In this interview, Rosalind Wright discusses with David Ingram, Chair of INSOL Europe’s Anti-Fraud Forum, her experiences and opinions on current trends in fraud.

In recent years, England and Wales has attracted a steady stream of nationals from other European Member States (first German, then Irish, now, apparently, Latvian) wishing to take advantage of the ‘debtor-friendly’ British personal insolvency regime. That is to say, discharge from bankruptcy after one year; all (well, almost all) debts erased, a chance to start again after 365 days. Times, however, are changing.

Many payday lenders could be breaking the law by charging excessive default fees to borrowers who miss repayments, according to Which? An investigation by the consumer group revealed that 10 of 17 leading payday lenders have default fees of £20 or more, and four charged £25 and above, with Wonga topping the table at £30, The Independent reported. The consumer group’s legal opinion is that excessive default fees are unlawful under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, which state it is unfair for lenders to charge a disproportionately high fee if borrowers default

Eurozone banks must shed an estimated €3.2 trillion (US$ 4.3 trillion) of assets over the next three to five years as well as raise more capital, according to RBS research published in August.

In the Middle Ages, when bankruptcy was in its infancy, options for debtors were limited.

On 16 May 2013, the Act Shortening Residual Debt Discharge Proceedings and Strengthening the Rights of Creditors (“Gesetz zur Verkürzung des Restschuldbefreiungsver- fahrens und zur Stärkung der Gläubigerrechte”) was passed into law by the German parliament.

On 1 October 2012, new "Policy rules on the use of derivatives by approved public housing institutions" issued by the Minister for Housing and the Central government Sector (the "Minister")entered into effect; these policy rules are discussed in our newsletter dated 10 September 2012.

The High Court recently ruled on the use of exit consents in relation to an exchange offer as part of a debt restructuring where the original bond issue was governed by English law.

On December 10, 2012, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and the Bank of England (“BoE”) released a joint paper entitled “Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions” outlining a resolution strategy for global systemically important financial institutions.

In 2006, The Privy Council, which is the final court of appeal for a small number of Commonwealth countries and territories, gave judgment in a case that revolutionised the cross-border recognition and enforcement of judgments at common law.