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BULLETIN
12
Aspire Power Learning Sessions
Headroom, the EVO Group Marketing and Business Services Agency, has
announced the dates of its Aspire Power Learning Sessions for the first
half of 2015.
Running from March to May, The Power Learning Sessions are open to all resellers
and address Influential Negotiations, Managing Time & Performance and Presenting
& Pitching with Confidence.
Anyone interested in attending should contact Joe Walker, Head of Business
Development at Headroom (
), or their VOW account
manager.
KYOCERA wins packaging award
KYOCERA Document Solutions
has won a WorldStar packaging
award for the seventh year in
a row.
Organised by the World Packaging
Organisation, the awards honour
developments in packaging that are
original, environmentally responsible
and economical.
KYOCERA won an award in the Electronics category for a new style shock gauge
developed for the transportation of A3 MFPs in the USA, China and Europe. The
gauge, which changes colour if a package is bashed, has a larger coloured surface,
making it easier for carriers to spot devices that may have been damaged. It uses
more environmentally friendly water-based flexographic ink to colour the cardboard
and can be produced more economically than alternative shock gauges.
Balreed promotes careers in printing
Balreed is lending its support to the ProSkills PrintIT! initiative, a
nationwide education programme designed to teach students about the
print and paper industry.
As part of its commitment to the programme, Balreed hosted a group of GCSE
students from the Cornwallis Academy at their Head Office in Maidstone.
Students were given an overview of the career opportunities in managed print
services and demonstrations of new production print and finishing technologies.
Balreed Group Marketing Director Gary Downey said: “This is a great initiative
that we are very happy to support. It is the first time we have opened our doors to
local students and it’s been exciting to get their positive feedback on what they have
seen at Balreed.”
Balreed plans to hold a number of PrintIT! fund-raising events to raise money for
the development of new career materials and content for student work books.
How the new regulatory framework
is affecting leasing transactions
by Andy Milsom,
Head of Partner Training and
Development,
BNP Paribas
Leasing Solutions
During a recent conversation
with a reseller I have known
for many years, I was accused,
along with everyone else in
my industry, of working for an
organisation that appears to be
continually changing the rules
relating to the processing of
leasing transactions. The almost
retrospective nature of such
changes has certainly created
problems in otherwise strong business relationships.
Whilst my default response to such criticism tends to be
defensive in nature, upon reflection I think my friend deserves
something of an explanation. The fact is that since the banking
crisis of 2007/2008 the finance industry has been subject to more
investigation and regulation than has ever previously applied, and
in many cases changes in policies and procedures have had to be
taken with immediate effect, giving us little or no time to provide
advance notice to those who introduce our business.
The regulatory body for the banking, insurance and leasing
industry is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), an organisation
which has been in operation for only two years. It was formed
specifically to address concerns that the finance industry had not
been subject to adequate control and as a result had indulged
in a number of very poor practices. These included the rigging of
LIBOR and FOREX markets by the banks; the mis-selling of finance
products to an unsuspecting public (e.g. PPI); and not taking
sufficient measures to prevent money laundering.
It is important to see all that has been happening over recent
months in the context that we are now operating under the
watchful eye of a new and very powerful regulator. The FCA’s
remit is to prove that it has taken all possible action to ‘clean up’
the finance industry. To achieve that objective it is possible that
a degree of over regulation might be applied, but the banks and
associated businesses are in no position to complain and have felt
it necessary, and rightfully so, to act very quickly to any guidance
coming from the FCA.
There are three main areas controlled by the FCA that must be
addressed by leasing companies:
n
Licensing and the authorisation of consumer credit business;
n
Treating customers fairly; and
n
Anti-money laundering policies.
At BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, we recognise that much of
the regulation coming from the FCA might seem to be a bit of a
minefield, especially for our partner network whose core business
is selling business equipment solutions, not finance. We have
recently developed a training seminar designed to give our reseller
partners a comprehensive understanding of the FCA regime and
how it impacts their business when referring a client for a lease
application. It also covers the FCA authorisation process and
explains the different licence categories to help partners comply
with the new regulatory environment. If you’d like to find out more
about this service, feel free to get in touch with me.
