In a recent ruling, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that the assignment of a portfolio of bad debts to an assignee taking charge of the recovery and default risk of those debts did not necessarily harbour a supply of services for consideration rendered by the assignee to the assignor. Indeed, although the receivables in question were acquired at a price lower than their nominal value, a provision of a service ‘for consideration’ could not be characterised in the absence of any consideration, insofar as the difference between the nominal value and the purchase price of the receivables reflected their actual economic value at the time of their transfer…
Bertrand Lacombe
Lawyer at the Court, Lacombe Avocats