France has the second largest factoring market in the world behind the UK. Factoring involves companies selling their receivables to factors, who then manage the receivables, finance the companies, and take on the risk of unpaid invoices. The French factoring market is concentrated among a few large players, with the top 5 factors making up 87% of the market. Factoring provides benefits to companies such as turning receivables into cash and reducing management costs.

1. -Divya Padmanabhan
-861
-B.B.A LL.B. (Hons.)

2.  On a worldwide scale, almost a thousand
companies currently offer factoring
services, of which 435 are in Europe.
The factors, namely the companies operating
in this market, are usually subsidiaries of
banking groups, financial
institutions, insurance companies or
manufacturing firms, and rarely independent
companies.
 France has the second largest factoring
market in the world behind the UK. It
represents 15 percent of the total market in
Europe, and 10 percent globally.
 France 7.6% ; increase in volume in 2013
 Volume of cross-border business grew in
2012: France, was second with a 33% growth
to EUR 2.7 billion

3.  The five biggest Markets in 2010 were
respectively UK & Ireland (17.0%), France
(11.4%), Italy (10.7%), Germany (8.8%) and Japan
(7.3%).
 France’s total volume is higher than for the
Americas
 The Factoring Market is relatively concentrated
with the five biggest Factoring Companies in
France totaling on 87% of the National Market.
With 38% of top 5 companies being Bank
subsidiaries and 35% being Bank Divisions, it is
clear that Factoring has become highly
dominated by Banks.
 The leading factor in France has à 20% market
share

4.  Factoring is a solution for managing companies’ trade
receivables.
 It provides them with financing which can
complement or take the place of conventional bank
facilities.
 Factoring is aimed at all companies trading with other
companies or public-sector bodies, whatever their
size and sector of activity, whether or not they are
engaged in exports.
 The growing need for competitiveness increasingly
emphasizes the advantages of outsourcing the
management of trade receivables, allowing better
concentration on core business, raising the quality of
services offered to customers and fulfilling
commercial objectives more effectively.
 At the same time, the company’s efficiency increases
and management and production costs are reduced or
stabilised.
 The factor enables receivables to be turned into cash
as they fall due and costs to be kept under control.

5.  Factoring is a durable solution for the
provision of short term finance,
incorporating risk prevention, rapid
financing of receivables, monitoring, follow-
up and account management. By outsourcing
the management of trade receivables, the
company gains three key strengths:
 conversion of fixed costs into variable costs;
 optimised administration;
 secure financial management.
 Trade receivables represent on average 40%
of a company’s assets.

6.  A company can benefit from the use of
factoring at each stage in its development.
 In the start-up phase, financing receivables
through a factor may overcome a shortfall of
cash flow or bank facilities.
 In the maturity and revenue-growth
phase, there are various reasons for using
the services of a factor: protection against
customer failures, relief from
administrative tasks or financing of growth.

7.  Non-disclosed factoring with delegated
management, known as “Confidential
factoring”.The company retains full control
of the management of its receivables, and
the existence of the factoring contract is
not disclosed to customers.

8.  Reverse factoring
 The company (the principal) gives advance
instructions to the factor to pay its suppliers
when their invoices have been passed for
payment.
 It reimburses the factor on the normal due
dates of the invoices.

9.  Export factoring enables the company to
delegate the management of export
receivables.
 The factor either has local companies or
correspondents, or multilingual
personnel, who are fully conversant with the
specific characteristics of international
trade.
 The company’s export receivables are
guaranteed against the risk of bad debts on
the part of a customer.

10.  The factor’s services are remunerated through
two main components, which are defined in the
contract with the company:
 The factoring (or service) commission provides
remuneration for the management operations
 The financing commission, based on a bank
reference rate, is calculated in accordance with
the amount and period of financing requested.
 Factoring essentially includes the service
commission, which pays for the management
operations, and the financing commission, which
pays for the cash advance.

11.  After the contract has been signed, the company forwards
duplicates of its invoices to the factor on a regular
basis, for example every week. This can be carried out
electronically or by post.
 Except in the case of “confidential” factoring, a subrogation
notice supplied by the factor must appear on the company’s
invoices, and its customers are informed that they must send
their payment to the factor.
 For each new customer, the company opens a purchaser
account with the factor and requests a limit up to which the
commercial transactions in respect of that customer will be
guaranteed.
 Most factors offer online services enabling the company to
monitor all its operations: guarantees provided, payments
received or disputes detected by the factor, financeable
amount provided etc.
 Finally, the company has a dedicated contact for all its
factoring operations.

12.  To take advantage of factoring, the company
includes a subrogation notice on its invoices
and forwards copies of invoices to the factor.
By means of online services it can then
request financing and monitor its customers’
payment status.

13.  The latest strategy is focused on the SME sector,
Nevertheless, they still compete for large
corporate deals, with international tailor-made
solutions.
 The main change in product mix is concerned
with an increase in full factoring contracts
signed with SMEs. Larger companies seem to
have significantly reduced their inventories in
2009 and will not need extra funding before
their activities rise again.
 Regarding the portfolio, invoice discounting
represents more than 50% of the turnover and
this percentage will grow further in response to
demand.

14.  Banks have introduced reverse factoring in
the French product mix. This facility is still
quite new in the French market and the main
competitors only have a few clients using this
product. In 2011, it represented 1% of the
market turnover.
 It is expected to grow within the next five
years to reach an average of 5% of the
volume.

15.  CGA and Air France signed a factoring deal on
the 12th of December, 2012.
 CGA, Societe Generale’s French factoring
subsidiary, has finalised in December a deal
to provide factoring services to Air France.
 Through close dialogue and cooperation, CGA
was able to tailor their services to suit Air
France’s needs, offering non-recourse
factoring up to an agreed amount of EUR
250m.

16. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 GDP
Penetr
ation
2012
Market
Share
2012
FRANCE 121600 135000 128182 153252 174580 186494 9.19% 15.45%

17. Total factoring volume in EU in 2012(in
millions of EUR)
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Germany
Spain
Other EU countries

18.  Despite the generally low levels of economic
growth currently evident across the EU, the
Industry continued its strong growth pattern
in 2012 to a record €1.2 Trillion. This growth
reinforces the importance of the funding
solutions for the support of SMEs, economic
activity, wider growth and wealth creation.