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REPORT (COM(2018)0096 – C80109/2018 – 2018/0044(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the law applicable to the third party effects of assignments of claims

A-8-2018-0261 · A8-0261/2018

Committee on Legal Affairs · Rapporteur: Pavel Svoboda

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Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's amended version of the Commission proposal for a regulation on the law applicable to the third-party effects of assignments of claims. It keeps the law of the assignor's habitual residence as the main rule and adds the law of the assigned claim for money in accounts and financial instruments. It excludes the debtor from the regulation's scope and leaves consumer protection law untouched. It excludes assignments made in collective insolvency proceedings under Regulation (EU) 2015/848. It deletes the Commission's rule letting the assignor and assignee choose the law of the assigned claim for securitisations. It adds rules on priority conflicts, overriding mandatory provisions and the application of the regulation over time.

Committee position. The Committee on Legal Affairs adopts Parliament's position at first reading with amendments to the Commission proposal. It keeps the law of the assignor's habitual residence as the main rule, excludes debtors and insolvency proceedings, and deletes the securitisation choice-of-law rule.

Key points

  1. The regulation applies to the third-party effects of assignments of claims in civil and commercial matters, excluding third-party effects to the debtor of the assigned claim.
  2. It is without prejudice to Union and national law on consumer protection.
  3. It does not apply to assignments of claims from matrimonial property regimes, property regimes of comparable relationships including registered partnerships, wills and succession.
  4. It does not apply to assignments of claims in the course of a collective proceeding under Regulation (EU) 2015/848.
  5. 'Third-party effects' means the right of the assignee to assert legal title over an assigned claim towards other assignees or beneficiaries of the same or functionally equivalent claim, creditors of the assignor and other third parties, excluding the debtor.
  6. The definition of 'cash' as money credited to an account in a credit institution in any currency is deleted.
  7. The third-party effects of an assignment are governed by the law of the country where the assignor has its habitual residence at the time of the conclusion of the assignment contract.
  8. Where the assignor changes habitual residence between two assignments of the same claim, priority is governed by the law of the assignor's habitual residence at the time of the assignment that first became effective against other third parties.
  9. The law applicable to the assigned claim governs the third-party effects of assignments of money credited to an account in a credit institution and of claims arising from financial instruments.
  10. The Commission's rule allowing the assignor and assignee to choose the law of the assigned claim for securitisations is deleted.
  11. Where two assignments become effective against third parties at the same time, the law of the assignor's habitual residence prevails.
  12. Effect is given to the overriding mandatory provisions of the law of the Member State where the assignment has to be or has been performed, insofar as they render performance of the assignment contract unlawful.

Who is affected

  • Assignors, assignees, creditors of the assignor and other third parties in cross-border assignments of claims.
  • Debtors of assigned claims, who are excluded from the regulation's third-party effects rules.
  • Consumers, whose protection under Union and national law is unaffected.
  • Parties to assignments in collective insolvency proceedings under Regulation (EU) 2015/848, which are excluded.

Figures and deadlines

  • The assignor's habitual residence is determined at the time of the conclusion of the assignment contract.
  • The regulation determines rights of third parties in claims assigned after the date of application of the regulation.
  • Competing claims based on assignments are determined solely for assignments concluded after the date of application of the regulation.

Legal basis: Article 81(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.