Mon, 1 Jul 2013A new self-regulatory framework for the asset-based and invoice finance industry comes into force today. It includes a complaints process with particular focus on protecting smaller businesses, and a new Professional Standards Council.

Members of the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA), which has 40 members, says it represents most of the asset-based finance industry in the UK and Ireland.

ABFA says its new framework is based around treating its customers fairly and responsibly. The document, alongside supporting guidance, sets “clear expectations for members’ treatment of their clients”, the body says.

The new independent complaints process is managed by dispute resolvers Ombudsman Services, designed with a particular focus on supporting smaller users, with a turnover of up to £6.5m per annum.

The Professional Standards Council, overseeing the code and complaints process, has the power to sanction members. This independent council consists of lay members, independent representatives from outside the industry, and is chaired by Lucy Armstrong, chief executive of entrepreneur-to-entrepreneur organisation The Alchemists.

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• ‘Asset-based finance predicted to grow this year, according to industry body' (recruiter.co.uk, 11 July)

• ‘Securing green shoots of growth (Recruiter, June 2013, by Colin Cottell)