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By: Rolynda Jonathan
The Republic of Palau, with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has officially launched the country’s secured transactions registry to allow people to secure business loans using moveable assets as collateral.
The system, which went online on January 7, 2013 is simple and user-friendly making it easier for the public to navigate through and for the lenders for file information.
“It’s user-friendly, we can go in and file a notice or make amendments”, says Sandra Mincer, President and CEO of the National Development Bank of Palau. All information entered into the system will exist in the database forever, so the lender must be careful about what kind of information is entered.
“The work was initiated and supported by the ADB because we’ve seen that in Palau it’s extremely difficult for people to access finance using moveable property as collateral,”says Terry Reid, ADB Consultant. “The system was complicated, it was uncertain and all together moveable property was really not utilized as a tool for borrowing or accessing finance.”
ADB will continue working with the Financial Institutions Commission (FIC) in maintaining the system and to make any necessary improvements.