Assignment of professional receivables by slip (Sovereign Order n° 9.819 of 9 March 2023)

Law No. 1.529 of 29 July 2022 on various economic and legal provisions introduced into Monegasque law the assignment of professional receivables on the model of the French "bordereau Dailly". Its purpose is to meet the financing and cash flow needs of businesses.

Sovereign Order n° 9.819 of 9 March 2023 (JDM No. 8634 of 17 March 2023) sets out :

— the compulsory mentions of the slip (bordereau):

• 1°) name "acte de cession de créances professionnelles";
  2°) The deed is subject to the provisions of Articles 17 to 23 of Law No. 1.529 of 29 July 2022;
  3°) Name or corporate name, address of the beneficiary credit institution or finance company;
  4°) designation or individualisation of the assigned receivables or elements likely to effect such designation or individualisation (in particular, indication of the name and address of the debtor, the place of payment, the amount of the receivables or their valuation and, if applicable, their maturity). Where the designation or individualisation of the assigned receivables is carried out by a computerised process enabling them to be identified, the statement may simply indicate, in addition to the information in 1°), 2°) and 3°), the means by which they are identified, their number and their total amount.

— the form and content of the notification to the debtor of an assigned receivable prohibiting him from paying into the hands of the signatory of the slip (as from this notification the debtor is only validly discharged by the credit institution or the finance company).

• The notification may be made by any means which ensures proof of the debtor's knowledge of the notification. Such proof shall be established according to the rules applicable to the capacity of the debtor of the assigned claims.
• Mandatory wording: "Dans les conditions prévues aux articles 17 à 23 de la loi n° 1.529 du 29 juillet 2022 portant diverses dispositions d’ordre économique et juridique, (la désignation du cédant notamment son nom ou sa dénomination sociale, son adresse) nous a cédé la/les créance(s) dont vous êtes débiteur envers lui/elle. / Conformément aux dispositions de l’article 21 de ladite loi, nous vous demandons de cesser, à compter de la présente notification, tout paiement au titre de cette/ces créance(s) à (désignation du cédant). / En conséquence, le règlement de votre dette (indication du mode de règlement) devra être effectué à l’ordre de (indication de la personne à laquelle le règlement doit être effectué)."

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Only credit institutions and finance companies can be assignees. The assignor (beneficiary of the credit) is either a legal person under private or public law, or a natural person, but acting in the course of his professional activity.

The transfer to the assignee of the ownership of receivables held vis-à-vis a third party (assigned debtor) is organised in practice by a framework agreement and takes place through the mechanism of a slip (“bordereau”) containing compulsory information which materialises the assignment act.

The assignment of a receivable may be made as a guarantee (to secure the repayment of claims recorded in a current account opened with the assignor) or as a discount (to secure the repayment of a loan granted in a loan account).

The assignment is enforceable against third parties from the date shown on the slip.

Contrary to the mechanism of ordinary law (Articles 1529 et seq. of the Civil Code) which only envisages the assignment of a single receivable, the system of assignment of professional receivables allows the assignment of one or more receivables in a single operation, and admits the transferability of not only present but also future receivables.