Debt recovery in Argentina

Taking place from 14 to 18 May in Buenos Aires, the TCM Group annual general meeting offers an opportunity to focus ondebt recovery inArgentina. Eduardo Vazquez, CEO ofSintesis(TCM Argentina), provides us with inside details.          

Regulation of the consumer debt collection activity

Althoughdebt collectionis not governed by law in our country, this activity is bound by the Civil and Commercial Code of the Argentine Republic. Furthermore, Sintesis has been handling debt collection matters for over 20 years and its staff work in accordance with internal policies and procedures based on integrity and good faith. It is important to highlight the confidentiality applied towards clients and debtors. We are governed by the Data Protection Act in this regard, but we are allowed to report Foreign Commercial Debts to our National Credit Bureaus.

• Addingdebt collection commissionto the outstanding debt handed over for collection is prohibited in our country.
• We can charge fees / costs to adebtoraccount only in judicial proceedings, where the fees are fixed by the Court.
• Finally, there are no cultural or religious regulations inArgentinathat may impact on thedebt collection process.

Regulation of the B2B debt collection activity

B2B debt collection is not governed by any specific regulation in Argentina. Of course, collectors are bound by the laws set forth in the differentArgentinecodes, but there are no specific laws for thedebt collectionfield. Nevertheless, and in accordance with our internal policies and procedures, ourdebt collectorstake a customized approach to each claim. All documentation provided by clients is reviewed by collectors before first contact is made. The collectors understand how businesses work and the role of contracts (including sales orders, purchase orders, invoices, return merchandise authorizations, pricing discounts, sales tax laws, freight and shipping charges, returns and return policies, among other general contract terms) in dealing with international matters. Our collectors are carefully trained to analyse each case and to negotiate debt collections in a fair way.  

Collection costs and interest

In Argentina, there is no entity that regulates out-of-court collections. In an out-of-court collection management process, the principal amount originating from the dueinvoiceis first claimed, although othermanagement costsorinterestmay also be included. It is important to differentiate between interest andcollection costsand when it is possible to include each one on an overdue invoice. Normally a percentage of the outstandingamount of a debt, collection costs cover salary costs and the costs generated by external collectors when thecollection managementis out of court. Ifcollection costshave not been previously agreed between the parties, the only method would be judicial collection management. If interest is included in the claim, as there is no existing regulation, we use the one established by the Banco de la Nación Argentina, which is a public entity that sets interest in judicial matters. If thecreditordoes not accept the percentage of interest or if a debtor company does not acknowledge it, the only way to recover interest is through the courts. 

Tips on Business

The good practices that we implement in order for our collection management business to be successful are the following:

• Apositive attitudewhen dealing with a collection assignment.
• Preparation and investigationregarding the debtor.
• Thepower of communication. We use this as a tool for persuasion.
• Permanent monitoringandevaluation of the actions and reactionson the accounts that we manage.
• Creativityandperseverance.

  TCM Argentina (Sintesis Ltd.) is a company that has been active in the field of international debt collection since 1962. We have been a member and shareholder of TCM Group International since 1999. In June 2009, Sintesis was awarded ISO 9001:2008 quality certification for its service providing NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CREDIT BUSINESS REPORTS and its NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DEBT COLLECTION service.  Classified by the National Economic Census as a “credit business reports and national and international debt collection company”, the company is therefore authorised to issue debt collection certificates for the BCRA”. We divide the proposal in two: debt collection management cases which we carry out ourselves and those which we outsource but supervise. We always work on aNO COLLECT-NO FEEbasis. In other words, we only charge for amounts we’ve actually collected, which may be all or part of the total amounts claimed.  

Taking place from 14 to 18 May in Buenos Aires, the TCM Group annual general meeting offers an opportunity to focus ondebt recovery inArgentina. Eduardo Vazquez, CEO ofSintesis(TCM Argentina), provides us with inside details.          

Regulation of the consumer debt collection activity

Althoughdebt collectionis not governed by law in our country, this activity is bound by the Civil and Commercial Code of the Argentine Republic. Furthermore, Sintesis has been handling debt collection matters for over 20 years and its staff work in accordance with internal policies and procedures based on integrity and good faith. It is important to highlight the confidentiality applied towards clients and debtors. We are governed by the Data Protection Act in this regard, but we are allowed to report Foreign Commercial Debts to our National Credit Bureaus.

• Addingdebt collection commissionto the outstanding debt handed over for collection is prohibited in our country.
• We can charge fees / costs to adebtoraccount only in judicial proceedings, where the fees are fixed by the Court.
• Finally, there are no cultural or religious regulations inArgentinathat may impact on thedebt collection process.

Regulation of the B2B debt collection activity

B2B debt collection is not governed by any specific regulation in Argentina. Of course, collectors are bound by the laws set forth in the differentArgentinecodes, but there are no specific laws for thedebt collectionfield. Nevertheless, and in accordance with our internal policies and procedures, ourdebt collectorstake a customized approach to each claim. All documentation provided by clients is reviewed by collectors before first contact is made. The collectors understand how businesses work and the role of contracts (including sales orders, purchase orders, invoices, return merchandise authorizations, pricing discounts, sales tax laws, freight and shipping charges, returns and return policies, among other general contract terms) in dealing with international matters. Our collectors are carefully trained to analyse each case and to negotiate debt collections in a fair way.  

Collection costs and interest

In Argentina, there is no entity that regulates out-of-court collections. In an out-of-court collection management process, the principal amount originating from the dueinvoiceis first claimed, although othermanagement costsorinterestmay also be included. It is important to differentiate between interest andcollection costsand when it is possible to include each one on an overdue invoice. Normally a percentage of the outstandingamount of a debt, collection costs cover salary costs and the costs generated by external collectors when thecollection managementis out of court. Ifcollection costshave not been previously agreed between the parties, the only method would be judicial collection management. If interest is included in the claim, as there is no existing regulation, we use the one established by the Banco de la Nación Argentina, which is a public entity that sets interest in judicial matters. If thecreditordoes not accept the percentage of interest or if a debtor company does not acknowledge it, the only way to recover interest is through the courts. 

Tips on Business

The good practices that we implement in order for our collection management business to be successful are the following:

• Apositive attitudewhen dealing with a collection assignment.
• Preparation and investigationregarding the debtor.
• Thepower of communication. We use this as a tool for persuasion.
• Permanent monitoringandevaluation of the actions and reactionson the accounts that we manage.
• Creativityandperseverance.

  TCM Argentina (Sintesis Ltd.) is a company that has been active in the field of international debt collection since 1962. We have been a member and shareholder of TCM Group International since 1999. In June 2009, Sintesis was awarded ISO 9001:2008 quality certification for its service providing NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CREDIT BUSINESS REPORTS and its NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DEBT COLLECTION service.  Classified by the National Economic Census as a “credit business reports and national and international debt collection company”, the company is therefore authorised to issue debt collection certificates for the BCRA”. We divide the proposal in two: debt collection management cases which we carry out ourselves and those which we outsource but supervise. We always work on aNO COLLECT-NO FEEbasis. In other words, we only charge for amounts we’ve actually collected, which may be all or part of the total amounts claimed.