It’s been a year of great change and challenge for the European leasing fraternity and the businesses for which they provide.
For hard assets, the ever present threat of cross-border fraud, fluctuating fuel costs and political and economic uncertainties make planning for hard assets more difficult, while for soft assets, the technological development curve and the threat of cyber crime posed constant challenges.
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There was change for the first time in a decade atop the industry’s trade association, as Tanguy van de Werve bowed out from Leaseurope after 10 years hard work.
Tanguy’s efforts in professionalising Leaseurope by commissioning original research from respected researchers made asset finance part of the conversation for growth that policymakers prioritised.
His successor, Leon Dhaene, has a payments and credit background with senior management positions at IBM and Mastercard International, as well as a fleet of start-ups and consultancies which will set him up in good stead for the senior leadership and strategising that Brussels requires.
It was also the third year of the vital Leaseurope Future Group, which in my opinion needs continuing support to give a platform for the young professional talent that it has developed so far.
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By GlobalDataFrom a top-down perspective, Europe’s stationary securitisation market still causes some concern, although UniCredit Austria managed to push through a €230m asset-backed securitisation deal with help from the European Investment Bank at the end of November, and the European Commission has taken steps to kick-start this market, after Investec’s securitisation in 2014.
Investment gaps in various European countries are fluctuating, while the reaction to them from the leasing industry has been varied.
In Germany, national leasing association Bundesverband Deutscher Leasing-Unternehmen expressed disappointed with the level of investment by SMEs in equipment and other assets, citing a funding gap of around €80bn a year, while in the UK the Asset Based Funding Association expected its members to lend £27.6bn this year.
UK
The UK has seen a surge of mergers and acquisitions of brokerages and small and medium ticket lenders, leading to a new type of lender/broker hybrid. I understand from a couple of sources that there are a handful of deals to be announced, and additionally two more businesses looking for buyers, so we’ll have plenty of news to read in the new year.
Perhaps the possibility of a ‘Brexit’ next year looms upon the horizon, where the UK votes to leave the European Union.
Getting things done in Brussels might take a ‘painfully’ long time, as one source told me recently, but at least it filters out bad ideas like the proposed financial transactions tax.
The prospect of UK regulation and separation from Europe makes no promises for UK businesses, but nobody really knows what the effect will be on our industry. The best thing to do is start making plans with that as a possibility.
Thank you
Thanks go to all the contributors, speakers, advisers and delegates which made the Leasing Life Conference in Budapest such a success this year, and of course congratulations to our winners!
It was also a great pleasure to attend the Leasing Charity Dinner on 11 December, which the Leasing Foundation’s Mary McNamara was instrumental in organising with help from my colleagues at Timetric. I believe the event raised around £20,000 for MacMillan Cancer Care and the Motor Neurone Diseases Association, so well done to all.
All that’s left is to wish you a very merry Christmas, and a happy and prosperous 2016!
