How strong is your position if your customer is in financial trouble and applies for a suspension of payments?
As a supplier, you supply products. Jeans to a retail chain for example. You supply them subject to retention of title. Supply ‘subject to retention of title’ means that the retail chain does not become the owner of the jeans until the invoice has been paid in full. This is a frequent arrangement that becomes relevant as soon as your invoices are not paid. Examples are the suspensions of payments and liquidations of Charles Vögele, V&D, the DA chain of chemists, MS Mode, Mitra off-licence, Mexx and Free Record Shop. In all of those cases, there were a multiplicity of suppliers who had sold their products subject to retention of title. They were not paid and claimed back their products by relying on a retention of title.