Business Credit

One of the major legislative accomplishments that NACM can point to in the last Congress is the approval of a permanent, nationwide US Trustee program within the Department of Justice. NACM had been a strong supporter of this effort. The program was originally created on a test basis by the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 to improve the administration of bankruptcy cases and serve as a watchdog against fraud. Originally limited to 10 Trustees, under the new law there will be 21, appointed by th...

A Good Place to Start: Digging Into the Nuts and Bolts of the National Trade Credit Report

Since being launched at last year's Credit Congress, the NACM National Trade Credit Report (NTCR) has quickly worked its way into many companies' credit departments, in a number of different ways. As popular and versatile as the NTCR has proven itself to be, the nuts and bolts of the actual report might still be unknown to many credit professionals. Each aspect was included for a reason, and enhances the overall value of the report. Credit professionals aren't the only ones using the tradelin...

Altering Unsecured Creditors' Committee Membership: No Easy Chore!

An official unsecured creditors' committee plays a critical role in many Chapter 11 cases. That is why many unsecured trade creditors with large claims seek appointment to the creditors' committee. Under Bankruptcy Code Section 1102(a)(4), a creditor has the right to seek relief in the bankruptcy court to change the membership of an official creditors' committee (including seeking to have itself added as a member of the committee). Under Section 1102 of the Bankruptcy Code the United States t...

Credit's Role Expands at 2012 Fcib Ice Conference

A common theme that emerged in nearly every session at this year's FCIB International Credit Executives (ICE) conference was the ever-expanding role of the credit department. From assessing risk beyond accounts receivable, to implementing bold, new productivity enhancements, credit professionals seem to be asserting themselves into numerous other functions of their companies, and presenter after presenter at the conference seemed to prove it. The conference began with a lively, eye-opening an...

Credit@Work

Hot Spots: Oman

Oman is driven not just by new oil extraction techniques and, consequently, increases in liftings and exports, but also by stepped-up government spending, real gross domestic product gained around 5.5% in 2011, with a 6.5% advance in the non-hydrocarbons sector. The economy has remained largely unaffected by the global financial meltdown of 2008-2009 and its aftermath, and Omani banks have little exposure to the euro zone, so the sovereign-debt problems there also leave the Sultanate pretty m...

Incoterms 2010: What You Really Need to Know

The latest revision of Incoterms 2010 issued by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) offers positive changes for international and domestic trade participants. The changes more accurately address today's logistics requirements, risks and liabilities. The "official" acceptance of automation in the new Incoterms 2010 is a noteworthy change. The rules recognize digital signatures that reinforce web-based solutions for the online submission of documents. Most sellers utilizing containers h...

Meet Your 2012 O.D Glaus Credit Executive of Distinction Recipient Val Venable, Cce

When beloved credit professional O.D. Glaus retired, Val Venable, CCE, was on hand to present him with what essentially played like a well-deserved lifetime achievement award. Perhaps it's only fitting that the O.D. Glaus Credit Executive of Distinction will be presented to past NACM chairman Venable for just the second time after being renamed for Glaus upon his death. Like many, Venable didn't start out in credit. As a customer service manager for an office furniture store, she found much o...

Nacm Legislative Introduction and Position Brief 2012

In June of 1896, 82 delegates from several local credit groups met in Toledo to endorse a national movement, creating what is now the National Association of Credit Management. Membership has grown from 600 at the end of 1896, to more than 15,000 today, making NACM one of the oldest and largest business credit organizations in the US. NACM is committed to enhancing, promoting and protecting the many credit management interests of the commercial credit grantor. Established in 1896, NACM's Gove...

Nacm's Bittersweet Farewell to Don Conklin of Nacm Business Credit Services

The story of an employee working their way up from the mailroom to the company's corner office might sound like a cliche, but for Donald Conklin, it's the truth. He started as a part-time employee when he was at the University of Washington, he said. Now, after more than four decades with NACM, Conklin is officially retiring, leaving behind a storied career defined by nearly unparalleled service and an unwavering commitment to helping NACM's membership. After starting work in the mailroom, Co...

Report for April 2012

After five straight months of gains, the Credit Managers' Index (CMI) slipped to 55.1 from the March reading of 56.2, and just slightly above the January reading. The decline is not drastic and, excluding February and March, the CMI is higher than the months since April 2011 when it stood at 55.8. The CMI had been the one economic bright spot for much of the year, at least up to now. April has not been a month to write home about, and for the last few weeks, analysts have been trying to decid...

Scf for Short

Supply chain financing is hard to define in the world of commercial credit, even by the standards of a field known for trafficking in hard-to-define terms. If you ask 50 people you can get 50 different answers, said John Stockton, director of working capital and structured solutions sales at BMO Capital Markets. His colleague, PJ Bain, CEO of PrimeRevenue Inc, used another, uniquely appropriate term to define supply chain financing: "fungible." Though buyers, sellers and banks are always conn...

Staying Farther Ahead of Fraud?

As the recession took hold a few years back, fraud attempts surged. And some studies, like one released recently by Prolexic Security Engineering & Response Team, found that attempts are still continuing at alarming rates. However, that doesn't appear to be as much the case in the area of direct corporate payments and credit. A March study conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals found attempts at and successful fraud against both large and small corporate firms declined f...

Supreme Court Hears Credit Bidding Case, Puts Heat On Arguing Attorneys

Attorneys argued the finer points of why credit bidding should or should not be enforced as a right of secured creditors during a bankruptcy-related assets sales before the Supreme Court on April 23. The justices throughout the argument hearing appeared wary of arguments that would undermine the right on the part of secured creditors to use credit bidding tactics. The case in question is RadLAX Gateway Hotel LLC v. Amalgamated Bank. At stake is whether creditors will be able to use the value ...

Ucc Filings Tricky, but Worth Weight in Gold If Done Properly

The horror stories are near endless if not trite at this point. A company goes bankrupt and the unsecured creditors take a beating, walking away with pennies on the dollar or nothing as the secured parties take everything. That said, in many cases, losing out as an unsecured creditor is a risk that did not have to occur. While not simple, perfecting a Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filing can vault a creditor from unsecured status to secured, with first monetary dibs on the proverbial pie. As ...

Walking the Tightrope

Credit managers looking for a career change might well consider the high-wire act, since they already have experience walking the tightrope. Torn between an organization's demand to increase its business and ensure that each customer can meet his or her obligations, credit professionals are always walking the line between profit and loss. This balancing act is felt by those credit managers tasked with growing the business while trying to sell only to "good" customers. Risk managers have tradi...

What Panic?

The "sky is falling"-toned coverage on the European Union's ongoing debt problems -- especially in the much-discussed PIIGS nations (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) -- has been the dominant international business story, and it appears no story comes close to second. The sense of panic didn't really settle in for those in the credit profession over the last couple of years. However, it would be remiss to say there wasn't tweaking, and plenty of it, to stay ahead of problems. Additi...