DON’T BECOME ANOTHER STATISTIC!

NZBT actively recommends to it’s clients, that, if their Terms of Trade allow, they should be registering under the PPSA to protect and safeguard their business. Many scenarios exist that make being a secured creditor (registering under the P.P.S.A.) a very valid credit management decision, but, when one of your customers enters into liquidation is one of the most common.

Put simply, when one of your customers enters into liquidation, as part of the liquidation process, secured creditors will get attended to as a priority and most importantly, ahead of unsecured creditors. There is much more to it of course, and the following gives you some technical guidance and information around making your business a secured creditor within your current customer relationships, but, remember that NZBT will help, explain and do all that is required to make your business secure

Talk to NZBT and we can do all this for you, however, for those that are interested, here is the technical stuff.

1. Ensure That You Have A Security Agreement in Place

The PPS legislation defines an individual, company or other entity that owes money on goods and/or services supplied as a “Debtor” Simply put, each customer of NZBT’s Client is defined in the Act as a Debtor. The Act requires that the Debtor needs to agree that the Client has a security interest in the goods. This agreement is usually part of the Client’s Terms of Trade as it becomes a term of the sale of goods to the Debtor. For the registration of this security interest to provide the Client with protection against other creditors and third party buyers, there needs to be an agreement in writing (signed and dated) or the Client needs to be in possession of the goods, whichever occurs first. As it is often not practical to maintain possession of the goods a correctly worded PPS clause in the Client’s terms and conditions is essential. The Client acknowledges that it is its responsibility to ensure that they have a signed agreement between themselves and their customer (Debtor) that clearly outlines the appropriate legislation appropriate for the enforcement of this PPS Registration.

2. Being A Secured Party

Where the Client is or intends to become a PPS ‘Secured Party’, it is in the Client’s best interest to understand how the PPS affects its business and securities. It shall be the Client’s responsibility to understand how the Act applies to its business. When becoming a Secured Party and registering a security interest, all requirements under the PPS must be adhered to by the Client. Failure to comply with the PPS may find that the security interest is open to be challenged as an invalid registration, thereby deemed worthless. It is recommended that the Client familiarises themselves with the specific rules about attachment and perfection of interests and that these are fully complied with. NZBT are not lawyers and will not offer legal advice but can offer recommendations based on knowledge and experience. If additional information is required, we recommend the Client seeks independent legal advice.

3. Registration

As a Secured Party it is the responsibility of the Client to understand what must happen for a security interest to be registered and upheld. As a Secured Party it is the Client’s responsibility to ensure that it:

Understands the categories defined in the PPS that form the different types of security interests and the associated requirements

Collects all required information from the debtor pertaining to the security interest

Specifies all the necessary information about the personal property in which the client has an interest in (i.e. security numbers, inventory etc), or intends to have a security interest in

A security interest can be registered on the PPS for up to 5 years and can be renewed on an ongoing basis.

4. Maintaining the Registration

Once the Client has received payment that are secured by the registration, or any other obligations that are secured by the registration, it must act so that a discharge can be affected, and the PPS register updated. Similarly, changes in the Secured Party or the Debtor’s address need to be updated on the PPS register.

Registration will expire 5 years from the date of registration. The Client must note this date when it receives a Verification statement and either allow the registration to lapse or ensure it renews the registration prior to the expiry date.

5. Provide All Relevant Information

The Client will need to collect all the information it needs to register a security interest. The Client should ensure that its business documentation captures the information that it needs. Of importance is the Debtor’s full name and date of birth or company legal name and company registration number. The more detailed description of the property provided the better.