online transaction processing introduces the increased risk of fraud and security concerns. The inevitable trade-off that comes with increased speed is that security risk increases. Security has been a paramount priority for the platform designers, and is nonnegotiable. The UK has had their “Faster Payment Service” in place since 2008, and the NPP is based on ISO international standards, so there has been significant security experience and learning gained from other similar platforms.

2. Payment by PAY-ID, not BSB/account Instead of having to remember their bank account number, payers can nominate and pay using their ‘PAY-ID’. This is a cross-convenient reference to actual bank account. And of course you are not having to distribute your actual bank account number when you pay. There are still all of the controls of authorisation of payment by the PAY-ID party, so security remains in place. For customers this PAY-ID could be their mobile number, their email address or something similar. For companies, the PAY-ID will most likely be the ABN Number. The PAY-ID will be transferable if the person or entity changes bank.

3. Enhanced payment information appearing on the bank statement (Overlay) Payment Transactions can be made along with associated relevant

information. Initially up to 280 characters can be used. This can be the PayID or more complete Payer information, but can be much more. Some examples of how this could be used are quoting an insurance policy number when making insurance payment. The payment information is also not limited to being just information. It could for example be an embedded web link to an online remittance advice document, or a signed contract, etc.

4. Faster, convenient payment ‘shortcuts’ for request for payment The payment process can be driven more easily by the invoicer/ originator. Along with the invoice details, the originator can send a convenient ‘’request for payment” with supporting descriptions. The payer can then simply click on the convenient link to make the payment.

What do each of these improvements mean for my business?

PAY-ID payment, not BSB and account Customers will be quoting their PAY-ID when they pay. You will need to be able to verify, store and use their PAY-ID. This PAY-ID therefore needs to be tracked and managed in your systems. If you are going to use the “Request for Payment” functionality, you will most likely need to quote this PAY-ID on that electronic payment request.

Enhanced bank statement information Receiving enhanced information will be incredibly useful when you are allocating payments to customers and invoices. Customers will be using this enhanced description in multiple ways. You cannot always control what information customers put in their Payment References. Consider what you are going to ask your customers to include along with their payments. Consider how your allocation process will need to be able to process multiple types of information on that bank statement.

Faster, more frequent payment clearance

So what should I do next?

Most businesses clear their bank statement payments once per day. Does this meant that you need to re-consider how often you will process your bank statement receipts? Are you and your bank geared up to do this more often than you currently do? And what does this mean for downstream processes like stop-credit release, delivery of goods triggered by payment clearance, etc.

Do more research into this platform, to understand the impact it could have, and the business potential it will deliver to your business. Investigate how NPP could be used to improve your cash-flow and/or give you a competitive advantage. Educate your management, staff, suppliers and customers to the impending change- share your knowledge and make sure they are looking for the potential.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

New Payments Platform

Talk to fellow members at AICM gatherings, to hear what they are thinking and doing to be prepared. Make sure you have conversations with your ERP/Financial system providers to understand how they will be reacting to and supporting NPP functionality. If you are purchasing or upgrading financial software, make sure that the provider has good support for the NPP capabilities, and that you have included this impending requirement in your RFI/RFP. Talk to your bank to see what functionality they will be supporting and supplying, and what additional cost there will be, if any, for the new services.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss what NPP means to you, and to see how Cosyn can help you with Collections systems and automated Cash Allocation that can help you take advantage of the NPP process enhanced frequency

Supporting information zz zz zz zz zz

www.nppa.com.au www.payid.com.au www.bpay.com.au/Member-Financial-Institutions/Osko-by-BPAY.aspx www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMZoBQ-vCg www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0xJmze8xbs

*Trevor Middleton, Principal Consultant Cosyn Software Ph: 1800 123 613, Email: trevorm@cosynsoftware.com

In terms of your internal processes … Consider how and where you will need to obtain store and verify Customer and Supplier PAY-IDs. Credit Application, Direct Debit and other forms may need to be amended to capture the PAY-ID information. Consider what more frequent, more timely payments mean to you: —— will you need to review and process bank statements more frequently during the day? —— how will you and/or the bank identify transactions you have already processed that day? —— will you need to have other downstream processes happening more frequently as a result of more frequent receipting? —— now that there is enhanced bank statement information, what information will you be asking your customers to include with their payment? —— will you be able to process the enhanced payment information on your bank statement? —— can you make use of the embedded ‘request for payment’ capability, in order to speed up payment from your customers?

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Electronic Signatures

Negotiating and executing binding contracts in the digital landscape By Belinda Pinnow*

The past two decades have seen the rapid expansion of electronicbased transactions and increased client expectations for efficiency and expedient completion of commercial transactions. Despite the integration of the internet into our everyday lives and our immersion in Appbased software, there remains some misconception that parties are not bound to perform an agreement unless they physically put pen to paper and sign acceptance. The purpose of this article is to remove common misconceptions about e-commerce transactions and clarify the circumstances in which parties are bound to electronically formed agreements. All information in this article is written by way of general comment and any reader wishing to act on information contained in this article should first approach their legal professional advisors for properly considered professional advice which takes into account the reader’s specific situation.

Electronic communications and “traditional” contracts

Belinda Pinnow

General contract principles remain applicable to contracts formed electronically with these principles merely expanded to account for emerging technology.

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Whereas traditionally an offer may have taken the form of a letter or newspaper advertisement, an electronically communicated offer may take the form of a website advertisement, online auction, mass email, chatroom conversation, social media posting or direct email exchange. Whether a legal offer is made is resolved objectively, having regard to the documentary evidence of the parties.1 Provided a clear, unambiguous statement of an offer from one party (the offeror) to another (the offeree) capable of acceptance has occurred, an offer is made.2 The offer must clearly indicate a willingness to enter into legal relations with the offeree and not merely to enter discussions or negotiations.3 Provided these factors are able to be established, there is no reason why an offer made electronically is not valid. Effective acceptance of an offer must be clear unequivocal acceptance of the offer complying with any requirements contained in the offer; or, where there are no requirements, be communicated to the offeror.4 There is no impediment to this occurring via electronic means, for example, by email or web-chat. As for the formation of the contract, the Federal Court of Australia considered the issue of acceptance via email

Electronic Signatures

in the case of Olivaylle Pty Ltd v Flottweg GMBH and Co KGAA (No 4)5 and noted that the “contract was made where the acceptance was received”.6 When an email is “received” depends on whether the offeror designated a particular email address for receipt of correspondence. If so under the Acts,7 this is when the email is capable of retrieval by the offeror. If no email address is designated and an email is just being sent to an undesignated address, it is when the offeror is not only capable of retrieving the email, but also has knowledge that the communication has been sent to that email address. Particular to the online setting is “click-wrap contracts” – that is a contract formed by clicking on an advertisement (being an invitation) and completing a hypertext order form (or confirming an automated order form) which the offeror (the prospective purchaser, for example) then confirms agreement to by clicking a button labelled ‘I accept’, ‘Submit’, or ‘Purchase’. The offeree and provider of the invitation (the prospective seller, for example) receive confirmation of the now ‘offer’ instantly and is able to accept it by placing the order. Note the role reversal with the person receiving the goods making the offer in this context, and the supplier entity accepting the offer to supply goods (but presenting the original advertisement, or invitation to treat).8 As with non-electronically formed contracts, terms may be implied into a contract by a court or implied by statute. In the absence of a preexisting rule, courts may imply terms by fact provided certain criteria are met.9 For terms to be incorporated into contracts, it is generally sufficient to show that the party had notice of the terms – it is not necessary to prove that the party took the extra step of reading them.10 Key examples of incorporating terms are found in the “click-wrap contracts”; the terms are presented to

As with non-electronically formed contracts, terms may be implied into a contract by a court or implied by statute. a user via a dialogue box with the user prevented from proceeding further until they have clicked to say that they have “read and understood” those terms. Where terms are hyperlinked and drawn to the attention of parties, these terms are found to be incorporated into the contract provided reasonable attention is drawn to the terms during the offer and acceptance stages.11 The above clearly indicates that contracts formed electronically are just as legally binding as those formed via traditional non-electronic means.

3. the person who is providing the signature consents to the signing requirement being by the method in paragraph 2. Where you are contracting with a Commonwealth Government Entity, there is an additional requirement for electronic signatures to be valid, that is, the method used to identify the person must be in accordance with the particular information technology requirements set out by that particular Department, for example, some of the Australian Taxation Office’s requirements are set out in ATO Practice Statement Law Administration PS LA 2005/20.13

Electronic transactions When have you validly “signed”?

How do these provisions apply practically?

The various Electronic Transactions Acts12 set out the signature requirements for electronic contracts. The general position is that the signature requirements for an electronic contract will be taken to have been met if: 1. a method is utilised to identify the person signing and to indicate that person’s intention in respect of the information communicated; and 2. the method used to identify the person and that person’s intention was either: a. as reliable as appropriate for the purpose for which the electronic information was generated or communicated, in light of all the circumstances and having regard to any relevant agreements; or b. proven in fact to fulfil the functions described in 2a. by itself or together with further evidence.

There have been a number of decisions which have clarified the application of the signature requirements, with select decisions discussed next. The Commonwealth Act14 was tested in the case of Getup Ltd v Electoral Commissioner15 which involved the use of a digital pen to sign and witness a claim form for enrolment on the electoral roll. The Electoral Act16 required any signature on “electoral paper” be signed by a person with his or her “personal signature”.17 The Commissioner determined that the electronic signature on a claim form completed via laptop trackpad was not sufficient. In the proceedings, the Commissioner raised concerns about the degree of pixilation and, given the degree of the pixilation, the potential for disparity between signatures if the submitted digital signature was subsequently compared to a future postal vote.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Electronic Signatures

The Commissioner further argued that the electronic submission was not as reliable as appropriate for the purpose for which the information was communicated; however the Court noted that the Commissioner accepted the faxing and emailing of JPEG files18. Applying an objective test, the Court found that as pixilation could occur via the other communication methods accepted by the Commissioner, that the signature was valid. The Supreme Court of Queensland was asked to determine whether a finalised contract had been agreed by way of emailed negotiations in the case of Stellard Pty Ltd & Anor v North Queensland Fuel Pty Ltd19. Negotiations took place between a prospective purchaser and Seller’s agent for the prospective purchase of a service station with the offer notably communicated ‘subject to contract’ and subsequently accepted ‘subject to execution of the contract’. This decision ultimately turned on the contents within the email negotiations that took place, as, where it is alleged a binding agreement has been reached via correspondence, the correspondence as a whole must be considered to ascertain the alleged terms20 – it is not appropriate that only one particular piece of correspondence is isolated and examined.21 Ultimately it was determined that there was sufficient evidence in the email exchanges to satisfy the legal requirements for the formation of a contract and, that the identification of the parties via their email signatures was sufficient for signing to have occurred. It is important to note that the usage of words such as “subject to contract” is measured against the relevant context; that is to say, even if these words are used, if it is sufficiently clear from the correspondence that the parties intend to be bound immediately, a binding contract will be formed.22 Here, it was found in the plaintiff’s favour that a concluded

It is vitally important when negotiating with any Commonwealth entity that you ensure that it has the ability to be bound electronically... agreement had been reached as to the sale of the service station. However, do you need to have a full electronic signature? You will recall that we discussed above the incorporation of standard terms into an electronic contract via hyperlink. This situation was recently considered by the New South Wales Supreme Court (NSWSC) in Gonzalez v Agoda Company Pte Ltd23 where a prospective traveller booked via Agoda’s website. As part of the process she completed her personal information and was directed to a “Payment Details Page” where she completed her payment information; relevantly, this webpage had a link to Agoda’s standard terms and conditions of booking making the laws of Singapore the exclusive jurisdiction of the soon to be formed contract.24 Above the button “Book Now”, were noted the words “I agree with the booking conditions and general terms by booking this room…”25 The plaintiff proceeded to click “Book Now” and when a dispute subsequently arose between her and Agoda, sought to argue that the exclusive jurisdiction clause within the standard terms was not binding. The NSWSC accepted the submissions from counsel for Agoda that the provision of credit card details and the action of clicking on “Book Now” amounted to the plaintiff providing her signature in agreement to the contract and, as a result of signing, the standard terms were incorporated into the contract – irrespective of whether she had read them.26 Decided cases show that: 1. an email signature or typed signoff comprising a person’s name or

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identifier are sufficient forms of identification; 2. in the absence of vitiating factors, successful transmission of the electronic communication seems sufficient to prove that the form of the transmission was adequate; 3. where parties have engaged in electronic communications, it is assumed that the parties have consented to signing via this method.

Do you ever need an original signature anymore? Yes. The Electronic Transactions Acts27 are all subject to existing or subsequently enacted legislative requirements for original signatures. Additionally, each State and Territory has its own exclusions, generally contained within the correlating regulations or within the schedules to the respective Acts. For example, in Queensland, section 7A28 excludes the operation of the Act29 to the 17 exclusions contained within Schedule 1 of the Act30 which include: 1. an authorisation under the Trust Accounts Act 1973 (Cth); 2. promissory notes; 3. foreign exchange transactions; 4. any signature required by a person to be filed with a court or tribunal for a proceeding; and 5. any requirement requiring a document to be attested, authenticated, verified or witnessed by a person other than the author of the document. As witnessing cannot occur remotely31, that is, the witness must be present at the time the signer signs, the signature of the

Electronic Signatures

witness must be original, it cannot be implied by the provisions of the Acts, for instance by email confirmation. The witnessing exemption is mirrored in NSW32. The Northern Territory contains exemptions within its Regulations33, in particular, it exempts signatures relating to Wills34, Powers of Attorney35 and Personal Service36. Interestingly, the Commonwealth Regulation37 contains a list of Commonwealth legislation which excludes the provisions of electronic validity, writing and signature from operating. These are in addition to the exclusions contained in Schedule 1 of the Commonwealth Act relating to certain migration and citizenship documents.38 It is vitally important when negotiating with any Commonwealth entity that you ensure that it has the

ability to be bound electronically, for example, an entity may not be bound to its acceptance of an offer until its representative physically signs if it is excluded from doing so by virtue of the Act.

Take home It is important to remember that it is only in limited circumstances that an ‘original’ signature is required on documents. Where you intend to negotiate and transact electronically, you must ensure that your particular contract does not fall into one of the exemptions discussed above, lest you find that you have an unenforceable agreement. Care and consideration should be taken through the negotiating process to ensure that email exchanges reflect the intended terms of the end contract and that any terms not agreed are clearly identified. As has

FOOTNOTES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Australian Broadcasting Corporation v XIVth Commonwealth Games Ltd (1988) 18 NSWLR 540 Henthorn v Fraser [1892] 2 Ch 27 (CA) at 37 Australian Woollen Mills Pty Ltd v Commonwealth (1954) 92 CLR 424 George Hudson Holdings Ltd v Rudder (1973) 128 CLR 387 at 395 per Menzies J [2009] FCA 522 Ibid at [25] Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (NSW); Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 (Vic); Electronic Transactions (Queensland) Act 2001 (Qld); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (SA); Electronic Transactions Act 2011 (WA); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (Tas) Lim Y F (2008) Cyberspace Law – Commentaries and Materials (2nd Ed), Oxford University Press, Sydney at page 72. BP Refinery (Westernport) Pty Ltd v Hastings SC (1977) 180 CLR 266 Parker v South Eastern Railway Co (1877) 2 CPD 416 (CA); Causer v Browne [1952] VLR 1 Lim Y F (2008) Cyberspace Law – Commentaries and Materials (2nd Ed), Oxford University Press, Sydney at page 73. Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (NSW); Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 (Vic); Electronic Transactions (Queensland) Act 2001 (Qld); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (SA); Electronic Transactions Act 2011 (WA); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (Tas) http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?locid=%27PSR/PS200520/ NAT/ATO%27&PiT=20060405000001 Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth) [2010] FCA 869 Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) Getup Ltd v Electoral Commissioner [2010] FCA 869 at [9] Getup Ltd v Electoral Commissioner [2010] FCA 869 at [21] [2015] QSC 119

been shown, binding and enforceable contracts may be made by parties entirely via email exchange and digital signature. It may be difficult to negotiate a variation to a formed contract to insert further terms with the other party once the initial contract is formed. Electronic transacting is an efficient way to complete commercial arrangements across multiple jurisdictions and with multiple parties. There is no reason for consumers and businesses to not take full advantage of the e-commerce landscape, provided they keep the rules and regulations in mind.

*Belinda Pinnow (LL.B. LL.M. GDLP) Senior Associate JHK Legal, Brisbane P: 07 3859 4531, F: 07 3221 8858 E: belinda.pinnow@jhklegal.com.au www.jhklegal.com.au

20 Stellard Pty Ltd & Anor v North Queensland Fuel Pty Ltd [2015] QSC 119 at [34] citing Kirby P in Geebung Investments Pty Ltd v Varga Group Investments (No 8) Pty Ltd (1995) 7 BPR 14,551 at 14, 522 21 Stellard Pty Ltd & Anor v North Queensland Fuel Pty Ltd [2015] QSC 119 at [34] citing Kirby P in Geebung Investments Pty Ltd v Varga Group Investments (No 8) Pty Ltd (1995) 7 BPR 14,551 at 14, 522 22 Stellard Pty Ltd & Anor v North Queensland Fuel Pty Ltd [2015] QSC 119 at [36] 23 Gonzalez v Agoda Company Pte Ltd [2017] NSWSC 1133 24 Gonzalez v Agoda Company Pte Ltd [2017] NSWSC 1133 at [8] – [10] 25 Gonzalez v Agoda Company Pte Ltd [2017] NSWSC 1133 at [13] 26 See generally, Gonzalez v Agoda Company Pte Ltd [2017] NSWSC 1133 at [44] – [49] 27 Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (NSW); Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 (Vic); Electronic Transactions (Queensland) Act 2001 (Qld); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (SA); Electronic Transactions Act 2011 (WA); Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (Tas) 28 Electronic Transactions (Queensland) Act 2001 (Qld) 29 Electronic Transactions (Queensland) Act 2001 (Qld) 30 Electronic Transactions (Queensland) Act 2001 (Qld) 31 Legal Services Commissioner v Bentley [2016] QCAT 185 32 Section 5 of the Electronic Transactions Regulation 2017 (NSW) 33 Electronic Transactions (Northern Territory) Regulations 34 Section 2 of the Electronic Transactions (Northern Territory) Regulations 35 Section 3 of the Electronic Transactions (Northern Territory) Regulations 36 Section 4 of the Electronic Transactions (Northern Territory) Regulations 37 See Schedule 1 of the Electronic Transactions Regulation 2000 (Cth) 38 See Schedule 1 of the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth)

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Electronic Signatures

Review and update on e-signatures in applications for credit accounts and guarantees By Frank Gambera*

A 2016 case in the New South Wales Court of Appeal provided a stark warning to parties relying on e-signatures to enforce contractual obligations. Since then, there has been no legislative reform or reported judicial consideration of that case, so credit managers are advised to remain cautious when relying on e-signatures on credit accounts and guarantees.

What is an e-signature?

Frank Gambera

E-signatures, or electronic signatures, is a broad term used to describe electronic data that conveys the intent of an old-school wet ink signature. In its simplest form, an e-signature can be a name typed into an email, a scanned image of a wet ink signature, or the clicking of an ‘I accept’ box. ‘Digital signatures’ are a more technically sophisticated form of electronic signatures; they are akin to electronic fingerprints. They use mathematical code to demonstrate the authenticity of the signature. Digital signatures are different to electronic signatures in that they are capable of being linked to hidden data, which can verify the identification of the person applying the signature. Digital signatures are created by software products such as Adobe eSign Services, DocuSign, EchoSign,

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eSign+, e-SignLive, eversign, Fluix, HelloFax, HelloSign, PandaDoc, PDCflow, Sertifi, Signable, SignNow SignRequest, or RightSignature. To create a digital signature, a private ‘key’ is used to generate a unique code associated with a particular document. The private key should only be known and used by the person who created it.

What is the relevance of e-signatures to credit managers? Credit Applications, Terms and Conditions and Guarantees are contracts. In order to create a valid contract that is legally binding, there must be an offer, acceptance, consideration (except where the contract is a Deed) and a mutual intent to be bound. A wet ink signature, or an e-signature, is the proof that the party accepts the terms of the contract and intends to be bound by the contract. If there is doubt about the reliability of a signature on a credit application or guarantee, credit managers may not be able to enforce unpaid tax invoices.

Williams Group Pty Ltd v Crocker (2016) NSWA 265 The importance of the enforceability of e-signatures was brought to the attention of the Credit Industry in

Electronic Signatures

2016 when Williams Group Australia Pty Ltd (‘Williams’), a supplier of building materials, was unable to enforce a personal guarantee executed with an e-signature. Facts Williams sent a credit application and deed of guarantee and indemnity to be signed by the company IDH Modular Pty Ltd (‘IDH’), and by its three directors individually as guarantors. Both documents were signed using digital signatures created by the software Hellofax. When this software had been installed at IDH, all directors, including Mr Crocker, had been provided with an initial username and password; the private key to their e-signatures. Mr Crocker did not change the password and anyone who knew the initial password could log into Hellofax and affix Mr Crocker’s electronic signature to documents. An unknown staff member affixed Mr Crocker’s e-signature to the Williams’ credit application and guarantee. Williams supplied building materials valued at $889,534.35

to IDH on credit. IDH went into liquidation, defaulting on its obligations. Williams sought to enforce the personal guarantees against the three directors for monies owed. Mr Crocker challenged the enforceability of the personal guarantee, arguing that someone else in the company had affixed his e-signature to the credit application without his knowledge or consent. Decision The Supreme Court of NSW found Mr Crocker was not bound on the basis that Williams was unable to prove Mr Crocker had knowledge of the guarantee and had provided authority for the guarantee to be signed on his behalf. A confirmation email sent by Williams to Mr Crocker enclosing a copy of the signed guarantee did not prove his intention to be bound at the time of the contract formation because there was insufficient proof that he knew about the email. The Court of Appeal upheld the first instance decision and dismissed the appeal with costs.

Ensuring e-signatures are enforceable Electronic signatures are a legally valid method of signing credit applications and guarantees, and due to their convenience, are increasingly replacing wet ink signatures. Commonwealth legislation introduced in 1999 allows electronic commerce to operate on the same basis as paper-based commerce. In addition to the usual requirements for a paper contract, Section 9 (2) of the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth) (‘the Act’) provides that a contract can be formed electronically if: zz the contract is stored appropriately and can be accessed after execution; and zz there has been consent between the parties, expressly or impliedly, to receive the information electronically. Section 10 of the Act provides that an e-signature is valid if: a) there is consent by the recipient to receive information electronically; b) the method of signing identifies the person and indicates the person’s intention in respect of the communication; and

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Electronic Signatures

c) having regard to all the circumstances of the transaction, the method of signing is reliable for the purpose for which the electronic communication was generated or proven in fact to identify the person and their intention; It is important credit managers ensure their administrative processes meet these requirements.

Potential Difficulties Simple electronic signatures such as a tick in a box or a PDF image of a wet ink signature are usually adequate for uncomplicated transactions such as registering online to vote, or signing the terms and conditions for a purchase on eBay. However, in commercial transactions, where significant sums may be involved, it may be difficult for a party to prove that relying on an e-signature was reliable and appropriate. The Court in Alonso v SRS Investments (WA) Pty Ltd (2012) WASC 168 held that it is necessary to examine ‘whether the parties conduct, viewed objectively, reveals tacit understanding or agreement or a manifestation of mutual assent, which evinces an intention to create legal relations’. To a large extent, digital signatures minimise the risks of using e-signatures, as they are a more secure and reliable verification of a person’s identity, but only where the private key to a digital signature is kept secret. Using digital signature software is considerably safer and more secure than unsophisticated electronic signatures, but credit managers should be wary of the remaining risks of fraud, dishonesty and customers who fail to update their passwords and keep them secret.

What can credit managers do to protect their company’s interests? zz Ensure Terms and Conditions include a clause consenting to electronic communication.

zz Keep original copies of signed credit applications and guarantees to illustrate the kind of signature applied. zz Create processes that confirm: {{ the identity of the person who affixed the e-signature; {{ the authority of that person to affix the e-signature; and {{ the actual knowledge of the customer that his/her signature has been affixed to a credit application and guarantee. zz Ensure electronic and paper contracts are stored appropriately and can be easily accessed. zz Where a document has been witnessed, obtain the contact details of the witness in case the witness needs to confirm the authenticity of the customer’s signature. zz Once a credit application has been approved, send a letter to each guarantor to verify his/her knowledge of a credit account being opened in reliance upon his/ her personal guarantee. zz Keep accurate records of telephone calls and face-to-face meetings with customers to show the customer knows of the credit application and is relying upon the credit provided. This will assist to show that even if a guarantor did not authorise the signing of the credit application, his/her later conduct ratified the contract. zz If using digital signature software, choose products that have additional verification and authentication techniques. Even though there is no guaranteed method of verifying an e-signature with 100% certainty, the most

reliable software will utilise secure online databases that provide a certification authority (‘CA’). A CA requires users to provide specific information to confirm their identity and issue a digital signature certificate. The recipient of the digital signature (the credit manager) can then use the certificate to verify the authenticity of the e-signature. zz Ensure digital signature software is kept up to date and has an effective archiving system, so data may be retrieved quickly in the event of a dispute. zz If your company does not use digital signature software, consider requiring that guarantees are signed face to face or sent to customers in hard copy and signed in the traditional manner with wet signatures.

Summary Legislative reform could remove the doubt caused by the Williams decision, but as yet, has not occurred. Thus credit managers need to remain alert to the potential risks of relying on e-signatures. Ultimately, it’s about the evidence a credit manager can produce to verify a customer knew about a credit account and consented to its terms and conditions and any associated guarantees. *Frank Gambera Director McMahon Fearnley Lawyers fmg@mcmahonfearnley.com.au (03) 9670 0966 Frank Gambera acknowledges the assistance of Heather McIntosh in the writing of this article.

“If using digital signature software, choose products that have additional verification and authentication techniques.”

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Legal

Ipso facto clauses and unfair contract terms – a deep dive By Geoffrey McDonald* On 22 February, 2018, I had the pleasure of presenting the annual Credit Management Symposium for the benefit of the New South Wales division. There were about 50 credit managers in attendance, who remarked how much they benefited from the session regarding the two subjects of “ipso facto clauses” and “unfair contract terms”. There was great interaction with the audience, as we reviewed about 15 different of the attendee companies Terms of Trade (“Conditions”) that the attendees submitted prior to the session. I proposed a series of questions to the audience. If the Conditions contain a term which, if sought to be used by the creditor would be a breach of the new ipso facto law, does the existence of such a term breach the unfair contract law? If we assume that the term is, due to the new “ipso facto” law, ineffective and incapable of use, does its existence create a contract which, as a whole, is unfair? In other words, is the whole contract between supplier and debtor exposed to attack under the unfair contracts legislation or just those particular terms, which “breach” the ipso facto law? I note that under section 243 of the Australian Consumer Law, as an example only, the orders which a court may make, include: (a) an order declaring the whole or any part of a contract made between the respondent and a person (the injured person) who suffered, or is likely to suffer, the loss or damage referred to in that section, or of a collateral

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Geoffrey McDonald arrangement relating to such a contract: (i) to be void; and (ii) if the court thinks fit--to have been void ab initio or void at all times on and after such date as is specified in the order (which may be a date that is before the date on which the order is made); (b) an order: (i) varying such a contract or arrangement in such manner as is specified in the order; and (ii) if the court thinks fit--declaring the contract or arrangement to have had effect as so varied on and after such date as is specified in the order (which may be a date that is before the date on which the order is made); (c) an order refusing to enforce any or all of the provisions of such a contract or arrangement. Having regard to the risk that the above sub-sections will be used against a creditor, I posed the question as to “why have those terms, if they can’t be used?” My question brought us to the next question of what are these terms, which offend the new law. It is interesting to note that the new laws relating to “ipso facto clauses” never uses the term “ipso facto” within the law. The term “ipso facto” translates as “by that very fact”. The new law is based on a simple principle, best described by way of an example. If a company is paying its debts and trading in compliance with the Conditions of all of its trade suppliers and, for some unusual problem, it is placed into Administration for the purpose of surviving that problem,

Legal

then (as an example) the landlord should not be entitled to take any action against the Company to evict it from the premises, unless there are other breaches of the Conditions. The sole fact that the company has been placed into administration should not be reason for a creditor, such as a landlord, to exercise rights against the company. The principle is that such a breach of the Condition (e.g. going into Administration) should not entitle the creditor to take action. The Corporations Act now provides; 451E Stay on enforcing rights (1) A right cannot be enforced against a company for: (a) the reason that the company has come or is under administration; or (b) the company’s financial position, if the company is under administration; or (c) a reason, prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph, that relates to: (i) the company coming, or possibly coming, under administration; or (ii) the company’s financial position; if the company later comes under administration; or (d) a reason that, in substance, is contrary to this subsection; if the right arises for that reason by express provision (however described) of a contract, agreement or arrangement. The law is similar in respect of Schemes, Receiverships and Administrations (not Liquidations). The same principles, using fundamentally the same wording, has been applied to each of those circumstances; 415D Stay on enforcing rights merely because of a proceeding under this Part etc. 434J Stay on enforcing rights merely because of the appointment of a managing controller of a corporation’s property etc. 451E Stay on enforcing rights merely because the company is under administration etc. I will now focus on the precise wording which has been used in respect of Administrations, noted in part above. At the Symposium, we took the opportunity to consider where these clauses are likely to be appear within the Conditions and what rights are likely to be impacted. The most common clauses start under the heading of “Default” or “Breach” and they involve something of the following nature; If the Customer or any person who has guaranteed the debts of the Customer to SUPPLIER; (a) becomes an ‘externally-administered body corporate’ within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001; (b) has any step taken for its winding up or dissolution;

(c) holds a meeting of directors which considers a resolution that an administrator should be appointed; (d) is insolvent within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001, or being taken or presumed to be insolvent; (e) commits an ‘act of bankruptcy’ within the meaning of section 40 of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 or any amendment or replacement thereof; (f) has distress, attachment or other execution levied or enforced over any of its property; (g) fails to pay the entire Amount Payable in accordance with this Agreement; … In some instances, the above circumstances are defined as being a “Default” and in others, the clause then continues and explains what consequences follow (usually in the form of the SUPPLIER having rights). I haven’t seen a clause which continues and says something like “and therefore the debtor is allowed an extra 90 days to pay (because we feel sorry for them)”. This is the starting point. For the new law to apply, the ‘default clause’ needs to relate to Administration, Receivership or Schemes. If the default clause never mentioned administration etc., such as being limited to clause (g) above, then the new law would not apply. There may be other circumstances which result in a default, such as not making payment on time, but those other conditions are not affected by this new law. The law focusses on Schemes, Receiverships and Administrations (not Liquidations). Therefore, this new restriction does not operate in all circumstances and well drafted Conditions should protect you adequately. The Conditions then usually state that, when the above circumstances arise, there is a consequence of that default or breach. In theory, if the Conditions referred to Administrations and then stated nothing more, then because there are no consequences of the Administration, the new law would not operate. The issue is then to determine what rights arise. In reviewing number of terms it became apparent that the rights are fairly common and consistent between different creditors. These common rights were to entitle the creditor to; zz Make all amounts owing by the debtor to be immediately due and payable zz Terminate any obligation to provide further credit or supplies, zz Attend upon the debtor’s premises for the purpose of re-taking their “retention of title“ stop Some examples were; SUPPLIER may, at its election and without prejudice

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Legal

to other rights which the SUPPLIER may have: (a) declare the Amount Payable immediately due for payment; (b) enter the premises at which the Bailed Goods are kept (“Premises”) to claim and remove the Bailed Goods from the Premises; (c) The Company may without prejudice to any other rights and without liability to any person in trespass or otherwise enter the premises of the Customer where the goods are located and recover possession of the goods; (d) the Company may, without prejudice to any other remedies it may have, repossess any of those Goods and commence proceedings to recover the balance of any monies owing to the Company by the Customer on any account. There was one example which concerned me greatly. What if the right to lodge a caveat to secure a charge over property arose only after a default and the default was “Administration”? You can see my point! The law also recognises that some rights arise without the need to do anything. The Conditions could say that, upon a default, the creditor can then, by notice, make the balance become immediately due and payable in full. Alternatively the Conditions could say that upon a default, the balance becomes immediately due and payable, without any action on the part of the creditor. In the first case some action is needed by the creditor, which the law prohibits In the second case no action is needed, but the law also caters for that situation; 451GA Self executing provisions (1) The object of subsection (2) is to ensure that a self executing provision: (a) cannot start to apply against a company for certain reasons; and (b) can be the subject of a Court order providing that the provision can only start to apply against a company with the leave of the Court, and in accordance with such terms (if any) as the Court imposes. (2) Sections 451E to 451G also apply in relation to a self executing provision in a corresponding way to the way they apply in relation to a right. For this purpose, assume those sections apply with such modifications as are necessary, including any prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection. What is clear under this new law is that the restrictions operate expressly upon the appointment of, for example, an Administrator. What remains unclear is a clause which operates merely because of “the financial position” of the debtor company (see s 451E(1)(b) earlier in this article).

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I foresee disputes and litigation on that point alone. I also see future litigation on the issue of whether contract terms are unfair because they contain these clauses which are, as a result of this new law, ineffective. It should be appreciated that this law is now operational and it applies to contracts entered into after September 2017. On this point, you may recall from previous articles or seminars that the relationship between a creditor and debtor, or a supplier and its customer, is governed by effectively two contracts. There is the contract which governs the overall terms and conditions of supply. The terms of this contract are within your Conditions, often attached to your application for credit form, or displayed on your website. These are the terms and conditions of the contract which governs the future supply of goods or services. Separately there is the individual contract for the supply of goods or services which deals with what I call the fine details. That is the order for X number of widgets at the price of $Y dollars to be delivered by Z date. This is the order which your customer places and the offer which you accept, so as to form a contract. That is a separate contract which is governed by the terms of your overarching or overriding Conditions. This issue was covered at the 2016 Symposium and in the decision relating to PPS registrations whereby the court determined that there is no need to register individual PPS security interests for each and every invoice, because there is this one overarching contract governing the supply of goods and services and the provision of a security interest. In Central Cleaning Supplies (Aust) Pty Ltd v Elkerton [2015] VSCA 92 (12 May 2015) at [39], the Court held; “It is clear that, in its terms, each ROT clause had application only to the invoiced goods the subject of the particular supply. The result of the contractual analysis, however, is that … Swan’s application for credit included an undertaking to be bound, in respect of every supply of equipment, by Central’s standard terms of supply… the ROT clause was in existence, as a standard term of supply, at the date on which the credit agreement became binding on Swan… and under that agreement, Swan accepted that all future supplies of equipment would be governed by that standard term”. While these are all technical and legal issues, I noted that the credit managers attending my Symposium were across them. Yet, we all recognised that there was a need, in all cases bar one, for the Conditions to be updated. My co-speaker, Mr. Rappaport from Gavin Parsons and Associates and I offered to assist in that regard! *Geoffrey McDonald, Barrister at Law www.9windeyer.com.au/barristers/geoffrey-mcdonald/

Legal

Is it really a personal guarantee? Another personal guarantee gone wrong By Nicholas Boyce and Anna Taylor*

Nicholas Boyce

Creditors are often faced with disputes by guarantors over the validity and enforceability of a guarantee following a failure by the principal to pay a debt. Poorly drafted and ambiguous personal guarantees can give rise to guarantors being wrongfully released from liabilities, or alternatively documents being signed which are unenforceable and ultimately worthless. The recent decision by the Supreme Court of New South Wales in the matter of Aquawest Pty Ltd v Twynham [2017] NSWSC 652 is yet another reminder of the court’s reluctance to enforce a personal guarantee where the drafting contains ambiguities.

The decision

Anna Taylor

Aquawest Pty Ltd (Aquawest) was a supplier of irrigation services and equipment. In February 2013, Aquawest entered into an agreement with Chatoyer Holdings Pty Ltd (Chatoyer) for the supply of goods and services on credit. The credit application was completed on behalf of Chatoyer by Mr Paul Twynham, the director of Chatoyer. The following words appeared

immediately above the signature of Mr Twynham. I certify that the above information is true and correct and that I am authorised to make this application for credit. I have read and understand the TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF TRADE (overleaf or attached) of Aquawest Pty Ltd T/A Aquawest Plumbing & Irrigation Specialists which form party of, and are intended to be read in conjunction with this Credit Account Application and agree to be bound by these conditions. I authorise the use of my personal information as detailed in the Privacy Act clause therein. I agree that if I am a director/shareholder (owning at least 15% of the shares) of the Customer I shall be personally liable for the performance of the Customer’s obligations under the contract. The space for execution on the credit application included one space to sign on behalf of the applicant customer. There was no separate signing space to sign as a guarantor.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Legal

In May 2014, Chatoyer was placed into liquidation and Aquawest subsequently commenced proceedings against Mr Twynham personally, seeking to rely on above clause. The primary issue for the Magistrate to determine in the proceeding was whether the clause was effective and enforceable as a personal guarantee against Mr Twynham in respect of the debts owing by Chatoyer to Aquawest under the credit agreement. At first instance, the Magistrate considered that the clause was: 1. poorly drafted for a number of reasons; 2. truly ambiguous; and 3. gave rise to three following potential interpretations. (a) A shareholder (owning at least 15% of the shares) of the Customer, but not a director of the Customer.

(b) A shareholder (owning at least 15% of the shares) of the Customer, and also a director of the Customer. (c) A director of the customer, but not a shareholder of the Customer (or a shareholder owning fewer than 15% of the shares in the Customer). The Magistrate held that due to the ambiguity of the clause he could not be satisfied that Mr Twynham was executing the document in his personal capacity as guarantor and not just as someone simply accepting the terms and conditions on behalf of Chatoyer. Aquawest appealed the decision of the Magistrate to the Supreme Court of New South Wales on the basis that the Magistrate erred in his construction and interpretation of the clause.

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

On appeal, Lonergan J agreed with the decision of the Magistrate that due to the ambiguity of the clause he could not conclude that the credit agreement was being executed by Mr Twynham in his personal capacity as a guarantor. His Honour held that: 1. in construing the clause and the guarantee as a whole, the Court’s task is to construe it in its commercial setting in accordance with the surrounding circumstances known to both parties; and 2. any clause or document purporting to be a guarantee must be construed strictly and in the case of any ambiguity, the clause will be construed in favour of the guarantor. The appeal was dismissed with Aquawest ordered to pay Mr Twynham’s costs of the appeal.

Legal

General requirements of a guarantee The decision demonstrates the importance of ensuring that any document that purports to give rise to a personal guarantee complies with the requirements to be enforceable at law. Legislation in each state mandates that in order for a personal guarantee to be enforceable it must be in writing and executed by the guarantor (or some other person that is lawfully authorised to sign on behalf of the guarantor). A guarantee is ultimately a contract between the parties so the general requirements of a contract are applicable being offer, acceptance, intention to create legal relations and consideration. In Aquawest, it could not be concluded that Mr Twynham in his personal capacity intended to create a legal relationship with Aquawest and as such, no contact of guarantee could come into existence. However, the general contractual requirement of consideration is not required if the guarantee is executed as a deed.

Top tips for obtaining and enforcing personal guarantees A personal guarantee is one of most effective legal recovery tools in a creditor’s arsenal. Despite this, it is astonishing the number of creditors who are seeking to rely on: 1. unsigned guarantees; 2. discharged or unenforceable guarantees; or 3. poorly drafted guarantees. Poor drafting and the absence of a number of key clauses (as was the case with the credit application in Aquawest) can lead to a signed and enforceable guarantee being discharged by law. 1. For example, a guarantee can be discharged by the following. 2. The guarantee provides for

A guarantee is ultimately a contract between the parties so the general requirements of a contract are applicable being offer, acceptance, intention to create legal relations and consideration. execution by two or more persons and is not executed by all persons contemplated in the guarantee. 3. The principal debtor is provided with an indulgence or further time to pay. 4. The principal agreement is varied (for example by issuing new terms and conditions of sale or increasing a credit limit) without the consent of the guarantor. 5. If there are two or more guarantors, one of the guarantors is released from liability, meaning if your release one guarantor you release all of them. A well drafted guarantee will provide that a guarantor’s liability will be not be discharged in the event that any of the above (or multiple other situations) occur. With the above in mind, the following are our top five tips for when you are obtaining personal guarantees. 1. Have your principal agreement (such as your credit application), terms and conditions and guarantee reviewed by a specialist solicitor prior to issuing it to prospective customers and guarantors. 2. Ensure the guarantee is signed and witnessed (with sufficient personal details of the witness to locate them if it is necessary to contact them in the future to confirm the execution of the document). 3. Obtain the original copy of the guarantee from the guarantor.

4. Verify the identity of the guarantor. 5. Upon approval of the credit facility, send a letter to the guarantor directly to inform them that the application has been approved based on their guarantee. A personal guarantee should be a simple and effective tool in assisting you with the recovery of debts, however, there are significant issues that may arise if the guarantee is poorly drafted. For this reason, it is more important than ever to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to ensure that every personal guarantee obtained is enforceable against the guarantor and is not inadvertently discharged by your own conduct. The harsh reality is that by the time some creditors are finding this out, it is too late and their only recourse is to lodge a proof of debt in the insolvent principal debtor’s liquidation as an unsecured creditor (with often little to no prospect of recovery). When the time comes to call on a personal guarantee you need it to be watertight. Spending the time to get it right at the outset will save you significant time and costs associated with disputes that will arise over a poorly drafted guarantee.

*Nicholas Boyce, Associate Results Legal Email: nboyce@resultslegal.com.au Ph: 1300 747 524 *Anna Taylor, Principal Results Legal Email: ataylor@resultslegal.com.au Ph: 1300 747 524

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Open Banking

Open banking

and how it can help the busy credit professional make lending decisions Open banking is a new development in the Australian business landscape and AICM National Partner illion has recently purchased financial data aggregation fintech Proviso. With so many questions on open banking we thought we’d ask Proviso CEO Luke Howes to write an article that explains this exciting development and get into the detail of what open banking means to the credit profession.

Luke Howes

Open banking gives consumers more control over their data and presents a clear opportunity to implement a government supported and regulated national framework that will build trust and confidence in increased data sharing. Open banking will enable us to have direct relationships with the major banks, which will expand our product offering to more customers and build even more trust in the broader fintech ecosystem. The benefits to brokers and consumer credit providers are widespread. More efficient use of time and resources through frictionless technology; improved risk assessment through categorisation and analysis of income and expenditure; and now that Comprehensive Credit Reporting is gaining momentum, credit professionals will have access to a more complete picture of an individual’s financial position, enabling

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

them to better fulfil their financial lending obligations. Proviso’s platform BankStatements.com.au is able to extract 180 days of bank statement information in a matter of seconds. Otherwise this is a cumbersome process of printing, scanning and uploading bank statements. We provide a frictionless service that delivers income and expenditure data to brokers and lenders on behalf of millions of customers each year.

Demystifying open banking – questions you may have What is Open Banking? Open Banking enables consumers to securely share personal financial information with approved financial institutions and third-parties besides their account holding bank, opening up opportunities to get better deals on mortgages, overdrafts and comparing insurance and broadband deals.

Open Banking

How does it work? Open bank application programming interfaces (APIs) enable approved third parties to develop applications and services based on the data held by financial institutions.

What is the size of the Open Banking market in Australia? The Open Banking market in Australia is still in its infancy, with just a few dedicated API platforms working directly with individual banks. In July 2017, Treasurer Scott Morrison commissioned an independent company to model how the government could implement an Open Banking regime in Australia. The Australian Open Banking Review, which provides advice on the design and implementation of Australia’s Open Banking system, was released by Scott Farrell in February 2018.

What are the big banks saying about Open Banking? There is currently no consensus among the major lenders on Open Banking, with some backing open API fintech platforms in a bid to prepare for any change in regulation, while others have adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach to sharing their data. The big four banks currently hold the vast majority of retail banking data on Australian individuals. Open Banking would see this data shared with a much larger group of mid-tier and alternative lenders, resulting in more products and services, and more competition.

bargaining power to secure better deals on a wide range of products, from mortgages, credit cards and insurance to utilities, mobile phones and internet services. Financial data can also be shared with budget planning and/or financial advice services and applications, improving an individuals’ capacity for financial management and planning.

What are the benefits of Open Banking for consumer credit professionals? Consumer credit professionals are able to make more accurate risk assessments and fulfil responsible lending obligations through access to more comprehensive data on consumers and their ability to take on and service debt. Businesses are able to reduce risk and offer more competitive deals to more creditworthy customers.

What is happening globally? Open Banking regulations came into effect across Europe in January and in the UK on 13 January 2018, with a roll-out completion date of March 2018. Under the new UK rules, the nine banks with the largest market share are required to adopt and maintain common API standards through which data can be shared with other lenders and third parties. Of the nine UK banks are required to comply with the new Open Banking rules. Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, AIB Group and Danske met the 13 January deadline. Barclays, HSBC, RBS, Santander and Bank of Ireland have been given an extended deadline to begin sharing information. Open banking, in various forms, is also underway in China, the United States and East Africa.

Consumers have greater control of financial data and are able to choose who can access it, what information is shared and for how long.

What are the benefits of Open Banking for consumers? Consumers have greater control of financial data and are able to choose who can access it, what information is shared and for how long. There is no obligation to use Open Banking services; it is just another option for consumers. Increased information sharing provides consumers with greater

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Cyber Security

Is your business set for the new mandatory data breach notification laws? By Jason Murrell*

Jason Murrell

New mandatory data breach notification laws take effect in Australia on 22 February 2018. This latest legislation seeks to protect consumers’ personal information, it requires that public agencies and private organisations, report all eligible data breaches to the affected individuals and the Privacy Commissioner. An eligible data breach occurs when there is unauthorised access to, exposure or loss of personal information held by an agency or organisation, which is likely to cause serious harm to those individuals. As yet, there is no definite measure of serious harm. However, we may consider serious harm to include physical, financial, and reputational damage, as well as adverse emotional or psychological impact. This mandatory notification applies to all public and private entities that are governed by the existing Privacy Act, which includes organisations that have an annual turnover exceeding $3 million. Mandatory reporting also applies to those companies that make under $3 million and are in the business of handling personally identifiable information (PII) such as names, social security numbers, personal contact and credit information, as well as health and financial records. If an organisation is related to another that is governed by

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

the Privacy Act, then that organisation is also subject to the mandatory data breach notification requirement.

Current State of Preparedness Although the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill of 2016 had established the upcoming mandatory reporting requirement, there is some unpreparedness among organisations-especially small businesses. According to a recent survey, 44% of Australian businesses reported that they were not ready for the mandatory notification requirements. This may have resulted from a mistaken belief that small firms would not be subject to the new legislation. It may also be the case that information security has long been viewed as the domain of IT professionals, and so sufficient attention has not been directed to this aspect of business operations. However, given our growing digital economy with increasing cyber threats, it is becoming clear that the usual risk management framework must now also consider the mitigation of cyber risks.

The Process of Mandatory Data Breach Notification If an organisation suspects that it may have been subject to unauthorised access, disclosure or loss of personal

Cyber Security

information, that may cause serious harm to any of its stakeholders, then it has 30 days to investigate and conclude whether or not an eligible data breach occurred. However it may not be prudent to wait an entire month before deciding on the eligibility of a data breach. The factors to consider when an organisation needs to determine if an eligible data breach has occurred include: zz the type and sensitivity of the information in question; zz whether or not steps were taken to protect the information (for example, data encryption) zz how likely it is for the protection measure to be breached (such as the encryption being cracked) and the information revealed; zz the scope of the potential serious harm to affected individuals; and zz any other relevant factors. In the case of an eligible data breach, the company must prepare a formal statement for the Privacy Commissioner and each of the affected parties. This statement must include details on the nature of the data breach, and the remedial actions to protect those adversely affected. In cases where it may not be possible to inform every affected individual, then the statement must be published on the company’s website. We recommend that legal counsel be obtained in the unfortunate event of a data breach, so that the organisation can be sure that all aspects of the mandatory notification requirement are met.

Non-Compliance Consequences Failure to report eligible data breaches will be costly in several ways. The Privacy Commissioner is empowered to apply fines in cases of non-compliance with the mandatory notification requirement. Individuals (such as sole traders and general partners) may face fines of up to $360,000, while corporate organisations may have to pay fines up to $1.8 million.

In the event of an eligible data breach, it is useful to have a set of templates and procedures on hand. However the consequences of non-compliance not only originate from the Privacy Commissioner. The Privacy Act enables an individual to make a representative complaint (on behalf of several affected parties) directly to the Privacy Commissioner. There is also the possibility of class actions being initiated in the wake of a data breach. Another pressing concern is the loss of consumer and investor trust. This goodwill is vital for a company’s success, and noncompliance may be perceived as a lack of trustworthiness, which may then have greater adverse effects on the organisation in question.

Compliance Matters We recommend a two-pronged approach of both prevention and corrective measures to ensure full compliance with the new mandatory data breach notification law. Prevention Measures The mandatory notification requirement means that organisations need to establish robust information security systems, or review their existing systems in light of this new legislation. Information security covers all the cyber-safe policies and procedures governing the collection, storage and retrieval of personal data. However companies will need to do more than merely install commercial security software. The latest datastealing malware are being delivered via email, which means that users at all levels of an organisation need to be trained to navigate and actively support the information security framework. Small businesses may need to outsource certain security needs to IT vendors. Therefore it is also important that all vendors are

employing the latest cyber security innovations and are ready to quickly comply with any requests for updates and formal reports. Corrective Measures In the event of an eligible data breach, it is useful to have a set of templates and procedures on hand. It is vital to have a detailed incident response plan which includes an organisation’s breach assessment criteria, templates to notify affected parties and the Privacy Commissioner, and procedures to implement remedial measures. We recommend that any incident response plan be tested with all members of an organisation and external vendors, so that each person is aware of their role in responding to any possible data breaches. We further recommend that all organisations obtain legal counsel to ensure that all elements of the mandatory notification requirement are conducted appropriately. The mandatory data breach notification law will definitely alter the way in which businesses operate within Australia. Other countries such as the USA, Germany, Canada and the UK already have such legislation in place, so successful adaptation to these new requirements have already proven possible. We urge all Australian organisations to become familiar with their new legal obligations, to access all of the available resources and services, for both information security and notification support.

*Jason Murrell Cyber Security Expert DefendWise.com Ph: 1300 29 29 67 jason@defendwise.com

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Cyber Security

Married Hacked at first sight: Dating tips for your data breach response plan By Ledlin Lawyers*

You left your laptop at the pub and it has a copy of your organisation’s debtor ledger and customer list on it – should you be worried? Your phone goes missing. It is unlocked and can be used to access the servers at work – is that a problem? One of your staff opens an email attachment seemingly giving details of an ATO tax refund – ransomware has been installed and you are locked out. What should you do?

When we talk about “privacy”, it is an intangible concept for most of us; we can’t see it, touch it, smell it, or hear

it. But we know what it feels like if our own privacy is breached. With the commencement of the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”) on 22 February 2018, not only is there an obligation on businesses to notify the regulator (the OAIC) about a “serious data breach” but also a requirement to have a Data Breach Response Plan. Credit Professionals who deal in risk management daily will know privacy is yet another area of business where their risk management skills can come into their own. Protecting the assets of the business is a core responsibility for credit managers. The requirement for an NDB Response

Natalie Ledlin

Holly Jackson

Notifiable Data Breaches (“NDB”)

Terry Ledlin

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Cyber Security

2. Don’t assume whether it’s a real data breach or not – always assess any data breach; 3. Don’t omit important people or information from the notification; 4. Don’t skip the review or its documentation; 5. Don’t destroy evidence that may be valuable in identifying the cause of the breach.

Takeaway points

Plan is an ideal opportunity for credit managers to shine.

The Do’s If there has been an “eligible data breach” incident, you have a date with data whether you like it or not. An eligible data breach is where there are reasonable grounds to believe that unauthorised access, disclosure or loss of information will result in serious harm to any individuals to whom the information relates. Here is our checklist of what to do when this happens: 1. Contain the breach zz Consider the value of your data – i.e. what sort of data are you dealing with? What is at stake? zz If a breach occurs, move promptly. zz Consider potential and actual data breaches to be serious. zz Consider calling in cyber security experts. 2. Assess the breach zz Obtain and evaluate any and all information about the breach zz Determine and understand the risks posed by the breach.

zz Have your notification obligations been triggered? zz If required, conduct a formal assessment within 30 days. 3. Notify the breach zz Is notification necessary to the OAIC and affected individuals? zz What information should be provided in the notification? zz How is the notification to be made? zz Consider all your obligations under the NDB Scheme. 4. Review the breach zz What lessons have been learned? zz What actions can be taken to prevent future data breaches? zz How can your security, privacy policies and handling procedures be improved? zz Document the review of the data breach from start to finish.

The Don’ts To make the marriage Response Plan successful, here are our tips for what not to do: 1. Don’t ignore or delay a response to any actual or suspected data breach;

There are a number of key points that you can take from this article back to your team and business: 1. You need a plan setting out how to deal with any data breach. 2. Think of it like a fire drill – have a team organised and practice your proposed response regularly. 3. Don’t forget your suppliers – in this cloud-based world your data could be held anywhere. APP 11 provides that where an entity “holds data” it means that the entity has “possession or control of a record that contains personal information”. The term “holds” extends beyond physical possession of a record meaning that, if the storage of that record is outsourced to a third party, then the entity will also be responsible in the event of a data breach by that third party. 4. You should ensure that you know how any supplier proposes to manage a data breach. Have they had data breaches in the past? Have they a record and reputation for trustworthy services? Do you need to ensure your contracts will protect your company in the event of a breach? 5. In your Response Plan consider template letters, website notifications, email notifications, an emergency hotline, a press release and engaging external consultants to review your process and security safeguards. 6. Don’t forget to regularly de-identify your data. If you have

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Cyber Security

a data breach incident and your data is years old, you may be forced into advising far more affected parties than strictly necessary. Regular cleansing of the database will ensure any data breach is limited only to current customers. 7. Don’t forget about cyber insurance, which can provide a further tool in your risk management kit.

Don’t go on a blind date – your lawyer can help you Your lawyer can offer “relationship advice” when it comes to Privacy matters, including: 1. Carry out a Privacy review and audit to establish exactly what is required for your organisation; 2. Advise on compliance with the Privacy Act and notifications to both individuals and the OAIC; 3. Consider and review any thirdparty contracts or arrangements to ensure that your company is not unnecessarily exposed to any data breach risk; 4. Negotiate contract amendments with your suppliers and any other contractors; 5. Assist with policies and procedures for privacy and Data Breach Response Plans; 6. Provide template notification documents (i.e. letters, website and email notifications, etc.) in case an eligible data breach does occur; 7. Prepare and deliver privacy training guides for staff; and 8. Any other risk management issues tailored to your organisation.

see https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacylaw/privacy-act/notifiable-databreaches-scheme. There’s a popular reality TV show where couples (who have never met before) meet at the altar to express undying commitment and loyalty for life to each other, and then spend several weeks mostly experiencing spousal remorse. The Privacy Act is a bit like that – we swear we are going to faithfully follow its guidelines and promise our customers they can trust us with their most personal information, and then we pay lip service to our

What’s Next? You can expect to hear over the next 12 months plenty more about this new regime. Certainly, the Regulator has been active and will continue to be so. The Regulator’s website has a large amount of information designed to assist business with its obligations,

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

obligations. Instead of paying alimony, respondents who breach the Act can be liable for fines ranging up to $2.1 million. Those penalties will simply be insignificant if you consider the damage to reputation and trust when your customers find out their privacy has been breached and you have failed to respond appropriately. This really is one relationship that you need to make work. *For more information check out our Insights page at https://www.ledlinlawyers.com.au/ our-insights/ or contact any of the team at Ledlin Lawyers on Ph: (02) 8488 3389 or email: info@ledlinlawyers.com.au

Unlock the potential in your credit career credit staff

Consider an AICM Qualification course If you aspire to achieve greater heights in your credit career or want to get the best from your credit staff, then a qualification course can help you achieve your targets. Offered nation wide, you can study in your own time (24/7), with support available. If you have industry experience or prior education, you may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) credits to fast-track your qualification. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re an employer, you may qualify for a training grant. Talk to AICM today to discover your course options.

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All aspects of enforcing payment obligations & obligations of mercantile agent & debt collection activities.

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Call 1300 560 996 or vist aicm.com.au

aicm Training News Qualifications What is the difference between qualification levels? I am constantly asked by potential students and their managers what is the difference between the levels of qualifications. Certificates, Diplomas and even Bachelor degrees, and how do they decide which qualification will best suit them? I have compiled the following information that may untangle the confusion around the qualification options, and simplify the outcome requirements.

Which Qualification is Right for You? Many factors should be considered in your decision. These following key points may be of assistance in determining your decision. Hours of Study It’s important to be realistic about how many hours of study you can take on each week. Can you commit to something like 15-20 hours of study or do you only have room for 2-4 hours? If you are short on time, keep in mind that it may be more beneficial to choose a course/qualification that doesn’t demand too many hours per week. Generally speaking, a Certificate III or IV can also be a little less pressure than a Diploma.

Duration of Study Think about how long you want to take to complete your studies. Are are you willing to commit to 2-3 years of study? You’ll need to weigh up these questions in relation to your career goals and your desired job/s in future. In most cases, the more hours you put in per week, the faster you will finish the course. All AICM qualifications have a maximum completion of 3 years, from your enrolment date. Study Method While all qualifications are available online, it’s important that you determine which is the best for you, especially in terms of your commitments; both work and personal. It is essential you work out what’s the best study method for you, online or face to face classes as well as assess the blended course options. Passion! Just how passionate are you about your chosen area of study? If you are unsure if a certain field is right for you, it may be more beneficial to start with a single unit from a Certificate qualification. This is a good way to determine if you enjoy the subject and want to continue with further studies.

Graduates of a Certificate III will have: zz cognitive, technical and communication skills to interpret and act on available information

Certificate III

zz cognitive and communication skills to apply and communicate known solutions to a variety of predictable problems and to deal with unforeseen contingencies using known solutions zz technical and communication skills to provide technical information to a variety of specialist and non-specialist audiences zz technical skills to undertake routine and some non-routine tasks in a range of skilled operations

Graduates of a Certificate IV will have: zz cognitive skills to identify, analyse, compare and act on information from a range of sources

Certificate IV

zz cognitive, technical and communication skills to apply and communicate technical solutions of a non-routine or contingency nature to a defined range of predictable and unpredictable problems zz specialist technical skills to complete routine and no routine tasks and functions zz communication skills to guide activities and provide technical advice in the area of work and learning

Graduates of a Diploma will have: zz cognitive and communication skills to identify, analyse, synthesise and act on information from a range of sources

Diploma

zz cognitive, technical and communication skills to analyse, plan, design and evaluate approaches to unpredictable problems and/or management requirements zz specialist technical and creative skills to express ideas and perspectives zz communication skills to transfer knowledge and specialised skills to others and demonstrate understanding of knowledge

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

aicm Training News needs of mercantile agents who undertake recovery of debt and property. Common Job Titles: zz Mercantile Agent zz Accounts Receivable Clerk/Officer zz Collections Officer zz Customer Service Officer zz Recovery Clerk/Officer

Future Employment Consider what job role you want to take on in the future and what qualifications you will require. For instance, if you want to become a Credit Officer, you will need a Certificate IV at a minimum. If you want to get into Credit Management or a Senior Credit role, consider whether a Diploma might increase your chances of employment over a Certificate qualification.

Explaining how the Australian Quality Framework works The Australian Quality Framework has 10 levels and starts at the Senior Secondary Certificate in Education (High School) and progresses to a Doctoral Degree, providing the standard for Australian qualifications and learning outcomes for each level and qualification type. To explain the qualifications the AICM offers, a brief example of each level of our qualifications is explained in the table page 50 and shows what is represented in each level and what is expected of a student upon the completion of each level. For further information on all qualification levels go to https://www.aqf.edu.au/

Outcomes of AICM qualifications Certificate Qualifications Certificates are available in 4 levels – I, II, III and IV. The higher level the Certificate, the more in-depth the content and workload. AICM offer the following qualifications FNS30415 Certificate III in Mercantile Agents The Certificate in Mercantile Agents is specifically designed to address the skill and knowledge development

FNS401115 Certificate IV in Credit Management The Certificate IV in Credit Management is specifically designed to address the skill and knowledge development needs of credit professionals who hold or are intending to seek a middle level position within the broad role of credit management. Common Job Titles: zz Credit Officer zz Credit Controller zz Credit Analyst zz Recoveries Officer zz Reconciliations Officer zz Credit Services Officer zz Credit/Lending Officer zz Credit Team Leader

Diploma Qualifications If you are asking yourself, ‘What’s the difference between a Diploma and a Bachelor Degree?’ you’re not alone. While a Bachelor Degree is a higher level qualification and only offered at University level, a Diploma is very valuable to anyone wanting to get a better understanding of the Credit Industry, the skills needed in a career in Credit and the practices and responsibilities that are required to be successful. AICM offer the following Diploma – FNS51515 Diploma of Credit Management The Diploma of Credit Management is specifically designed to address the skill and knowledge development needs of credit professionals who hold or are intending to seek a senior position within the broad role of credit management. Common Job Titles: zz Credit Manager zz Senior Credit Officer zz Senior Decision Manager zz Debt Manager zz Credit Executive zz Credit Analyst zz Credit Operations Manager zz Senior Credit/Loans Officer zz Chief Credit Officer zz Group Credit Manager zz Credit Risk Manager

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

aicm Training News Recent graduates Statement of Attainments Terence Costa

NSW

FNSORG401 and FNSINC401

Chenoa Nichol

NSW

FNSCRD401 Assess credit applications

Michael Zou

NSW

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Michael Butcher

NSW

BSBCNV506 Establish and manage a trust account

Talia Tukere

NSW

FNSCRD401 Assess credit applications

Jonathan Wu

NSW

FNSCUS402 Resolve disputed

FNS51515 Diploma of Credit Management

FNS40115 Certificate IV in Credit Management

Rubaiyet Sattar – NSW

Martina Vucak – VIC

In-House Training Brisbane City Council

2018 March - June Face to Face Training Calendar – Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney MELBOURNE:

SYDNEY: 9 April

Process customer complaints and Conduct customer engagement (E,4)

10 & 11 April

Legal Compliance (C,D,4)

13 April

Credit Toolbox Series 3 – Understanding Credit Risk

14 & 15 May

Manage Factoring and Invoice Discounting Arrangements (E,D)

16 May

Resolve Disputes (C,4)

4 June

Manage Risk (C,D)

5 June

Develop and Monitor Policies and Procedures (C,4)

15 March

Manage and recover bad and doubtful debts (C,4)

20 March

Credit Toolbox Series 3 – Understanding Credit Risk

16 April

Process customer complaints and Conduct customer engagement (E,4)

17 & 18 April

Legal Compliance (C,D,4)

15 May

Credit Toolbox Series 1 – Fundamentals of Credit

21 & 22 May

Manage Factoring and Invoice Discounting Arrangements (E,D)

23 May

Resolve Disputes (C,4)

29 May

Credit Toolbox Series 2 – Collect with Confidence

12 June

Credit Toolbox Series 3 – Understanding Credit Risk

Table of Explanation:

18 June

Manage Risk (C,D)

19 June

Develop and Monitor Policies and Procedures (C,4)

C = Core Unit D = Diploma

Important Information:

BRISBANE: 19 March

Manage and recover bad and doubtful debts (C,4)

20 & 21 March Manage Factoring and Invoice Discounting Arrangements (E,D) 22 March

Credit Toolbox Series 2 – Collect with Confidence

19 April

Credit Toolbox Series 3 – Understanding Credit Risk

23 April

Process customer complaints and Conduct customer engagement (E,4)

10 & 11 May

Legal Compliance (C,D,4)

9 May

Resolve Disputes (C,4)

17 May

Credit Toolbox Series 1 – Fundamentals of Credit

24 & 25 May

Manage Factoring and Invoice Discounting Arrangements (E,D)

14 June

Manage Risk (C,D)

15 June

Develop and Monitor Policies and Procedures (C,4)

E = Elective Unit 4 = Certificate IV

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

You do not have to be a current AICM student undertaking a full qualification to attend any AICM face to face training. You may wish to undertake a program for your Professional Development, or enhance and update your current skills and knowledge. On the completion of the face to face training, you will be required to undertake the online assessment/s for the unit/s of competency, if you wish to receive a nationally recognised Statement of Attainment.

Please register you interest early, as there is a minimum requirement of 8 students to conduct face to face training. To speak to AICM about these or any other learning or development, call 1300 560 996 or email andrew@aicm.com.au or debby@aicm.com.au

New South Wales AROUND THE STATES

NSW Pinnacle Awards welcome drinks.

NSW Pinnacle awards – sold out crowd.

NSW Credit Manager of 2017 Heather Spring with award sponsor Mark Logue of AMPAC Debt Recovery.

President’s Report

By way of update, we are all working to motivate our members who are eligible to sit the CCE exam, to do so, and enrol in the March 2018 exams. The wheels are in motion for the NSW AICM Golf Day, which will be held on the 19th April 2018 at Ryde-Parramatta Golf Club. In honour of Colin Magee’s legacy, as an enthusiast and advocate, the NSW Golf Day players will be playing for the “COLIN MAGEE CUP”. The dedicated WINC committee will be hosting the NSW luncheon on 25 May 2018. The chosen charity in which the AICM will be supporting is Pink Hope. A fantastic charity dedicated to help women who are considered ‘high risk’ of developing cancer, or who carry the BRCA gene. Please lock this date into your diaries as not only is it a wonderful afternoon with your credit professional colleagues, but you will be supporting a valuable charity.

We are well and truly into 2018, and for the first half of the year the NSW Council are all about ‘the buzz.’ That is, ensuring our members are engaged, energised and excited about the year to come. In an attempt of creating this said ‘buzz’ the NSW Council are adopting goals in each of their respective portfolios in order to: 1. Create a purpose which results in positive action being taken; 2. Have a clear and compelling vision to give direction to our members; and 3. To adopt values that lead into success. Although we all have different purposes in our careers and personal lives, success is the main reason why we stand, why we strive and why we continue to live to be successful! When it comes to the secrets of achieving that mysterious beast called success, we definitely think of our ability to influence and lead. But, realistically, motivation is the one true key to success. When we take a look at our AICM family, it is evident that those who we view as being ‘successful’ are those who can pick themselves up, or take a chance, and get going when something needs to be accomplished, instead of waiting around for somebody else to do it instead. With that said, perhaps we don’t all have the foresight or expertise to make the right choices straight away however, it is our goal this year to keep our members positively motivated.

– Balveen Saini

NSW Pinnacle Awards The NSW Pinnacles are a highlight of the year and we ensured we had a large room to accommodate everyone which still ended up booked out with a waiting list which was an excellent result for the Division. As the pictures demonstrate those in attendance had a great night celebrating with their fellow credit professionals, award nominees and award winners. Thank you to our sponsors, nominees and congratulations to our winners! March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AROUND THE STATES

New South Wales

2017 Credit Supervisor finalists Nicole Chesher, Neda Canak and Sev Indrele.

NSW Senior Credit Officer of 2017 Robyn Whitehouse with award sponsor Urszula Lusk of Veritas Recruitment.

2017 Legal Representative finalists Rochelle Hallasso, Chris Swanson and Hayley Tibbie.

2017 External Collections finalists Andrew Smith, John Lutherborough, Deborah Green, Chris Hayes, Kenneth Torres and Stella Hulm.

The award nominees and winners were:

Mat Pavicic – Orange Hire Robyn Whitehouse – Ecolab zz Winner – Robyn Whitehouse

Credit Manager – sponsored by AMPAC Debt Recovery Arthur Tchetchenian – Transurban David Hunt – Fujifilm Australia Heather Spring – Manpower Group Michael Murray – Electrolux Vaios Kortikis – Liberty Onesteel zz Winner – Heather Spring

Credit Supervisor – sponsored by Austral Mercantile Jenny Waite – Dimension Data Neda Canak – Transurban Nicole Chesher – Ecolab Sev Indrele – Orange Hire Vincent Dumbas – Nutricia zz Winner – Neda Canak

Senior Credit Officer – sponsored by Veritas Recruitment Aura Caecilla – Austral Corrine Riley – Graincorp Ivy Xu – Ecolab 54

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Legal Representative – sponsored by Jirsch Sutherland Chris Swanson – Swanson & Symons David Farrar – Farrar Lawyers Hayley Tibbie – JHK Legal Rochelle Hallasso – Force Legal zz Winner – Chris Swanson

External Collections Andrew Smith – ARMA Chris Hayes – Elite Collections Deborah Green – AMPAC John Lutherborough – AMPAC Kenneth Torres – ARMA Stella Hulm – Credit Solutions zz Winner – Chris Hayes

Recruitment – sponsored by illion Gloria Chan – Byron Thomas Recruitment

New South Wales

2017 High Five finalists Amanda Logan-Halaj, James Smith, Sev Indrele and Nadine Bucher.

2017 Consultant finalists Miral Sarvaiya, Anthony Stevenja, Cynthia Thomas, David Jovanov, James Smith, Malcolm Poslinsky and Matt Jackson.

2017 Credit Manager finalists Arthur Tchetchenan, Heather Spring, Vaios Kortikis, Michael Murray and David Hunt.

Keryn Speck – Veritas Recruitment Sarah Bolster – SB Recruitment Yseult D’Estelle Roe – Accountability zz Winner – Yseult D’Estelle Roe

Consultant – sponsored by TurksLegal Anthony Stevanja – Austral Cynthia Thomas – Austral David Jovanov – Equifax James Smith – ARMA Malcolm Poslinsky – Brilliant Credit Management Matt Jackson – CreditorWatch Miral Sarvaiya – Austral zz Winner – Matt Jackson

2017 Senior Credit Officer finalists Ivy Xu, Corrine Riley, Robyn Whitehouse and Mat Pavicic.

High Five – sponsored by ARMA Amanda Logan–Halaj – Austral James Smith – ARMA Nadine Bucher – Bing Sev Indrele – Orange Hire zz Winner – Sev Indrele

NSW Credit Supervisor of 2017 Neda Canak with award sponsor Cynthia Thomas of Austral Mercantile.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AROUND THE STATES

2017 Recruitment Consultant finalists Gloria Chan, Keryn Speck, Yseult D’Estelle Roe and Sarah Bolster.

AROUND THE STATES

New South Wales

AICM CEO Nick Pilavidis with event sponsor Chris Hayes of Elite Collections discuss the bowlers form with Nigel Fraser.

Attendees enjoying the Barefoot Bowls thanks to our sponsor Elite Collections.

The winners: Grant Morris, Keryn Speck, Michael Pearse and Steven Lamb with their coveted AICM backpacks. Natalie Ledlin shows the group how it’s done.

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2018. National Partners

Divisional Partners

Ben Selwan, Chris Hongadi, Andy Cai and Nikita Cillero.

Barefoot Bowls It was a warm evening on 15 February 2018, when AICM members and guests attended the Neutral Bay Club for the first social event of the year, Barefoot Bowls. The event was proudly supported by Elite Collection Services, who due to their generosity enabled the members to enjoy a relaxed, intimate and fun afternoon. The competition was strong, with players mixing up their teams with follow credit professional colleagues and industry competitors. However, our winners Grant Morris, Keryn Speck, Michael Pearse and Steven Lamb grinning, ear-to-ear, left the evening triumphantly after having had enjoyed another successful event. Thank you to our members for attending, and to Chris Hayes of Elite Collection Services for his continued support of the AICM. 56

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

Our National, Divisional and Professional Partners support and work with the AICM to promote the Institute’s activities, represent the Credit Industry and develop the careers of all Credit Professionals. As these organisations support your Institute and your Industry please consider them when you require assistance.

Queensland AROUND THE STATES

2017 Credit Manager of the Year finalists Denica Saunders, Julie McNamara and Simon Dawson.

2017 Credit Supervisor of the Year finalists Clare Collins and Greg Kotzadamis.

2017 Consultant of the Year finalists Oliver Sherlock, Nicole Yeong, Ravina Krishna and Paul Tonges.

2017 External Collection Agent of the Year finalists Alex Croce and Dale Hannan.

President’s Report

Supporting Sponsors NCI enables us to continue to reach out and provide a community for all those in the credit industry.

Welcome to all to the first publication of the year! It has been a quiet couple of months with holidays and everyone returning to work. I would however like to touch on the last event of 2017, which was the Pinnacles. It was an amazing night and well attended. In amongst all the networking prior to the event, I personally found it quite humbling to speak to past Presidents, Directors and Councillors who had dedicated so much to the AICM and for them to share their successes and hopes for its future. A big thank you to Toni Sawyer who went to great lengths to curate all the moments from the QLD chapter of the AICM and helping to put together an amazing event. A big congrats to all those who took part and to the winners! As we are well into the new calendar year, with one event under the belt, I would like to also thank Nathan and Mark on the wonderful YCP night. Nathan and Mark shared a lot of interesting insights on their personal journeys to success. It was also great to see so many young faces and potential YCP applicants! Over the next few months we have a lot of interesting networking events lined up and I encourage you all to come along and meet with us and discuss all things credit. Also with the new-year, we will be saying goodbye to Ross Leggett from council. Ross joined council assisting with the YCP portfolio after his win as the divisional winner in the YCP competition. He has worked with the council with events and membership. His contribution is valued and will be missed. We all wish him the best with his studies! I would also like to take the time to encourage members to step up if they feel they can contribute, being actively engaged has proven to be a rewarding experience for all. I would like to close off by acknowledging all our state sponsors Results Legal and Vincents in their continued support of the Queensland division. Their support plus that of our National Partners Equifax, illion and Bureau van Dijk and

– Roger Masamvu Queensland State President

Qld Pinnacle Awards The Qld Pinnacles is great way to see the year out and this year’s awards were extra special with the Qld AICM celebrating its 50th anniversary. With previous members in attendance it was a special evening to reminisce and celebrate how far the Qld AICM has come in the last 50 years. We had over 80 members and guests attend to support this year’s awards at the Marriott Hotel in Brisbane. As always we would like to thank our National Partners for their continued support as events like this cannot take place without it. Thank you to the Qld council, event organisers and judges for their hard work, dedication and time, we truly appreciate your commitment to the AICM. Well done to all those nominated as it is a great honour to be recognised by the industry and your peers, and of course a huge congratulations to all of our winners. We look forward to seeing you all of at our events in 2018! The award nominees and winners were:

Credit Manager – sponsored by Austral Mercantile Denica Saunders – Collection House Julie McNamara – Boom Logistics Simon Dawson – Parmalat zz And the winner is Julie McNamara Julie’s passion is credit management and working with people. She takes pride in her strength which is building relationships with both sales, management and my credit team. She is an avid supporter of education in the credit management area and ensuring credit staff are fully trained to comply with ever changing legislation and at the same time mentoring my credit March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AROUND THE STATES

Queensland

Faye Whiffen, Elizabeth Morris and Donald Fenwick catch up at the Pinnacles.

Legal Representative of the Year finalists Greg Young, Mark Harley and Samantha Goddard.

Life Member and High Five award winner Toni Sawyer and Catherine MacPhee.

Recruitment Consultant of the Year finalists Hannah Levison and Lucinda Bell.

team and coaching them to achieve their goals. She also dedicates a lot of her time to AICM by volunteering on the Queensland council. She has been a member for over twenty years and has achieved the Certified Credit Executive status.

Peter Mills – Thomson Geer Samantha Goddard – Forbes Dowling zz And the winner is Mark Harley Mark is an outstanding leader who is committed to the continual improvement of corporate governance and compliance issues affecting businesses and the legal environment in which it operates. Mark has the capacity of solicitor, barrister and judge and he delivers a three for the price of one value. Mark often publishes (free) articles and papers and presents seminars on changes in the credit industry, corporate governance and legal issues likely to affect all businesses

Credit Supervisor – sponsored by Results Legal Clare Collins – Volvo Greg Kotzadamis – University of Qld Harry Preston – Workpac Vicky Sprecak – Southern Queensland Steel zz Winner Greg Kotzadamis Greg always offers support in a professional capacity. He is a confident and self-assured team leader willing to take responsibility for the hard tasks (which require adept soft skills). With his ‘Can Do’ attitude Greg always offers support in a professional capacity.

Senior Credit Officer Ashleigh Mason – National Collection Services Avalon Walker – Iplex Pipelines Australia Pty Ltd Emma Purcival – Vinidex Pty Ltd Kylie Phipps – Grant Daniel & Long Linda Ridsdale – SPAR Australia zz The winner is Emma Purcival Emma has gone from the person who asked all the questions to the person with the answers! The word “Guru” has been thrown around regarding Emma’s new found confidence and knowledge.

Legal Representative Anna Taylor – Results Legal Bruce Patane – Patane Lawyers Greg Young – Forbes Dowling Mark Harley – Boss Lawyers 58

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

External Collections Alex Croce – National Collection Services Andrew Smith – ARMA Dale Hannan – National Collection Services zz The winner is Dale Hannan Dale’s knowledge of credit processes and legal knowledge have helped many clients reduce their DSO’s and also recover bad debts that were previously written off. Dale is an active member of AICM both in Queensland and Victoria. He really cares about his clients and is very respectful of debtors and also the industry reputation.

Recruitment Hannah Levison – U&U Recruitment Lucinda Bell– Randstad Michael Johns – Page Personnel Sasha Webster – Page Personnel zz The winner is Lucinda Bell Lucinda is an extremely professional, forthright and amiable person who exhibits a keen ability to listen to a client’s needs and then match those requirements with those of the candidate whilst engendering trust from the first time of meeting.

Queensland

Toni Sawyer and Ross Leggett congraulate Faye Whiffen on receiving her 30 year pin.

Nathan Wilkinson, the winner of the 2017 YCP award spoke about what it takes to take out the prestigious award, stay relevant, be competitive and strive for success in such a competitive market. Mark Harley, of Boss Lawyers, shared his experiences being a Partner of his own law firm, and a business owner. He also shared his top 11 tips for business success. For those of you that couldn’t attend the night, here are comments from some of the attendees:

Senior Credit Officer finalists Ashleigh Mason, Avalon Walker, Emma Purcival and Linda Ridsdale.

Consultant Nicole Yeong – Rodgers Reidy Oliver Sherlock – CreditorWatch Paul Tonges – Invoice Management Solutions Ravina Krishna – CreditorWatch zz And the winner is Nicole Yeong Nicole is an effective communicator, providing clear and incisive information to creditors. She anticipates the needs of stakeholders (debtor or creditor) and is able to navigate complex situations by not only using legal technicalities in insolvency law, but also in drafting reviewing and negotiating contracts.

High Five Maree Kent – SRJ Walker Wayland Toni Sawyer zz And the winner is Toni Sawyer Toni works tirelessly for the AICM in various capacities; as mentor, trainer and councillor. Her contributions are vast and she is always willing to assist in any way she can. It is clear her devotion to the industry. Toni is being awarded for her dedication, industry and service over a lifetime.

“Last Friday was a great way to start to the weekend making new friends and contacts within the AICM. One of the quotes of the night that has remained with me was from tip number 5 (Have your A-team around you): “if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” The Youth Networking Night’s are great for young people looking to personally and professionally develop themselves in the industry.” – Gemma Poore, Credit Officer – Stoddarts “It gave me an insight on entrepreneurship and how it takes sacrifice and commitment to achieve success. It also involves finding your passion and authenticity. These 11 tips can also be transferable to leadership, management levels or even mentor programs.” – Helen Leulu, Credit Controller – Cement Australia – Mark Harley, Law & Legislation Portfolio Councillor

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2018. National Partners

Divisional Partners

Young Credit Community Event Thank you for all those AICM members and young credit professionals that joined us for the first 2018 Young Credit Community Event of the year. Despite the torrential rain on the night, it didn’t stop an overwhelming number of attendees show up and listen to mentors share their experiences in business and the credit industry. It was wonderful to meet so many enthusiastic and motivated individuals prepared to go the extra mile to gain a competitive edge in their industry, mingle with colleagues and friends, share industry experiences, and just generally enjoy the night.

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

Our National and Divisional Partners support and work with the AICM to promote the Institute’s activities, represent the Credit Industry and develop the careers of all Credit Professionals. As these organisations support your Institute and your Industry please consider them when you require assistance.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AROUND THE STATES

AICM CEO Nick Pilavidis, with past National President and Life Member Brian Fulmer with State President Roger Masamvu.

AROUND THE STATES

South Australia President’s Report As the days are slowly getting shorter, and we hear the ‘buzzing bee’ sound of V8 cars, Adelaide is alive with the excitement of the Clipsal 500. Along with the annual Fringe Festival we are not short of events over the coming month! SA have zoomed into the year already having held two events. The first one being a movie night at one of Adelaide’s favourite nostalgic theatres in North Adelaide, which was a new event for our members and enjoyed by all. Secondly we had Suzi O’Connor presenting part 2 of the toolbox – Collecting with Confidence. This was an interactive role playing session with great tips and humour which made it a great educational event for all attendees. The councillors have put together a strong calendar of events for 2018 with a mix of networking and educational functions to meet the member’s needs. We continue to strive to receive as much feed back as we can to continue to improve and grow. Next year we will once again look at holding an educational event in the countryside which will bring more awareness to rural areas whilst involving their local credit professionals. 2018 will be the launch of the Pinnacle Award’s for the first time in SA. This will require the involvement of all credit managers and staff to nominate and vote on their high achievers. I hope everyone will start to ear mark their outstanding staff/peers as this will be a big event and very important to the winners and their future careers. We are very thankful for the on going support of our local Partnerships; Worrells, BRI Ferrier and Kemps Credit Solutions. If there is anything further we can offer you throughout the year please speak with Neil Ricketts, Sponsorship chairperson, or contact any of the councillors. It is important that you receive exposure and involvement throughout the year at all of the local events. Keep an eye on the calendar and look forward to seeing during 2018 ! – Gail Crowder, SA Division President

CCE Report It’s that time again when we encourage all members that the first round of CCE exams will be held in March. We encourage all of those who qualify to strongly consider to either; sit the classroom exam or undertake the online/SA exam. If you are unsure as to whether or not you qualify, please contact your state CCE Portfolio manager, Anne Wilkins, Ph: 8132 6636 or E: anne.wilkins@fmgengineering.com.au, or Trevor Goodwin, National Director CCE on Ph: 8228 4803 or Email: trevor. goodwin@nci.com.au

SA Division Toolbox 2: Collect with Confidence – Part 2 The mornings are becoming darker by the day but that did not deter a few AICM members and non-AICM credit professionals from waking with the birds and venturing out to the fabulous Hindmarsh Education Centre for a spot of early morning training. Part two of the Collect with Confidence Toolbox session was as successful as the first part which was held late last year. 60

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Attendees at the 2nd part of the Toolbox 2 Collect with Confidence training.

Kevin Hollister LICM congratulates Suzi O’Connor on her excellent presentation of Toolbox 2 – Collect with Confidence.

The focus of part two revolved around role plays from scripted, outbound and inbound collection call scenarios. The scripts started with poor collection methods followed by preferred techniques with positive outcomes. We delved as much into what not to do as we did in what should be done for successful collection results. The group interacted very well as we dissected each scenario, discussing how the various calls could be improved upon and noting bad behaviours and attitudes. The session concluded with analysing the common excuses for non-payment for both consumer and commercial credit customers. Determining what constitutes an excuse versus a genuine inability to pay is vital when considering repayment arrangements or enacting hardship clauses in consumer contracts. A delightful morning tea with yummy mini muffins capped off the event. – Suzi O’Connor

Networking Movie Night The SA Division held its inaugural movie night at the Piccadilly cinema in North Adelaide. After recent extremely hot weather of 40 degrees plus, the function committee decided to hold an indoor event, rather than an outdoor function. This new event proved quite popular attracting good numbers. Everyone enjoyed the pre movie networking, plentiful cocktail food and drinks before settling into the movie Molly’s Game, based on a true story. In future, we hope to lock this in as a regular event on the social calendar. The functions committee being Gail Crowder and Trevor look forward to hosting a variety of networking/social functions throughout the year, ranging from: the quiz night; networking evenings; breakfast events; Women in Credit; Pinnacle Award’s; and the highlight will be our Award’s Night in August. We will be holding the Pinnacle Award’s for the first time this year. These awards will recognise and commend credit professionals

South Australia

AICM – SA Division 50 Years of History since Incorporation Well here we are half a century from the time our forefathers decided to incorporate each State Division into a new National Body to create the entity we are still known as today – the Australian Institute of Credit Management. Each Division no doubt had their supporters and possibly detractors which now seems a logical and sensible move to form a National Body. South Australia has long been a leader in women’s rights so it is no surprise to learn that one of the agitators for the formation of a national body was Olive May Rhodes more affectionately known as Dusty Rhodes. Dusty who worked at Lawrence and Hanson for over 40 years with the last 20 as National Credit Manager was aghast to learn that to advance her career in Credit she was required to not only complete 4 years of Study at the SA Institute of Technology that she then would be required to join the SA Institute of Credit Men Inc! It took about a year for the Credit Men to deal with the audacity of Dusty’s application with a change of constitution and name to the SA Institute of Credit Management Inc before Dusty was admitted as a member on 13th January 1964. On becoming a member of the SA Institute it was down to business for Dusty who after joining council in 1966 was Vice President at the time of National Incorporation and then took on the Divisional Presidency in 1969 and 1970. She became the first woman of the National Board in 1970 and remained on the Board as SA National Councillor until 1973. Dusty was the National Education portfolio chair and helped write the first edition of the Australian Credit Management Manual. She was passionate in the advancement of educating the institute membership base and was a strong advocate for the creation of a Diploma course in Credit Management. Dusty was made a Life Member in 1982 following her retirement from the workforce and still remained active in attending various AICM dinners and get together spreading her expertise and wisdom. Sadly, Dusty passed away at the age of 79 in 2001. Dusty is an example of the many hard working and passionate people who have served the SA Division so well over the last 50 years. People like our first Registrar in Lawrie Ellis who the Institute named it highest award for Services to Credit Management in SA in honour of. Lawrie was the pioneer of Membership Services as we know it now whereby he was continually walking the streets of Adelaide visiting local companies espousing the virtues of the institute to credit managers and credit professionals of the day. Over the time members who have served at National level have included: zz Ian Coates – National President 1967 zz Dusty Rhodes zz Ted Harvey zz Brian Hoskin – National President 1986-88 zz Stephen Barratt – National President 1997 – 1998 zz Peter Macks zz Neil Ricketts zz James Neate – National President 2016 – Current zz Trevor Goodwin

SA Division Presidents have included: zz Ian Coates zz Dusty Rhodes zz Alex Beattie zz Ken Stewart zz Brian Walker zz Colin Price zz Roy Bassett zz Peter Collyer zz Brian Hoskin

zz Julie Short zz Chris Renwood zz Hillary Orr zz Neil Ricketts zz Nigel Hillier zz James Neate zz Trevor Goodwin zz Gail Crowder

Registrars or Executive Officers who have served are as follows: zz Lawrie Ellis zz EJ Sheppard zz Geoff Holdich zz Lawrie Bailey

zz Julie Short zz Tracey Willmot zz Kerry Hammill

The SA Division has certainly had many fine members who have volunteered their time and efforts for the betterment of our industry and our general membership. The SA Divisional Councils have always conducted their duties on a very professional but always friendly way which has established a culture of very hospitable and welcoming atmosphere whether it be a Council meeting, seminar, training course or dinner. The amicability and good nature of the way the SA Division has operated is no doubt a reason why so many of our members have dedicated so much to our organisation. This spirit of cooperation has no doubt played a strong part in the SA Division recent success in winning the President’s trophy on a number of occasions in the last decade. – Neil Ricketts LICM

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2018. National Partners

Divisional Partners

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AROUND THE STATES

within their chosen field of expertise, whilst giving everyone an opportunity to nominate and vote for their peers. Stay tuned!

AROUND THE STATES

Victoria/Tasmania

Division Council – from front left to right: Mahlee Terrell, Frank Gambera, Annemarie Gambera, Robyn Erskine, John Ng, Amaran Navaratnam, Rex Cheng, Donna Smith, Catrina Galanti and Lou Caldararo.

Kate Baker winner of the Credit Supervisor of the Year.

Lou Caldararo with External Collection Agency of the Year finalists Dale Hannan, Jeanne McArthur and Andrew Smith.

Stacey Feaver winner Credit Manager of the Year with Lou Caldararo (Vic/Tas President).

President’s Report

year partnering again with Illion and with a major local and international company to hold the YCPA event. The location of this event will be extraordinary and not to be missed, therefore keep the 27th of July 2018 free. Thanks again to our National Partners Equifax, illion, and Bureau Van Dijk and our State Partners Ampac. Sharp & Carter and OnGuard, and NCI and GSA as our divisional supporting partners for working and promoting the AICM.

2018 has commenced well above expectations with great numbers attending the first few network sessions events and the toolbox series. The Golf day was another great success at full capacity – pictures to follow in the May magazine. The drive and the commitment by your Victorian State Councillors is shown through the great calendar of events for 2018 and you can access on the AICM website here. The Vic/Tas council is prompting events in the regional and Tassie areas and we are looking forward to catching-up with all our Tassie based members. The opportunity for the members who are eligible to become a CCE and complete their assessment can access information on how to achieve this fantastic certification here. Now for a major announcement for the YCPA event this 62

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Lou Caldararo Vic/Tas State President

A word from the Vic/Tas Committee You may or may not realise, but all of the Vic/Tas committee members are volunteers. We donate our time,

Victoria/Tasmania

Prudence Chang winner of the Consultant of the Year.

Gabrielle Forte – winner of the Senior Credit Officer of the Year.

2017 Christmas Party and Pinnacle Awards

Timothy Holden – Legal Representative sponsor Foremans and Lou Caldararo congraulate winner Rebecca Fahey.

knowledge, expertise, energy and ideas, to help to run the annual divisional program, which includes running the finances and bringing you all the annual events, from the networking events, the Young Credit Professional Awards, the Golf Day, the magazine articles, professional development seminars, the Women in Credit Lunches, the Pinnacle Awards and more. 2017 was a growth year for Vic/Tas in so many ways. We produced a great networking and professional development program; we gained lots of new members and some new vibrant faces on the committee. Overall it was a very successful year both professionally and financially. We wish you every success in the coming year and we hope to see more of you at our professional and networking events. Thank you to all of the members of the committee for all of their hard work, commitment and dedication to the advancement of the AICM Vic/Tas Division.

Approximately 90 members and guests attended the 2017 annual Christmas Party and Pinnacle Awards for the Vic/Tas Division, held at the Melbourne Marriott Hotel. A good time was enjoyed by all with sustenance provided as members and guests eagerly awaited the announcement of the winners of the 2017 Pinnacle Awards. Our evening was hosted by Lou Caldararo Vic/Tas President and National Credit Manager Spicers, assisted by Jeff Hurst (Vic/Tas National Director and Director Trade Bureaux Australia Pty Ltd). Our President delivered a brief presentation, thanking the event sponsors, members and guests for their attendance. Congratulations go out to the nominees and the winners for their participation in this year’s Pinnacle Awards. Our winners were: zz Credit Manager of the Year, sponsored by Austral Mercantile – Stacey Feaver (Southern Region Collections Manager at Silver Chef Financial Services), zz Credit Supervisor of the Year, sponsored by illion – Kate Baker (Credit Supervisor Urbis), zz Senior Credit Officer – Gabrielle Forte (Senior Credit Officer Australia Post), zz Legal Representation of the Year, sponsored by Foremans Business Service – Rebecca Fahey (Partner SLF Lawyers), zz External Collections Agent of the Year – Jeanne McArthur (Managing Director McArthur Commercial Recoveries Pty Ltd), zz Recruitment Consultant of the Year – Artemis Vrionis (Sharp and Carter), March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AROUND THE STATES

Artemis Vrionis – winner of the Recruitment Consultant of the Year.

AROUND THE STATES

Victoria/Tasmania

High Five Award winners Australia Post Legal Recovery Team Frank Fisher, Rose Irwin, Gabriella Forte and David Condello.

5 Year Members Mary Petreski (Workwear Group), Gabrielle Forte (Australia Post) and Rebecca Fahey (SLF Lawyers).

zz Consultant of the Year – Prudence Chang (Sales Manager Vic/Tas at National Credit Insurance Brokers),

February Network Breakfast – Ipso Facto and Safe Harbour Insolvency Law Reforms

zz The High Five! Award, sponsored by ARMA – Australia Post Legal Recovery Team. Congratulations also to our members who attained their 5 year membership pins: Mary Petreski (Credit Manager – Commercial Team at Workwear Group), Rebecca Fahey (Partner at SLF Lawyers) and Gabrielle Forte (Senior Credit Officer Australia Post). Members and guests expressed their appreciation and enjoyment of the evening, and complimented the AICM on the event. The committee would like to take this opportunity to thank the event organisers for their hard work in organising the event. Importantly we would like to thank Austral Mercantile for sponsoring the event and for their continued support of the AICM in general. Without the support of suppliers like Austral Mercantile we would not be able to put on these events. A big thank all the members for their support in attending events during the 2017 year and to the Committee Members and Event presenters who volunteer their time to bring valuable education, interesting social events and support to the members of the AICM Vic/Tas Division. We hope that 2018 will be another successful year for all.

New Member Welcome! Shilani Rodrigo (Credit Officer, Transurban) recently became a member of the AICM. Shilani has been in credit for six years and joined the AICM because she had heard great things about membership from her employer Transurban. She is particularly interested in being updated regarding new methods and ways of handling debtors and staying up to date with what is happening in the Credit Industry. If you meet Shilani at the next AICM event please say hello and make her feel welcome. 64

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

On 15 February 2018, at Parkview Hotel, Melbourne, Robyn Erskine, Partner at Brooke Bird, well known for her knowledge of insolvency and credit management, delivered an informative presentation on the Ipso Facto and Safe Harbour legislation, passed in September 2017. Robyn displayed her skill as a presenter, making an otherwise dry topic very interesting. The crux of the presentation was that overall Robyn Erskine the legislation was designed Partner, Brooke Bird to lead to better outcomes for all stakeholders, including credit professionals. However, Robyn highlighted some shortfalls where the misuse of the legislation could lead to increased risk for the credit industry, a reduction in dividends from liquidations, an increased cost and complexity for Insolvency Practitioners, affecting their ability to pursue insolvent trading claims and it could also result in suppliers no longer having the right to terminate a contract once an insolvency process has commenced. The implication of these changes is something that every credit manager should be aware of and should continue to monitor and manage over the coming months and years. It may have quite a significant impact on the credit industry. This was a quality networking event. The presentation was well received by the members and guests present at the breakfast.

Victoria/Tasmania

– Jeff Hurst (Vic/Tas National Director and Director Trade Bureaux Australia Pty Ltd)

Welcome to the Committee – Mahlee Terrell (Foremans Business Services) Meet Mahlee Terrell. Appointed to the Vic/Tas Committee in 2017, and is on the Professional Development Committee. Welcome and thank you for your time, effort and contribution to date. Mahlee is a manager and a qualified Chartered Accountant at Foremans Business Services, a boutique insolvency services accounting firm in Bayside, Melbourne. She began her career in insolvency in 2009 as she did not think that a ‘traditional’ accounting role was the right fit for her. She decided to nominate for the committee because she believes that it is so important to have opportunities to network, learn and share knowledge. Mahlee said that having these opportunities allows individuals to grow and develop, as well as the profession. She hopes that she can make a valuable contribution to the AICM and its members! A fun fact about Mahlee is that she refuses to watch horror movies because she gets scared so easily. She said that she has probably only seen maybe 1 or 1 ½ horror movies in her entire life.

Meet Prudence Chang of National Credit Insurance Brokers – Sponsor in the Spotlight Without our National, State and Event Sponsors many of the events that the AICM hosts would not be possible. Therefore we take the opportunity to highlight and thank National Credit Insurance Brokers for their continued support of the AICM, by introducing you to Prudence Chang, Sales Manager Vic/Tas at National Credit Insurance (Brokers). Prudence has been a member of the AICM for 5 years, and values NCI’s support and contribution to the AICM.

Prudence has worked for NCI for 11½ years. She says she is married to the greatest hubby in the world and they have 2 dogs. They love to renovate houses, go to the movies and of course EAT! Her favourite artist is Pink unless she’s in the gym in which case she loves to pump it out to Linkin Park. When asked “Movies or Books?” Prudence says she loves both, but is really into audio books and podcasts at the moment. When asked about “AFL or Rugby?” she said AFL all the way, and she is a mad Pies fan, Go PIES! Prudence’s greatest achievement since being with NCI is being named an elite broker by business magazine for the last 3 years. Something not many people know about her is that she has a handbag addiction. When you next see Prudence at an event please go up and introduce yourself. She would love you to talk to her about movies and books or her love for Collingwood, or perhaps something else you might have in common with her. Thank you Prudence, for sharing all that fantastic and fascinating information with us.

Inspirational Quote of the Week “Be like a postage stamp. Stick to things until you get there!” – Josh Billings

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2018. National Partners

Divisional Partners

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

Prudence Chang, Sales Manager Vic/Tas at National Credit Insurance Brokers

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AROUND THE STATES

Several members contacted the AICM National Office following the event, to praise Robyn’s skills as a presenter and advised they would attend any event at which she was presenting. Well done Robyn and thank you for donating your time and expertise to the AICM, we really appreciate your commitment and contribution.

AROUND THE STATES

Western Australia/Northern Territory

Lisa Marr presents Life Member Bob Blakiston with his 40 year membership.

Life Members Bob Blakiston and Frank Vredenbregt with WA Director Rowan McClarty.

Jenny Vredenbregt winning the trophy for “Shot of the Night” at the Barefoot Bowls.

Martin Bigg from Capricorn Society and Clive Adams Regional Bowls Manager for WA enjoying Barefoot Bowls.

President’s Report

and organising the first half of the year. We can’t wait to see all of you during the year at our social events and breakfast presentations. The Bowls Bash continues to produce worthy winners. A massive night with 48 members and guests in attendance. We were very proud to welcome Clive Adams from Bowls WA. He spoke about team play, getting the best out of the individual members of your team, thus ensuring the conditions for the team are well covered to produce winning results. He also covered planning for the future. There were many winners on the night from the nearest the jack prizes. This year’s trophy winners were: Byron Savage, Simon Backhouse, Rob Webster and Richard Vaughan – affectionately known as Team Zippo! We will be presenting two Credit Community Breakfasts in the first half of 2018. We welcome Alan Langford and Carl Huxtable to the WA table. Alan will present his Economic Outlook in March and Carl will bring us up to speed on Director’s Safe Harbours in May. The Plaza Ballroom at the Hyatt will be the venue for the Women in Credit event in June and The Gershwin Room will host the Young Credit Professional Gala Dinner on Friday the 13th, July.

2018 is finally here! The end of year celebrations were held at the South of Perth Yacht Club where we welcomed the AICM Pinnacles to Western Australia. AICM CEO Nick Pilavidis and Damian Romano from Austral announced the winners of the two awards on offer: - Credit Manager of the Year, and - Individual Service Provider of the year. On the night, Lisa Marr from Instant Waste Management and Natalie Walker from Blitz Credit Management were recognised by their industry peers. As part of the AICM 50 year celebrations, the WA Council welcomed Bob Blakiston to join the festivities. From 1991 to 1994 Bob was the National President. During this time, Bob advocated activities to open dialogue between members. On the night, it was a pleasure to present Bob with his membership pin for 40 years. Following this event, WA Partners met with Nick and the WA Council to review and plan 2018. We believe we have twisted his arm to visit more often and meet more members! WA Council was very busy at the end of last year, planning 66

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Western Australia/NT

WA Councillor Byron Savage accepting the winning team trophy at the Barefoot Bowls.

Service Provider of the Year and Lisa Marr from Instant Waste Management, for Credit Manager/Supervisor of the year. The WA Credit Community kicked off our 2018 events with Barefoot Bowls held at the Leederville Sports Club on 9 February 2018. It was a great night with some of the bowling leading to thoughts of a career change for some! We were fortunate enough to have Clive Adams, Bowls WA Player of the Year, attend the event to give some handy tips. Eventual winners on the night were the team led by Byron Savage. – Rowan McClarty, Community Credit Magazine editor

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2018. Michelle Teague, Sally Birch, Nicole Rogers, Sherry Nanayakkara, Gwen van Doremalen, Peter Hamers and Pere Apoleski representing Kleenheat at the Pinnacles.

We look forward to seeing as many of our members as possible this year and in doing so perhaps uncover the next young credit professional to represent this great state at the National Conference. We are sure there are some diamonds in the rough out in the Perth business landscape still undiscovered. All applicants must be under 30 on June 30. This is an important event for the AICM and we encourage all members to support the search for our future credit leaders. If you have an emerging talent in your team, we would be very pleased to meet and introduce them to the WA Credit Community. Until next issue, – Lisa Marr MICM WA State President

National Partners

Divisional Partners

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

WA Community Credit – overview On 7 December 2017 the WA Credit Community held its first Pinnacle Awards at our Christmas Drinks event at South of Perth Yacht Club. We were pleased to welcome Nick Pilavidis, who gave a brief summary of the work that the AICM had done over the year. Nick also awarded the trophies to our winners, Natalie Walker from Blitz Credit Management, for

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AROUND THE STATES

WA Councillor Kevin Allen receives his Life Membership from AICM CEO Nick Pilavidis.

AROUND THE STATES

New Members The Institute welcomes the following credit professionals who were recently admitted to membership in December, January and February. Australian Capital Territory David Almeida

Department of Defence

New South Wales Sarina Karam Samantha Whittle Benjamin Strajn Amon Shehata Edmond Ho Felix Joseph Patricia Abousleiman Stella Calayag Jie Ru Liu Paul Ranocchiari Lina Doumit Ashwin Kumar Darveshni Prasad Selvamanee Haguthee Makerita Vaifale Eileen Robberds Oriana Kattic Jeason Mogus Selesitina Vailanu Dilini Ratnayake Jophine Teagle Kathleen Badolato Chenoa Nichol Tara Nicholls Brandon Quach Brittany Santa Maria Millie Garvin Lisa Morrisey Eileen Milton Maria Del Duca Sharon Boyle Paul Vanderwert Rosanna Maiorana Patricia Landuyt-Breedveld Chris Doube Dallas Tout Michael Baker Aaron Browne Andrew Behman Renee Smith Sarmad Ehsan Raymond Miles Jay Narang Susan Gotsis Jasmeet Kaur Kailey Gillan Bonnie McMahon 68

Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Sharp Corporation Sharp Corporation Sharp Corporation Sharp Corporation Sharp Corporation Sharp Corporation Sharp Corporation Sydney Catholic School Limited Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Collexa Ashurst Services Australia Sydney Catholic Schools RPS Australia East Pty Ltd Mason Black Lawyers Equifax Australia Equifax Turks Legal Turks Legal Sydney Catholic Schools Sydney Catholic Schools Sydney Catholic Schools Sydney Catholic Schools Turks Legal Fisher Cartwright Berriman Lawyers Euler Hermes Australia Pty Ltd Charles Sturt University Euler Hermes Australia Pty Ltd Euler Hermes Australia Pty Ltd Matthews Folbigg Lawyers Matthews Folbigg Lawyers Sharp Corporation – Coates Hire Operations Pty Ltd Coates Hire Coates Hire Coates Hire Operations Pty Ltd Matthews Folbigg Lawyers

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Queensland Rouruina Arama Ashleigh Mason Christine Nelson Claire Billingham Jahmara White Leanne Martin Mariah Foy Tina Clark Yolanda Strydom Luke Hunter Hari Narayan Sybille Grosch Nicola Dawber Alicia Hackney

Boom Logistics Limited National Collection Services Iplex Piplelines Finance One Finance One Finance One Pty Ltd Finance One Finance One Dynamic Supplies Pty Ltd Minor DKL Puma Energy Puma Energy Australia Fuels Pty Ltd Puma Energy Puma Energy

South Australia Julia Klement Edwina Tideman Chelsea Parker Jason Chammen Emma Colbourne Olivia Lefteriotis Danielle Christensen

Pernod Ricard Winemakers Pty Ltd National Credit Insurance Pernod Ricard Australia Pernod Ricard Australia Pernod Ricard Australia Pernod Ricard Australia MSP Group

Victoria Bernadine Geary Maria Angelodemou Nadia Basile Deborah Bruce Chenoa Rodrigo Syed Fahd Ali Georgina Changa Jitesh Kantilal Zak MacDougall Ketki Mukherjee Boski Sameer Katherine Higgins Stephen Teale Jack Frantz Victor Gurure Shreya Maharjan Elizabeth Nguyen Alysar Khallouf Sheree Zamani Sujit Nair Neville Birthisel Josephine Rayen Francesca Caponnetto

Business Cashflow Solutions Pty Ltd Simplot Australia Pty Ltd Mitsubishi Australia Limited Mitsubishi Australia Limited Transurban Transurban Transurban Transurban Transurban Transurban Transurban Turks Legal Turks Legal TurksLegal Transurban Transurban Transurban Transurban Top Coat Food Mitsubishi Australia Limited Mitsubishi Australia Limited Mitsubishi Australia Limited Interactive Pty Ltd

Western Australia Simon Backhouse Lauren Garvey Aisling Conlon Hrishikesh Narvekar Nathan Stubing

Zipform Digital Golder Associates Perth Energy Holdings Pty Ltd Sea to Summit FTI Consulting

AICM Marketplace Directory of services For information, options and pricing please contact Andrew Le Marchant on +61 2 8317 5052 or E: andrew@aicm.com.au COLLECTIONS

CONSULTANCY

INFORMATION

AICM Divisional Partner

AICM National Partner

EDX AMPAC Debt Recovery Level 5, 35 Clarence Street Sydney NSW 2000 Tel: 1300 426 722 Email: info@4ampac.com.au Web: www.4ampac.com.au Trust AMPAC, we guarantee to give you the right advice…… AMPAC provides a complete range of debt recovery and receivables management services to big business, government and thousands of SME’s nationally, so next time you are deciding how to deal with that difficult customer, pick up the phone and call us. We are ready to help you too.

COLLECTION SYSTEMS

Tel: 03 9028 8278 Email: enquiries@edxppsr.com.au Web: www.edxppsr.com.au EDX is the market leader in PPSA consultancy and registration, with over 15 years’ experience in Australia and New Zealand. We have helped hundreds of Australian businesses adjust to the PPSA by providing no-nonsense practical advice, coupled with first class PPSR registration capability and registry management. Whether you have high volumes and need a software solution or simply wish to outsource, EDX has a solution to meet your needs.

DEBT COLLECTION

illion Tel: 13 23 33 Web: www.illion.com.au Dun & Bradstreet has changed. We are now illion. Bringing data, analytics and insights to life is at the heart of what we do, and we will continue to break new ground in the product development and innovation space. Our commercial and consumer databases enable Australian businesses and consumers to make informed decisions, based on real time data drawn from an extensive range of sources. We remain a reliable and trusted partner to a wide range of global organisations, who use our solutions for credit reporting, risk management, sales and marketing and receivables management.

AICM National Partner

AICM Divisional Partner

Equifax

Elite Collection Services OnGuard Tel: 1800 123 613 Web: www.onguard.com OnGuard’s Credit management solution will help you hit your collection targets – each and every month. By working smarter and providing better visibility, OnGuard will help you reduce your DSOs. Why not give your staff a friendly solution that will make their life so much easier. Contact us to show you how OnGuard has made life a whole lot easier for our customers.

Tel: 02 8916 6210 Email: info@elitecollections.com.au Web: www.elitecollections.com.au Elite Collection Services specialises in commercial debt recovery, credit management consulting, and acts as a legal services agent to businesses throughout Australia. Our management has over 17 years’ of extensive industry experience in commercial debt recovery, litigation, insolvency, and dispute resolution. Contact us today to see how Elite can assist you!

Tel: 13 83 32 Web: www.equifax.com.au Equifax powers the financial future of individuals and organisations around the world. Using the combined strength of unique trusted data, technology and innovative analytics, Equifax helps its customers make informed decisions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North, Central and South America, Europe and more recently in the Asia Pacific region, with the acquisition of Veda, a data analytics company and the leading provider of credit information and analysis in Australia and New Zealand.

AICM Divisional Partner

AICM Marketplace – our new initiative Welcome to our new marketplace. We’re proud of the AICM and we want to let all credit professionals know those businesses that support the AICM. Thank you to these companies for their continued support and please consider them first when you’re looking for assistance in your business. We’ll also include these sponsors on our website so you can be sure to find them easily. For more information contact:

Andrew Le Marchant Direct: +61 2 8317 5052 Email: andrew@aicm.com.au Tel: 1300 560 996

Trade Bureaux Australia

Kemps Credit Solutions 50 Grenfell Street Adelaide 5000 Tel: 08 8418 1450 Email: gcrowder@kemps.com.au Web: www.creditsolutions.net.au/kemps Kemps Credit Solutions. A debt collection partner you can trust. Working with some of the country’s leading providers of information management and data intelligence solutions. Since 1965 Kemps Credit Solutions has set the benchmark for providing quality collection and recovery services to South Australian businesses and government.

AICM MARKETPLACE

PO Box 473, South Morang VIC 3355 Tel: 03 9303 8900 Email: tba@bigpond.net.au Web: www.tba.net.au Trade Bureaux Australia P/L provides secretarial and chairperson facilities for Industry Credit groups within Australia. Operating since March 1998 we are independent and cater for over 25% of the Australian Credit Bureaux market. Our members work together to strengthen their credit knowledge and reduce their company’s investment in working capital and bad debts. Contact Jeff Hurst to find out about forming or joining one of our industry groups.

March 2018 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

AICM Marketplace Directory of services For information, options and pricing please contact Andrew Le Marchant on +61 2 8317 5052 or E: andrew@aicm.com.au INSOLVENCY

INSOLVENCY

LEGAL

AICM Divisional Partner

Insolvency Intel BRI Ferrier Adelaide Level 4, 12 Pirie Street Adelaide SA 5000 GPO Box 952, Adelaide SA 5001 Tel: 08 8233 9900 Fax: 08 8211 6644 Web: www.briferrier.com.au BRI Ferrier Adelaide provides recovery, insolvency, advisory and forensic accounting services to businesses throughout South Australia and beyond. We have a wealth of in-house technical expertise as well as the support of our specialist professionals from BRI Ferrier’s unrivalled national and international network.

Tel: 1300 265 753 Web: www.insolvencyintel.com.au Email: answers@insolvencyintel.com.au Insolvency Intel: a subscription-only provider of insolvency and turnaround services for credit managers. Backed by national firm Jirsch Sutherland, our friendly team is just a phone call or email away, providing members with practical, strategic advice about corporate and personal insolvency. Free initial consultation; networking opportunities; training and presentations; knowledge database access; regular newsletters. Register now for a free subscription.

AICM Divisional Partner

Results Legal Level 4, 183 North Quay Brisbane QLD 4000 Tel: 1300 757 534 Web: www.resultslegal.com.au Results Legal is a national firm with a focus on promoting and protecting the rights of trade creditors. Our clients are some of Australia’s largest trade credit companies who rely on our assistance for legal recovery, dispute resolution, preference claim defence and PPSA rights. Results Legal are the obvious first choice for companies seeking a national solution to resolve commercial disputes and pursue swift, successful and cost effective legal recovery action.

AICM Divisional Partner

Vincents

Ferrier Hodgson Level 28, 108 St George’s Terrace Perth WA 6000 Tel: 08 9214 1444 Email: perth@fh.com.au Web: www.fh.com.au As a leading independent financial advisory and restructuring provider, Ferrier Hodgson solves complex problems with commercial solutions.

AICM Divisional Partner

Level 34 Santos Place, 32 Turbot Street Brisbane QLD 4000 Tel: 1300 VINCENTS (07) 3228 4000 Web: www.vincents.com.au We live in a world of increasing complexities; the need for true expert advice is now more evident than ever. Established for more than 25 years Vincents is an Australian firm of accounting experts and business advisers specialising in assurance and risk advisory, business advisory, corporate advisory, financial advisory, forensic services, and insolvency and reconstruction. Gain insight and take control with Vincents.

TurksLegal Tel: 02 8257 5700 Web: www.turkslegal.com.au Contact: Daniel Turk TurksLegal is a specialist commercial law firm with 33 Partners and over 160 staff across our Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane offices. We are proud to look after the interests of trade creditor suppliers and financial institutions in: l Portfolio debt recovery using our market-leading, real-time client interface, ‘TurksFocus’ l Resolution of complex debt disputes l PPSA recovery l Defence of unfair preference claims l Supply documentation and guarantees.

AICM Divisional Partner

AICM Marketplace – our new initiative

FTI Consulting Tel: 08 9321 8533 Web: www.fticonsulting.com FTI Consulting is an independent global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political and regulatory, reputational and transactional. Collectively, FTI Consulting offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to assist clients across the business cycle – from proactive risk management to the ability to respond rapidly to unexpected events and dynamic environments.

Worrells Suite 1103, Level 11, 147 Pirie Street Adelaide SA 5000 Tel: 08 8214 0500 Email: adelaide@worrells.net.au Web: www.worrells.com.au Worrells is dedicated to solvency management, insolvency administration and forensic investigation. Worrells have been providing high quality corporate and personal insolvency services for over 40 years. We pride ourselves on offering reliable and practical solutions to those burdened with debt. With 24 partners and over 100 staff in 26 locations across Australia we are resourced nationally but focussed locally.

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2018

Welcome to our new marketplace. We’re proud of the AICM and we want to let all credit professionals know those businesses that support the AICM. Thank you to these companies for their continued support and please consider them first when you’re looking for assistance in your business. We’ll also include these sponsors on our website so you can be sure to find them easily. For more information contact:

Andrew Le Marchant Direct: +61 2 8317 5052 Email: andrew@aicm.com.au Tel: 1300 560 996

AICM MARKETPLACE

AICM Marketplace Directory of services For information, options and pricing please contact Andrew Le Marchant on +61 2 8317 5052 or E: andrew@aicm.com.au RECRUITMENT

TECHNOLOGY

AICM Divisional Partner

National Supporting Sponsor

Sharp & Carter

CreditSoft Solutions

Web: www.sharpandcarter.com.au

Tel: 1300 720 164 Email: info@creditsoft.com.au Web: www.creditsoft.com.au

For any assistance with Credit recruitment, please call Melbourne – Chris Belegrinos on 03 9616 2622 Email: cbelegrinos@sharpandcarter.com.au Sydney – Janine Coppeller on 02 8315 8804 Email: jcoppeller@sharpandcarter.com.au Sharp & Carter will tailor candidate sourcing strategies to suit your company’s needs, taking into account factors such as time frame, budget, level of role and availability of candidates in the market. We are committed to achieving a successful outcome for every assignment on which we work.

TRADE CREDIT INSURANCE

TCN offer a variety of cloud-based technology solutions that are designed to reduce operating costs, resources and increase the amount of productivity within your company. Software includes virtual call-centre tools, predictive dialling, interactive voice messaging and innovative sms communication tools. TCN’s software requires no excess hardware or maintenance fees and is distributed throughout Australia by technology providers, CreditSoft Solutions.

National Credit Insurance Brokers Tel: 1800 882 820 (freecall) Email: info@nci.com.au Web: www.nci.com.au National Credit Insurance Brokers (NCI) has established itself as the premier trade credit insurance broker in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Trade credit insurance is a highly specialised area of insurance and, with its 30 years of experience, National Credit Insurance Brokers has developed an unmatched depth of expertise in arranging the right protection at the best price for your particular trading needs.

See you at AICM’s

2018

NATIONAL CONFERENCE 17 - 19 October 2018, Melbourne Visit aicm.com.au for details and registrations

The Publication for Credit and Financial Professionals

IN AUSTRALIA

Level 3, Suite 303 1-9 Chandos Street St Leonards NSW 2065 PO Box 64 St Leonards NSW 1590 Tel: 1300 560 996 Fax: (02) 9906 5686 www.aicm.com.au