Media and events

New EU rules harmonising certain national insolvency rules are being introduced. EU co-legislators agreed to introduce a pre-pack proceeding where the debtor’s business is sold before the opening of insolvency proceedings. Leaseurope pointed out that automatic transfer of financial services contacts in this case is problematic and it is welcomed to see that some safeguards are added to the agreed text, whereby national laws may require the consent of the debtor’s counterparty and may allow the counterparty to terminate the assigned contract. The special winding-up regime for microenterprises is no longer included in the final legal text, for which Leaseurope asked for several amendments to ensure that leased assets are separate from the lessor’s insolvent estate. Standard rules on avoidance actions and on asset-tracing are also established in the EU rules as well as the requirement for Member State to make available a factsheet with information on national insolvency rules.

Leaseurope develops guidance on sustainability reporting

Leaseurope advocates for a more flexible treatment of leasing
Leaseurope has actively engaged with the European Banking Authority (EBA) on its draft Guidelines for the definition of default under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR), highlighting the need for a more proportionate and differentiated treatment of leasing. Due to the specific characteristics of leasing—such as the nature of collections, operational management of lease obligations, and tri-partite vendor structures—mechanical default triggers can overstate non-performing exposures and do not accurately reflect the underlying credit risk.
In its October 2025 response, Leaseurope requested that the existing factoring exception be extended to leasing, ensuring the prudential framework better reflects the low-risk profile and operational realities of the sector. Leaseurope will continue engaging with the EBA and other European institutions to secure a risk-sensitive outcome and will keep members informed of developments and opportunities to provide input

Leaseurope has responded to a review by the International Accounting Standards Board of whether the new lease accounting standard introduced in 2016, IFRS 16, is achieving what was intended. We noted that implementation costs for lessees of equipment and vehicles were likely to have been disproportionate to the benefits to users of their accounts. Most lessees in Europe continue to follow national accounting standards.

Leaseurope Taskforce on ESG and Green Leasing completed a Briefing Paper for Leaseurope Member Associations to promote efficiency and consistency in reporting, as well as raising the profile of leasing as a key enabler of investment in sustainability by European SMEs.