Newsletters

FECMA publishes Newsletters on a regular basis. If you have an interesting article for publication in forthcoming FECMA Newsletters, please contact the Secretariat of FECMA at fecma@sbb.nl. 

You can also speak to the FECMA Secretariat if would like to advertise in the Newsletter. The Newsletters are not only published on the FECMA website but also distributed to all the member associations, who in turn distribute to their own members or make available to their members by links in their respective national association websites, providing a Europe wide audience of upwards of 20,000 credit professionals.

2017 February Issue

Coming from the small island of Malta in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, an island well known for its magnificent Grand Harbour and for its long tradition in maritime services, it is my turn to sail the ship for the coming two years and it is my honour to do so.

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2016 Summer Issue

It would be no exaggeration to say that the result of the United Kingdom referendum on 23 June, 2016 on the question of UK membership of the European Union sent shockwaves right around the world. When asked by my European colleagues in the months leading up to the referendum about my thoughts on the outcome (and I was asked this question many, many times), I always maintained that the issue always revolved around the head and the heart.

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2013 Autumn Issue

I don’t know about you, but I am angry with politicians. It is not that I don’t believe or don’t trust them, it is just that they have no concept sometimes of responsibility. All credit managers appreciate the concept of authority and responsibility – if the Sales Director has the authority to override decisions of the Credit Manager, then he or she must take the responsibility that goes with it. Why cannot politicians do the same?

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2013 Winter Issue

2012 was a year of highs and lows, good things and bad things, and not without it’s moments of drama and suspense. The UK had a mixture of the ups and the downs, but perhaps will remember 2012 more for the joys and triumphs than for anything mundane like the economy and politics – the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the London 2012 Olympic Games (who will ever forget that magnificent opening ceremony?), the London 2012 Paralympics and even the prospect of a new third in line to the throne

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2012 Summer Issue

It is some time since we last spoke, and much has happened in the interim period between this Newsletter and the last one. One reason for the delay in producing this current edition had been the issue of a new online magazine for credit managers in Europe. This was issued early in June to all member associations of FECMA and is packed with interesting articles, and well worth your time having a look and a good read.

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2011 Summer Issue

Since we last spoke, the list of conversational topics has increased, both within and without the EU, the Eurozone and indeed within FECMA itself. Some topics just will not go away, and with Greece on the brink again, Portugal following Ireland and continued protests in Spain and elsewhere, our dear old friend the Euro keeps exercising the column inches of newspapers here, there and everywhere.

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2011 Spring Issue

There have been three major topics of conversation since the onset of the winter of 2010/2011. Not surprisingly, one has been the weather. For the bulk of Northern Europe at least, it snowed… and snowed….and snowed. The UK ground to a halt, which is not of itself particularly surprising since the merest hint of snow, particularly south of Peterborough, always causes the most immense difficulties for your average soft Southerner.

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2010 Summer Issue

The crisis following the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009 has continued to hang over the world’s economies like an ash cloud from an erupting volcano. Governments from north, south, east and west are all in budget deficit mode, putting forward cuts in public expenditure the like of which have not been seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. On the other hand, against this background, the various industrialised economies slowly emerge from recession.

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2010 Spring Issue

It is beginning to look as if the world is slowly hauling itself out of the deep pit of recession. Some countries are in better shape than others, some further along the recovery road than others, and some even left with fewer anvils of debt hanging round their necks than others. The cry that has gone up, however, seems to be the same all over the world – “Never again”. Easier said than done

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2009 Summer Issue

Someone once said that a week was a long time in politics. For the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, 20 minutes must seem like a month. On Thursday 4 June, his Labour Party fell foul of the British elector, losing control of local councils the length and breadth of the nation; his Cabinet fell apart with Ministers making for the boats long before they were lowered; he even encountered the jeers and disapproval of veterans at the 65th. anniversary celebrations in Normandy of Operation Overlord.

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2008 Summer Issue

2008 started off a little gloomy, and that was not just the weather (always a concern for UK citizens and usually their most important topic of conversation). The global fall out from the US sub prime mortgage continued to spread, with banking institutions from the US to Europe revealing holes in their accounts, larger than anticipated write offs and calls for cash help from shareholders and governments alike. 2008 has got worse, with record prices on the commodity markets for oil, grain and oth

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