Description

ABSTRACT
Informal debt collection refers to creditors recovering debts without involving the judiciary or state agents. It
is a widespread phenomenon, yet only regulated in a few legal systems. Debt collection agencies offer
various services, but functional legal frameworks are not always in place, leading to abuse. Abusive practices
endanger consumers’ well-being, expose ethical debt collectors to unfair competition, undermine trust in the
system, and may lead to criminal activity.

In 2022, Singapore adopted a Debt Collection Act, followed in 2023 by several Regulations that address in
detail the most egregious practices and subject debt collectors to supervision and control. However, abusive
informal debt collection practices have been already addressed by other specific legislation, particularly the
Moneylenders and the Protection from Harassment Acts. By combining doctrinal and case law analysis with
empirical and qualitative data extracted from interviews with stakeholders (such as legislators and debt
collectors), this paper aims to determine whether the Singaporean informal debt collection regulation is
fragmented or complementary and how that affects its efficiency and functionality.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr Catalin-Gabriel Stanescu is an Associate Professor of Private Law at the University of
Southern Denmark. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Szeged in Hungary
and Babes Bolyai University in Romania. Dr Stanescu is a leading European expert in the
regulation of informal debt collection. He has extensively researched and published on
this topic and has presented his findings at various conferences. His latest edited
monograph, “Regulation of Debt Collection in Europe: Understanding Informal Debt
Collection,” was published by Routledge in 2023. The book is based on his EU-wide
comparative study, which was financed by the European Commission via a Marie Curie
Individual Fellowship. Dr Stanescu has been a visiting scholar at several prestigious
research institutions, such as the European University Institute (Florence), the Max Planck
Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Hamburg), or the Institute for
Advanced Legal Studies (London). Dr Stanescu’s wider research area is in international
business law, with a focus on digitalization, the law of obligations, and consumer
financial protection.