DBSG Governing Committee in action

The DBSG Governing Committee met for the first team since September, where most of the committee members received their appointment. The enlarged committee consists of seven members plus Leigh Berkley, chairman of the group.

The first meeting saw the formalisation of the launch of the two new DBSG working parties. The DBSG Best Practice and Governance Working Party, chaired by Sara de Tute, and the DBSG Data Quality Working Party, chaired by Gillian Key-Vice.

Previously, DBSG members have wanted to be more informed of the committee's actions and plans and so It was decided the group would report directly to the DBSG newsletter to outline the topics discussed or actioned by the committee.

It is hoped that this will give DBSG members a taste of what is being considered – and anyone who is interested in finding out more should look out for more reports in the future!

DBSG Report 1

Model contracts
During the formation of the DBSG it was agreed that Model Contracts for Spot Sales and for Forward Flow arrangements should be worked out to guide new and existing members when preparing their own individual contracts. Eversheds produced the first versions for the DBSG and have recently updated these contracts to remain truly topical and in keeping with current practice. The Model Contracts are intended as best practice guides and are not prescriptive in any way. Check out the members zone on www.dbsg-uk.com

DBSG statistics
Always in great demand by researchers, government departments, the media and indeed by DBSG members themselves. The Governing Committee considered ways of improving the response rate from members to requests for information and statistics. The possibility of using a benchmarking company was discussed. A quote from a benchmarking company was tabled however the cost for each survey would be around £25,000 to £30,000 and this could only be paid for an ongoing basis by raising DBSG membership fees. The committee considered therefore that outsourcing was not an option at this point and to concentrate instead on encouraging members to provide information to the CSA/DBSG head office where this data would be handled in strict anonymity.

Collectability index
The statistics from the recently released Q1 and Q2 2009 Collectability Index were circulated to all committee members and all agreed that the data was very interesting. More and more members are coming forward with quarterly data which will serve to strengthen the results and accuracy of the index. Contributors are still being sourced and CSA/DBSG head office continue to encourage all members to supply this information which is of course held in the strictest of confidence.

Sellers wanting surety of DBSG membership
Feedback to committee members has been that more and more sellers look for DBSG membership in buyers as a way of assuring adherence to industry best practice. The committee expressed concern that buyers potentially not renewing their DBSG membership should not continue to benefit from DBSG association and it has been decided to date future membership renewal certificates to stop potential abuses.

Widening membership
From the CSA/DBSG head office came the suggestion to widen the appeal of DBSG membership by introducing a starter category with a lower fee for companies only just putting their toes in the water or only just wanting to assess whether debt buying or selling was for them. It was considered that around 40 companies could be interested in such a scheme. An in-depth discussion ensued but the committee decided to keep this thought pending and perhaps have a wider discussion with DBSG members at the Half Yearly Members' Meeting on Wednesday 10th February 2010.

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