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Secured Transactions - August 2014

Secured Financing Project is Launched in Jamaica


The Department of International Law (DIL) is pleased to announce the launch “on-the-ground” of the OAS Secured Financing Project in Jamaica in partnership with our local counterpart, the Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce (MIIC). In July, the OAS project team made its initial visit to Jamaica and met with MIIC Hon. Minister Anthony Hylton and senior officials to develop the proposed plan of action and begin the diagnostic phase of the project.

Project team meets at Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce

1. Project team meets at Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce

As noted in our previous bulletin, last year Jamaica passed the Security Interests in Personal Property Bill, 2013 (the “SIPP”); in addition, the Jamaican Security Interests in Personal Property Registry (the “SIPP Registry”) was established as part of the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ). This new legislative framework is in conformity with the principles that underpin the OAS Model Inter-American Law on Secured Transactions and will facilitate the use of a more expansive range of collateral in secured lending, such as inventory, accounts receivable and intellectual property, thereby improving access to credit, particularly for those without more traditional forms of security, which are frequently MSMEs, women, or women-owned businesses.

With the legislative and institutional framework largely in place, equally important are efforts to support the nascent regime in Jamaica so that it becomes fully operational and integrated with other legislation, such as insolvency and bankruptcy laws, and that it becomes widely available to and used by all stakeholder groups. Thus, in the diagnostic phase now underway, to supplement desk analysis, interviews are being held with various stakeholder groups to determine, as between the former and current regimes, the new regime’s effectiveness, utility and acceptability. The new legislative framework creates an opportunity to build a new “culture of lending” that must meet the needs of a range of stakeholder groups; this invites reconsideration of existing lending policies and practices and the development of new and innovative financial tools that respond to the changes and yet work within the Jamaican context.

Project team meets at Bankers’ Association of Jamaica

2. Project team meets at Bankers’ Association of Jamaica

Meetings in this respect were held with government entities that included the SIPP Registry, the Bank of Jamaica, the Jamaica Intellectual Property Organization and the Bureau for Women’s Affairs. Meetings held with other stakeholders groups included the Bankers’ Association of Jamaica, the Jamaican Small Business Association, and representatives of the credit union and hire-purchase sectors. In forthcoming visits, the OAS Project Team plans to meet with stakeholder groups that represent the agricultural and tourism sectors, the legal community and judiciary, among others.

The diagnostic phase will culminate in a workshop to be held in Jamaica in the first quarter of 2015 with participation from these stakeholder groups and representatives from other countries engaged in similar reform efforts. Designed as a capacity-building exercise, participants will have an opportunity to share lessons learned while at the same time, building support for the next phase of the reform process.

The Department of International Law was represented by Jeannette Tramhel, Senior Legal Officer, Eugenio Briales, Legal Consultant and Secured Transactions Expert, and Neil Cohen, Jeffrey D. Forchelli Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School.

The OAS Secured Financing Project is made possible through funding from the Government of Canada.

» To see OAS Booklet — Secured Transactions Reform in the Americas, click here

» For additional information about the Department, please visit our Website

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