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Geoffrey Wynne was quoted in the article, “The EU's New Tightrope Walk on the Late Payments Regulation" published by Trade Finance Global (TFG) on December 4, 2023.

The article discusses in detail the European Union's latest regulation on late payments which “presents a balancing act reminiscent of tightrope walking," commenting that it "demands precision and careful consideration … to ensure small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) — the backbone of the European economy — are not adversely affected."

Pointing out the "potential challenges that the regulation poses to supply chain finance, a critical tool for managing working capital for both sellers and buyers," in particular the article highlights the key issue that the “regulation could disrupt the flexibility businesses currently have in arranging commercial transactions, including the provision of commercial credit.”

The article quotes Geoffrey Wynne as follows:

"Supply chain finance is aimed at bridging the gap between extended payment terms that buyers may want and early payment terms that sellers may want.

It assumes (and perhaps confuses) late payment which could perhaps be penalised with extended payment terms which are often quite reasonable depending on the parties’ commercial requirements and what is being bought and sold.

A more focused approach seems clearly necessary rather than this ‘one size fits all’ attempt to regulate the world of commercial sale and purchase transactions.

This could adversely affect the supply chain finance industry, which has benefits for both suppliers and buyers. It really needs a total rethink, but I have no doubt the ingenuity of the marketplace will have to find ways to solve the problem otherwise."

The article can be read in full here