There have been unprecedented numbers of mergers and acquisitions in the US factoring industry in the last 12 months, with CIT buying two smaller factors and GMAC's purchase of the Bank of New York. As yet, the consequences of this market consolidation are unclear. John Heffer, President of HSBC Business Credit (USA) Inc., laments the fact that there are no reliable industry statistics as very few factors publish their volume figures.
As the factoring industry in the US is still quite localised, the most important element of a get together is discussing the problems with client fraud. As John points out, although the major players would like to develop a new foolproof system for detecting client fraud, the easiest means to avoid becoming a victim is via field exams, diligence and by collecting the debts direct.
