International Perspectives on the Assignation Reforms in Scotland

Assignment of receivables is an important financing device for small and medium sized businesses. Receivables financing rules have been subjected to close scrutiny in both national law reforms and in international legislative instruments. However, laws that regulate assignment of receivables either lack rules that provide public notification or are too complicated or outdated to achieve priority for secured creditors. The Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Act 2023 has modernised Scottish law in this field by fundamentally reforming the way that intimation is made for the transfer of claims. It introduced registration as an alternative to intimation. The reform also has moved Scots law in the direction of international instruments by its means of achieving third party effectiveness (mainly by registration), albeit the 2023 Act does not recognise the attachment/perfection distinction.