Following the 1994-95 peso crisis, factoring firms (empresas de factoraje financiero) struggled to restructure their own debt and faced portfolios of past-due credits at least as severe as those burdening the banking sector. Many firms had earlier taken up accounts-receivable financing in a move away from pure factoring, further aggravating the sector’s situation. The number of factoring firms dropped sharply as a result of the crisis, and commercial banks absorbed some of their services. This shake-out has been severe, with the number of factoring firms in Mexico dropping to 16 in September 2003 from 19 a year earlier and 53 in 1994.
