Skip to main content

SMEs' claims may get higher priority in liquidation cases

SMEs' claims may get higher priority in liquidation cases
The government is looking at a proposal to give higher priority to the claims of small operational creditors in cases of liquidation under the bankruptcy code, an official said.
This comes after representations that small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are suppliers of goods or services to a defaulting company, face huge losses during bankruptcy proceedings, pushing them towards bankruptcy in some cases and also leading to job losses for those employed with them.
"In a few cases which are presently under liquidation, it has been pointed out that SMEs face the brunt, putting them under severe stress," said the government official cited earlier. "We are examining the issue," the person said.
Under the recovery of balance dues, in terms of waterfall mechanism as set out in Section 53 of the Bankruptcy Act, the order of priority for operational creditors comes under unsecured creditors. Experts say there is a case for moving them up in the priority list. "Claims of SMEs should be brought on par with debt paid to financial creditors," said Mukesh Mohan, a resolution professional.
He said liquidation proceedings generally triggers a chain reaction. "It is like a vicious cycle," Mohan said. "Most of these MSMEs(micro, small and medium enterprises) have taken loans and generally get late payments. If they don't get anything under liquidation, their risk of default is the highest."
The National Company Law Tribunal have all over the country admitted around 300 bankrupt SMEs and their resolution processes have started. A senior bank executive said with the government's focus on increasing credit growth towards MSME sector, giving such firms higher priority in bankruptcy proceedings can be looked at, but added that this should be done with stringent conditions.
"It should not be the case that some big suppliers are operating through smaller companies and getting benefitted over secured creditors," the banker said on condition of anonymity.
The Economic Times, New Delhi, 12th Decmber 2017

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

RBI deputy governor cautions fintech platform lenders on privacy concerns during loan recovery

  India's digital lending infrastructure has made the loan sanctioning system online. Yet, loan recovery still needs a “feet on the street” approach, Swaminathan J, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said at a media event on Tuesday, September 2, according to news agency ANI.According to the ANI report, the deputy governor flagged that fintech operators in the digital lending segment are giving out loans to customers with poor credit profiles and later using aggressive recovery tactics.“While loan sanctioning and disbursement have become increasingly digital, effective collection and recovery still require a 'feet on the street' and empathetic approach. Many fintech platforms operate on a business model that involves extending small-value loans to customers often with poor credit profiles,” Swaminathan J said.   Fintech platforms' business models The central bank deputy governor highlighted that many fintech platforms' business models involve providing sm

Credit card spending growth declines on RBI gaze, stress build-up

  Credit card spends have further slowed down to 16.6 per cent in the current financial year (FY25), following the Reserve Bank of India’s tightening of unsecured lending norms and rising delinquencies, and increased stress in the portfolio.Typically, during the festival season (September–December), credit card spends peak as several credit card-issuing banks offer discounts and cashbacks on e-commerce and other platforms. This is a reversal of trend in the past three financial years stretching to FY21 due to RBI’s restrictions.In the previous financial year (FY24), credit card spends rose by 27.8 per cent, but were low compared to FY23 which surged by 47.5 per cent. In FY22, the spending increased 54.1 per cent, according to data compiled by Macquarie Research.ICICI Bank recorded 4.4 per cent gross credit losses in its FY24 credit card portfolio as against 3.2 per cent year-on-year. SBI Cards’ credit losses in the segment stood at 7.4 per cent in FY24 and 6.2 per cent in FY23, the rep

India can't rely on wealthy to drive growth: Ex-RBI Dy Guv Viral Acharya

  India can’t rely on wealthy individuals to drive growth and expect the overall economy to improve, Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.Acharya, who is the C V Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern), said after the Covid-19 pandemic, rural consumption and investments have weakened.We can’t be pumping our growth through the rich and expect that the economy as a whole will do better,” he said while speaking at an event organised by Elara Capital here.f there has to be a trickle-down, it should have actually happened by now,” Acharya said, adding that when the rich keep getting wealthier and wealthier, they have a savings problem.   “The bank account keeps getting bigger, hence they look for financial assets to invest in. India is closed, so our money can't go outside India that easily. So, it has to chase the limited financial assets in the country and