When Might A Company Or Individual Require A Process Agent?
by Liz Seyi Digital marketing managerIf you have already had reason to investigate our process agent service here
at London Registrars, you may already know the basics of what a process agent
does.
UK process agents are also sometimes referred to as service
agents or agents for service of process. Their responsibility is to accept
service of notices, proceedings or documents on behalf of their (usually)
overseas clients. A process agent service can therefore be invaluable in
situations where the serving of a notice cannot happen abroad, or it would be
difficult to accomplish this.
In what
exact situations may a process agent service be needed?
One typical example of a process agency arrangement would be
where an entity based in another country enters into a loan agreement with a
bank in the UK, or with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD).
Another scenario may entail an overseas client entering into a
large hire or purchase agreement with a UK supplier, where the foreign entity
will be subject for a number of years to terms based on UK law and
jurisdiction.
Contracts and loan agreements like this may have a clause
written into them whereby the overseas entity must enter into a process agency
agreement for the entirety of the loan or hire period. This would mean that in
the event of the foreign entity breaching its agreed terms or falling behind
with loan repayments, service of any court claim papers would be made on the
process agent.
This would ensure that a correct procedure is followed for the
serving of papers to start court or arbitration proceedings, in line with the
Civil Procedure Rules. It would then be the process agent’s responsibility to
forward the papers to their client who appointed them (‘the Appointor’).
A process
agent service can deliver both time and cost benefits
When a process agent is in place for a foreign entity involved
in an agreement like the above, the counterparty (often the Seller or the
Lendor) knows that service of the court papers on the UK process agent
constitutes proper service and allows the court proceedings to run their
course, without the uncertainty, extra costs and hassle that would be involved
if the court papers had to be served on the foreign entity abroad.
It is worth noting that the appointment of a process agent is
strangely triangular in that the appointment primarily serves the counterparty
(the Lendor or the Seller, etc) and not the Appointor (the Borrower or
Purchaser) who is obliged by contract to appoint the process agent and enter
into the process agency agreement (and generally bears the cost of this).
Nor are
process agents of relevance only to companies
It would be easy to presume from all of the above that only
companies engaged in commercial transactions would ever need to seek a process
agent service.
In recent years, foreign-based individuals or couples who wish
to obtain a mortgage or loan for a UK property purchase have also frequently
been asked to secure a process agent’s services.
In conclusion, process agents routinely play a crucial role for
both organisations and individuals that are based overseas, but looking to
enter a contract or agreement with a bank, lendor or supplier in the UK, and
frequently the bank, lendor or supplier asks for confirmation direct from the
process agent that the process agent has indeed taken on the appointment.
If you have been told – whether as an individual or organisation
– that you need to appoint a process agent, our team at London Registrars can
provide assistance and guidance from your first point of contact with us, right
through to the executed agreement. If you wish to contact us, please
email shaheda@london-registrars.co.uk or call 07415 107 436.
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Created on Mar 9th 2021 22:54. Viewed 187 times.
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