Tuesday, 21 August 2007




More news on Individual Voluntary Arrangements and the control of the IVA
Just when the allegations of Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) price-fixing, collusion, cartels and the like were flying around about the Insolvency Exchange (TIX) and its beloved banking clients they dragged into this mess (HSBC, Halifax / Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Marks & Spencer Money and First Direct), there is yet another wrinkle.

Apparently ASDA (part of the WAL*MART family that is falling out of favor in the US for treatment of employees and suppliers) and Tesco are under investigation by the Competition Commission for pressuring suppliers to cut prices. The UK’s large supermarket companies have been issued Section 109 notices and ordered to turn over about 11 million emails under the investigation. The only thing that could put the situation with the supermarkets and the Insolvency Exchange closer together would be if ASDA and Tesco were intentionally blocking consumers from having access to the fruits and veg they needed for their good health.

The Sunday Telegraph has the big story on this relevant news. The article includes the following information:

“The nature of such communications, effectively putting the suppliers "over a barrel", contravenes a code of conduct the retailers have signed.”

“Suppliers have become concerned over the retail chains demanding ever-lower prices, threatening the viability of their businesses and putting some - especially farmers - on the brink of ruin.”

"We believe that this kind of intimidation by the big supermarkets is widespread and are glad that the Competition Commission seems to have unearthed evidence of this as smaller suppliers are so often reluctant to speak out.”

"Mark Prisk, the shadow minister for business and enterprise, said: "It is critical that the big supermarkets understand that all business must be conducted in a free and fair way, and that abuse of the system, particularly against the smaller suppliers, is completely unacceptable and must be challenged."

If TIX and their clients can’t see the similarities, they are can only be in complete denial, ironically one of the stages of death and dying. I’m sure the TIX clients have already entered the second stage, anger. Unfortunately it is probably just anger that Insolvency Practitioners won’t be quiet about their demands for fair treatment of consumers. Who knows, maybe the banks are even angry about the situation TIX has placed them in?

Thankfully we don’t have to dig too deep to uncover the evidence that the Competition Commission will be reading in the near future when they say “What the f*** were they thinking?” TIX made the job very easy when they issued the TIX burning bush memo, as I call it. I'm sure the Competition Commission will also be interested in the feedback from Insolvency Practitioners from the recent survey.

In case you wanted to contact Mark Prisk and tell him about these issues of organised creditor denial of IVAs to consumers, organised control of prices from IP suppliers, and blatant ignorance of the Banking Code, contact information is online.

Who knows, maybe Mark and his staff would like to sign the Mike Reeves petition requesting that 10 Downing Street to wake up and look at this issue?


See Original Article

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