We are in the final days of 2008 with the expectation that the current crisis will change in 2009 into liquidity problems for companies. The first signs of an economic recession are visible and payment behaviour is getting worse, which in turn leads to an increased importance of the cash flow situation within all businesses.

The debt collection market is currently seeing an increase in debt placement volumes, but on the other hand it requires more effort to collect these debts than ever before. As Atradius Collections is a solid global player with presence in all major markets you can rely on our experience and expertise in collecting these debts.

We keep on investing in improvements to our services and it is a pleasure for me to inform you that all Atradius Collections units world wide are currently operating on the same platform (Score). For you as a customer, this means that the service we offer will be consistent with an integrated global Collections service. This in turn leads to faster handling and a better end-to-end view.

Another major improvement in the service we offer our clients is the new release of Collect@Net. Together with Score, Collect@Net is part of our optimal service concept. Having spoken with our customers, we analysed their needs which resulted in this new and improved release.  

In this newsletter you will also find some reports recently published by Atradius. Here you can read about current economical developments as seen by Atradius economists and the opportunities in Latin America.

Despite the heavy weather in the credit markets we remain optimistic and hope the sun will shine on everyone very soon again. I wish you all the best in 2009

Yours sincerely,

Raymond van der Loos

Director Atradius Collections