Given New Zealand is an export nation and kiwi businesses are both enterprising and opportunistic, cross border trade is both a reality and a key driver for revenue.
Credit exposure is a very real risk where a local business in New Zealand is owed money by an offshore entity with no presence in our country.
Recovering debt in your own country is hard enough. When you throw a foreign country into the mix things can quickly get complex and hard to manage.
Instead of hearing excuses in English they come thick and fast in a range of new dialects. “We are waiting on a payment from another contractor” becomes “Wǒmen zhèngzài děngdài lìng yīgè chéngbāo shāng de fùkuǎn”. Or “You will have the money next week ” can become ” Você terá o dinheiro na próxima semana”.
My personal favourite, and one used fairly readily is “Go f*** yourself, Sam” which is relatively easy to pick up regardless of the language.barrier…..
The legal system in the foreign country will have different laws and attitudes to debt.
For example, certain countries in the Pacific Islands have a fairly ‘relaxed’ view which can (unless managed properly) swing the balance towards the debtor whereas countries such as Singapore (where their commercial reputation is paramount) will favour the creditor in recovery circumstances.
Add to that, we are not always dealing with officials that are ‘impartial’ like they are in New Zealand and so a degree of street smarts is needed around that aspect also. That is not to say we are running around throwing paper bags of $FJD at the local judge but we will always be aware of what the realities are and act accordingly.
The physical distance can act as a mental barrier in recovering debt on the ‘its in the too hard basket’ basis. There are many aspects to consider and there is always a process to be followed and that needs to be monitored at all times to ensure progress is being made
Whilst no two situations are ever the same we have a solid process around offshore debt recovery and use our experience(s) to deal with the issues at hand. We have various arrangements in a number of jurisdictions which means we can pull a team together very quickly to firstly understand the situation and then work out a plan to recover the debt.
Enforcing rights is what we do and as James Michener said , “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.”
