Radical New Laws Affecting Your Business Assets

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Running Time: 6:56

Date: 01/12/2011

The law on personal property is changing - it can have a dramatic effect on your business assets.

The Personal Properties Securities Act, coming into force by May 2012, involves a radical new approach to the question of ownership of a wide range of business assets. James Berman, of Kelly Hazell Quill Lawyers, says it's aimed at clarifying who owns what during insolvency cases, and making credit easier to obtain. But it's going to involve all businesses in reviewing their standard contracts and making sure assets they own are listed on the national Personal Property Securities Register, which replaces more than 70 asset registers now in existence. Failure to do so could mean, for instance, the loss of leased equipment to secured creditors in the event of a client's insolvency.