assignment of stock as collateral

LLC Membership Interests as Collateral

It is not uncommon for lenders to take a security interest in a business owner’s ownership interest in the corporation, LLC, limited partnership or other entity as collateral for a loan to the business. For the most part, the transactions are documented through a standard pledge or assignment (the “assignment agreement”) of the stock or other evidence of ownership. While such an approach may be acceptable when the interests of a corporation are pledged, when the collateral is an interest in an LLC, savvy lenders will make sure that they use an enhanced form of assignment agreement and perhaps obtain the consents (and necessary waivers) from the other LLC members.

An enhanced form of assignment agreement is called for because an LLC has one distinct advantage over other entity forms. Under Maryland law, a judgment against an LLC member can only be enforced by imposing a charging order against the member’s interest. This is a court order requiring the LLC to pay the creditor the debtor member’s share of LLC distributions. In this respect, a charging order is akin to a wage garnishment, except it is against the member’s distributions rather than against wages.  The lender who simply obtains an assignment of a membership interest in an LLC gets no right to attach the member’s LLC interest or be admitted as a voting member . The lender cannot, therefore, participate in company management, force a sale of company assets or distribution of profits, or inspect company books.

In contrast, shares of a corporation’s stock are freely transferable absent contrary provisions in a shareholder agreement. Consequently, a lender with a security interest can typically exercise all of the associated rights of a stockholder. Upon obtaining the shares, the lender acquires the right to inspect corporate books and records and to vote on the election and removal of directors. If the shares represent a controlling interest, the lender could actually replace all the directors and officers and take over control of the corporation. Depending on the circumstances, the lender may also have the right to seek involuntary dissolution or place the corporation in receivership.

To optimize the collateral value of an LLC membership interest, lenders will want to be sure that they, as assignees, can be admitted, automatically, as full voting members of the company once they obtain ownership of the membership interest (a complex process in and of itself). Lenders will also want to scrutinize the LLC operating agreement to see if it contains provisions that either permit the company to acquire a member’s interest for a discounted value in the event of the member’s personal bankruptcy or that limit profit distributions either by making them discretionary rather than mandatory, or by restricting distributions to insolvent members. Finally, the operating agreement should be reviewed so that the lender understands any restrictions that may be placed upon the rights of an assignee who assumes a member’s interest. If such provisions are included in the operating agreement, they should be addressed in the assignment agreement as part of the negotiations over the assignment of the LLC membership interest so as to preserve the creditor’s rights and the value of charging orders.

Savvy lenders know that the LLC is the optimal form of entity for insulating company assets from owners’ personal creditors. Hence, they are the lenders that will carefully review the LLC organizational documents and only take LLC interests as collateral using an enhanced form of assignment agreement.

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Stock Shares

How to endorse a stock as collateral.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority website, offers of stock-secured loans come from a wide range of financial advisers, including stock brokers, insurance agents, accountants and attorneys. If you choose to put up some stock shares as collateral for one of these loans, the one thing you do not want to do is directly endorse any stock certificate that is part of the transaction.

Stock-Secured Loans

With a stock-based loan, you pledge shares of stock as collateral against the repayment of the loan. Typically you do not make payments until the loan is due in two to three years and any dividends paid on the shares go toward the interest and principal of the loan. Besides transferring your shares to the lender, you will sign a loan agreement that acknowledges that you are pledging the stock as collateral for the loan.

Stock Assignment Forms Avoid Mistakes

While it is possible to assign stock shares by endorsing the back of a stock certificate, a much safer approach is to use a separate stock assignment form. The lender for the stock-secured loan should provide an assignment form or you can get a blank form at a stock brokerage officer or bank branch. The stock assignment form requires the same information that you would put on the back of a stock certificate. The difference is that you can mess up an assignment form, throw it away and complete another correctly. A mistake on the back of a stock certificate raises significant problems.

Medallion Signature Guarantees

The transfer of stock shares should include what is called a medallion signature guarantee, which is completed when you sign the assignment form. You can obtain the medallion guarantee at a broker or bank where you have an established relationship. The medallion guarantee is not the same as a notarized signature, so make sure you get your signature properly verified on the stock assignment form.

Transferring Book Entry Shares

In most cases, stock shares are not held as certificates. Instead the shares are in electronic form, referred to as "book entry" in brokerage jargon. To assign your book entry shares, the lender will provide transfer directions. It is a good idea to call your broker to ask about procedures on his end. The loan pledge agreement and the stock assignment form should be enough to have the shares transferred out of your brokerage account and into the lender's, where the shares will be held until you pay off the loan.

More Articles

Title Vs. Deed of Trust →

Transfer Stock Positions From a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA →

What Documents Need to Be Notarized When Applying for a Loan? →

• FINRA: Stock-Based Loan Programs: What Investors Need to Know
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Stock Pledge Agreement
• Consus Group: Irrevocable Collateral Assignment of Stock & Loan Agreement
• Bankers Online: Medallion Signature Guarantee

Tim Plaehn has been writing financial, investment and trading articles and blogs since 2007. His work has appeared online at Seeking Alpha, Marketwatch.com and various other websites. Plaehn has a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

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Sample Form of Collateral Assignment of Acquisition Documents

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This is a sample form of collateral assignment of acquisition documents by a company to a lender, in the context of secured financings used to fund the acquisition of assets or stock of a third party.

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Membership Interests in a Limited Liability Company as Collateral

A limited liability company (“LLC”) is one of the most commonly chosen entity structures used by new businesses today. LLCs are owned by its members, who hold either membership units or membership interests. Membership units/interests consist of both financial and governance rights, although a particular member may have financial rights but no governance rights or vice versa. Membership units/interests may be evidenced by a membership certificate but, most frequently, are uncertificated. Whether membership units/interests are certificated or uncertificated will usually be set forth in the LLC’s organizational documents. As LLCs are commonly the entity structure of choice, it is important for banks to understand how to accept and perfect a security interest in the membership units/interests as collateral for loans.

Regardless of whether the membership units/interests are certificated or uncertificated, a security interest in membership units/interests needs to be granted to the secured party. This will typically be accomplished through a pledge agreement, which should specify whether the security interest granted to the secured party is a security interest in the pledgor’s financial rights, governance rights or both. Without such specification, a pledging party may be able to argue that the pledge is simply a pledge of the financial rights.

In many cases, the organizational documents for the LLC either (i) expressly prohibit a member from transferring or pledging their membership units/interests; or, (ii) grant a right of first refusal to the LLC or other members. In these instances, the secured party must obtain the consent and waiver from the LLC and/or the other members before accepting the pledged units/interests.

However, in cases where there is no direct prohibition against a pledge, or if a right of first refusal does not exist, it is still wise to obtain the consent of the LLC and other members to prevent an objection at a later time. The form of the consent and waiver from the LLC and other members can be as simple or complex as the parties agree. For example, the consent and waiver should, at a minimum, contain consent to the pledge and a waiver of any transfer or pledge prohibitions and any first refusal rights. Also, the consent and waiver should have an acknowledgment that the LLC and other members will recognize the secured party as the holder of the pledged membership units/interests should the secured party give notice of an event of default in its lending relationship. In more complex transactions, the consent and waiver may also be reflected in a modification to the LLC’s organizational documents. In addition, the secured party may want to include provisions granting the LLC or the remaining members the option to acquire the pledged membership units/interests should the secured party acquire it or vice versa (i.e. a “push provision”, or a “push-put provision”).

It should also be noted that in accepting a pledge of membership units/interests, it is often the intent of the parties that the secured party will receive the distributions made on the membership units/interests while the debt is outstanding. If this is the case, the secured party should obtain an assignment of the distributions from the pledging member. Again, the assignment of distributions should be consented to by the LLC and other members to ensure that the assignment will be honored.

As for perfection, the manner of perfection depends upon whether the membership units/interests are certificated or uncertificated. When membership units/interests are uncertificated, they are “general intangibles” under the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”). If such is the case, perfection and priority issues are determined by the order of UCC financing statements filed against the membership units/interests. Thus, prior to accepting the pledged uncertificated membership units/interests, the secured party should perform a current UCC search on the pledging member to ensure the secured party obtains the proper first priority security interest. Perfection of an uncertificated security can also be achieved through a control agreement between the secured party and the LLC setting forth the secured party’s security interest in the membership units/interests.

In the cases where the membership units/interests are certificated, they are generally considered to be a security, which can be perfected by filing a UCC financing statement or by taking control of the certificate(s) (i.e. actual possession of the certificate(s) or entering into a control agreement with a third party in possession). Although certificated membership units/interests may be perfected by filing a UCC financing statement, perfection by control will have priority over any parties perfected by filing alone. As a result, it is generally recommended that a secured party perfect by both methods to ensure a first priority security interest on certificated membership units/interests. Thus, prior to accepting the pledged certificated membership units/interests, the secured party should (i) perform a current UCC search on the pledging member; and, (ii) either have the original certificate delivered to the secured party at closing or, if the certificate is in the possession of a third party, have a negotiated control agreement signed at closing.

Now that you are perfected, what happens if your borrower defaults? In our second part in this series, we will detail the steps to take control of the membership units/interests and to liquidate the same.

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Collateral Assignment of an Entity Interest: Economic v. Governance Rights

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Bernstein-Burkley

Bernstein-Burkley, P.C.

In these difficult economic times, debtors have become more creative in proposing additional or substitute sources of collateral to secure a debt or obtain a forbearance or loan modification. As real estate values have plummeted, alternatives have become more attractive, including an assignment of the debtor’s interest in an operating entity with good cash flow.

However, the recent decision of the Pennsylvania Superior Court in Zokaites v. Pittsburgh Irish Pubs, LLC , 962 A.2d 1220 (Pa. Super. 2008), appeal denied 972 A.2d 523 (Pa. 2009), provides food for thought in terms of structuring and drafting a collateral assignment of an interest in a limited liability company or partnership. In Zokaites , a creditor was attempting to enforce its judgment lien by executing upon the debtor’s interest in two limited liability companies (“LLC”) that owned and operated several Pittsburgh area restaurants. The creditor sought a court order to compel the debtor to transfer its ownership interest in the LLCs so those interests could be sold at sheriff’s sale. After much procedural wrangling in both state and bankruptcy court, the case ended up in the Superior Court, which looked to Pennsylvania’s Limited Liability Company Law, 15 Pa.C.S. §8901 et seq . (“LLC Law”), for guidance.

The Superior Court focused on a provision in the LLC Law that prohibits a transferee of an LLC interest from becoming a member or participating in the company’s management without the approval of all other LLC members. The same provision, however, allows a transferee to receive the LLC member’s distributions or other return of capital contributions. Because of this protection of an LLC’s “close-knit structure,” the Superior Court decided that a judgment creditor can secure a debtor’s economic rights to distributions and return of contributions from the LLC, but cannot obtain the debtor’s governance rights to vote and participate in managing the LLC. The Superior Court equated this remedy of obtaining the economic rights in an LLC interest to the “charging order” that is permitted against a partnership interest under Pennsylvania’s Uniform Partnership and Limited Partnership Acts (“Partnership Acts”).

In light of the decision in Zokaites , lenders considering accepting a collateral assignment of an entity interest should keep a few things in mind for due diligence and drafting purposes. First, where a debtor has interests in multiple related entities, have the debtor provide an organizational chart. It is often easier to understand a complex organizational structure from a chart or “tree” than from a description. The chart should show the relationship among the entities and include the names of each entity and the percentage interest the debtor owns. For example, in a recent transaction where several guarantors were proposing to pledge their interests in a variety of LLCs and partnerships that in turn were the general and limited partners of other entities, an organizational chart prepared by the debtor was a crucial tool in pinpointing who owned what and in targeting the collateral.

Second, once you understand what entity interest(s) the debtor owns, it is essential to carefully review a copy of the organizational agreement and any amendments (the LLC Operating Agreement or the Partnership Agreement) for each entity. Key provisions include transfer or assignment rights or restrictions and default and dissolution provisions. If the organizational agreement expressly permits assignment, then the limitations under the LLC Law and the Partnership Acts do not apply 1 . Most likely, however, the LLC or partnership interest will not be assignable without the other members’ or partners’ consent. It is also important to understand whether an assignment will trigger an unwanted result such as a dissolution or default.

Third, once you know what is owned and can be pledged, draft the assignment to specifically identify the entity interest being pledged. Taking into account the ruling in Zokaites , where not all of the LLC members or partners are involved, a pledge of economic rights only is more likely to be enforceable than a collateral assignment that appears to transfer governance and other rights as well. In most instances, the cash flow from the right to receive distributions, profits, and return of capital is the true collateral anyway.

In describing complex or multiple entity interests or owners, consider attaching as exhibits the organizational chart and a table identifying each debtor, the entity, and the percentage interest owned. Include in the body of the assignment representations and warranties by the debtor confirming all of the information on the chart and table as true, complete and correct and that the debtor’s interest has not already been pledged or assigned.

Fourth, since the creditor will not have governance rights, the pledge agreement should also contain covenants to protect the creditor’s right to receive distributions. Such covenants would include prohibiting the debtor from voting to amend the Operating or Partnership Agreement or to dissolve the entity. Another useful provision would be the debtor’s authorization for the LLC or partnership and its officers to recognize and give effect to the collateral assignment by paying distributions directly to the creditor or lender upon demand. Finally, when the assignment is being made by a married individual, if possible have the spouse join in to waive any marital or spousal interest.

Assignment of a debtor’s interest in an LLC or partnership can be a valuable and useful form of collateral. But the creditor should follow the money and remain mindful of the Zokaites decision by taking a pledge of the economic rights and leaving the governance rights alone, unless all of the entity owners consent.

1. Similar to the LLC Law, the Partnership Acts contain provisions that, unless otherwise agreed, the assignee of a partner’s interest does not become a partner or share in partnership liability and cannot exercise a partner’s management, inspection of records, or accounting rights, but has the right to profits. 15 Pa.C.S. §8344(a) and 15 Pa.C.S. §8562(a)(2)and (c).

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• Life Insurance

What Is Collateral Assignment (of a Life Insurance Policy)?

Meredith Mangan is a senior editor for The Balance, focusing on insurance product reviews. She brings to the job 15 years of experience in finance, media, and financial markets. Prior to her editing career, Meredith was a licensed financial advisor and a licensed insurance agent in accident and health, variable, and life contracts. Meredith also spent five years as the managing editor for Money Crashers.

Definition and Examples of Collateral Assignment

How collateral assignment works, alternatives to collateral assignment.

Kilito Chan / Getty Images

If you assign your life insurance contract as collateral for a loan, you give the lender the right to collect from the policy’s cash value or death benefit in two circumstances. One is if you stop making payments; the other is if you die before the loan is repaid. Securing a loan with life insurance reduces the lender’s risk, which improves your chances of qualifying for the loan.

Before moving forward with a collateral assignment, learn how the process works, how it impacts your policy, and possible alternatives.

Collateral assignment is the practice of using a life insurance policy as collateral for a loan . Collateral is any asset that your lender can take if you default on the loan.

For example, you might apply for a $25,000 loan to start a business. But your lender is unwilling to approve the loan without sufficient collateral. If you have a permanent life insurance policy with a cash value of $40,000 and a death benefit of $300,000, you could use that life insurance policy to collateralize the loan. Via collateral assignment of your policy, you authorize the insurance company to give the lender the amount you owe if you’re unable to keep up with payments (or if you die before repaying the loan).

Lenders have two ways to collect under a collateral assignment arrangement:

• If you die, the lender gets a portion of the death benefit—up to your remaining loan balance.
• With permanent insurance policies, the lender can surrender your life insurance policy in order to access the cash value if you stop making payments.

Lenders are only entitled to the amount you owe, and are not generally named as beneficiaries on the policy. If your cash value or the death benefit exceeds your outstanding loan balance, the remaining money belongs to you or your beneficiaries.

Whenever lenders approve a loan, they can’t be certain that you’ll repay. Your credit history is an indicator, but sometimes lenders want additional security. Plus, surprises happen, and even those with the strongest credit profiles can die unexpectedly.

Assigning a life insurance policy as collateral gives lenders yet another way to secure their interests and can make approval easier for borrowers.

Types of Life Insurance Collateral

Life insurance falls into two broad categories: permanent insurance and term insurance . You can use both types of insurance for a collateral assignment, but lenders may prefer that you use permanent insurance.

• Permanent insurance : Permanent insurance, such as universal and whole life insurance, is lifelong insurance coverage that contains a cash value. If you default on the loan, lenders can surrender your policy and use that cash value to pay down the balance. If you die, the lender has a right to the death benefit, up to the amount you still owe.
• Term insurance : Term insurance provides a death benefit, but coverage is limited to a certain number of years (20 or 30, for example). Since there’s no cash value in these policies, they only protect your lender if you die before the debt is repaid. The duration of a term policy used as collateral needs to be at least as long as your loan term.

A Note on Annuities

You may also be able to use an annuity as collateral for a bank loan. The process is similar to using a life insurance policy, but there is one key difference to be aware of. Any amount assigned as collateral in an annuity is treated as a distribution for tax purposes. In other words, the amount assigned will be taxed as income up to the amount of any gain in the contract, and may be subject to an additional 10% tax if you’re under 59 ½.

A collateral assignment is similar to a lien on your home . Somebody else has a financial interest in your property, but you keep ownership of it.

The Process

To use life insurance as collateral, the lender must be willing to accept a collateral assignment. When that’s the case, the policy owner, or “assignor,” submits a form to the insurance company to establish the arrangement. That form includes information about the lender, or “assignee,” and details about the lender’s and borrower’s rights.

Policy owners generally have control over policies. They may cancel or surrender coverage, change beneficiaries, or assign the contract as collateral. But if the policy has an irrevocable beneficiary, that beneficiary will need to approve any collateral assignment.

State laws typically require you to notify the insurer that you intend to pledge your insurance policy as collateral, and you must do so in writing. In practice, most insurers have specific forms that detail the terms of your assignment.

Some lenders might require you to get a new policy to secure a loan, but others allow you to add a collateral assignment to an existing policy. After submitting your form, it can take 24 to 48 hours for the assignment to go into effect.

Lenders Get Paid First

If you die and the policy pays a death benefit , the lender receives the amount you owe first. Your beneficiaries get any remaining funds once the lender is paid. In other words, your lender takes priority over your beneficiaries when you use this strategy. Be sure to consider the impact on your beneficiaries before you complete a collateral assignment.

After you repay your loan, your lender does not have any right to your life insurance policy, and you can request that the lender release the assignment. Your life insurance company should have a form for that. However, if a lender pays premiums to keep your policy in force, the lender may add those premium payments (plus interest) to your total debt—and collect that extra money.

There may be several other ways for you to get approved for a loan—with or without life insurance:

• Surrender a policy : If you have a cash value life insurance policy that you no longer need, you could potentially surrender the policy and use the cash value. Doing so might prevent the need to borrow, or you might borrow substantially less. However, surrendering a policy ends your coverage, meaning your beneficiaries will not get a death benefit. Also, you’ll likely owe taxes on any gains.
• Borrow from your policy : You may be able to borrow against the cash value in your permanent life insurance policy to get the funds you need. This approach could eliminate the need to work with a traditional lender, and creditworthiness would not be an issue. But borrowing can be risky, as any unpaid loan balance reduces the amount your beneficiaries receive. Plus, over time, deductions for the cost of insurance and compounding loan interest may negate your cash value and the policy could lapse, so it’s critical to monitor.
• Consider other solutions : You may have other options unrelated to a life insurance policy. For example, you could use the equity in your home as collateral for a loan, but you could lose your home in foreclosure if you can’t make the payments. A co-signer could also help you qualify, although the co-signer takes a significant risk by guaranteeing your loan.

Key Takeaways

• Life insurance can help you get approved for a loan when you use a collateral assignment.
• If you die, your lender receives the amount you owe, and your beneficiaries get any remaining death benefit.
• With permanent insurance, your lender can cash out your policy to pay down your loan balance.
• An annuity can be used as collateral for a loan but may not be a good idea because of tax consequences.
• Other strategies can help you get approved without putting your life insurance coverage at risk.

NYSBA. " Life Insurance and Annuity Contracts Within and Without Tax Qualified Retirement Plans and Life Insurance Trusts ." Accessed April 12, 2021.

IRS. " Publication 575 (2020), Pension and Annuity Income ." Accessed April 12, 2021.

Practical Law. " Security Interests: Life Insurance Policies ." Accessed April 12, 2021.

Options collateral

Depending on the options strategy you use, we may hold stocks or cash as collateral to make sure you can cover the position in case of assignment.

Collateral held in stock

• Selling to open a covered call: You’ll need 100 shares per contract of the underlying stock in your portfolio to cover the position. As long as the position is open, you won’t be able to sell 100 shares of the underlying stock.

Collateral held in cash

• Selling to open a cash-covered put: We’ll set aside enough money from your portfolio to buy the underlying stock at the contract’s strike price.
• Opening a credit spread: We’ll set aside enough cash from your brokerage account to cover your theoretical maximum loss.

You can check exactly what collateral is held on the Detail page of the underlying stock.

We won’t use Gold Buying Power as collateral. We must hold cash, which won’t earn interest with our cash sweep program.

Pending orders

When you place an options order, we’ll hold the appropriate collateral (cash or stock) beginning at the pending state. The same way we hold enough cash to fill your pending order when you open an equity position, we’ll hold enough cash or stocks to cover your option position until the order is canceled.

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In his firm, Talented Tenth Law, Antoine focuses on helping people maximize their protection and prosperity in the courtroom and the boardroom. His firm’s services include representing people in lawsuits involving breach of contract, many types of civil lawsuits and helping business owners win government contracts among other things.

Since 2008, I have worked to assist clients in solving problems and addressing challenges that inevitably arise as a business grows - both anticipated and unexpected. My experience in Georgia and Tennessee in both drafting contracts and enforcing them via litigation and/or arbitration has provided clients with unique insights that help them anticipate problems and inform their decisions from start to finish.

I am an attorney licensed in Alabama and have been in solo practice for 7 years. I have experience in Contracts drafting and review, Litigation and Immigration practice areas. I am available for new projects.

With 15 years of extensive transactional/contracts experience reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts including a wide variety of purchase orders and contracts and non-disclosure agreements (NDA), I believe I can immediately contribute to the continued success of your team. I have been commended for a range of valuable skills—excellent contract management and contract administration, legal research, risk analysis, drafting and negotiations, and strategic thinking. I have worked as a legal consultant for 10+ years and I have reviewed over 7,500 contracts through this position. Contracts I have reviewed include but not limited to purchase orders, commercial and construction contracts, equipment rental agreements, non-disclosure, confidentiality, vendor agreements, service agreements, site access agreements, international agreements, request for proposals (RFP), bids and government contracts. These experiences have enabled me to master the ability to work independently and expeditiously to identify and assess issues and provide legally sound recommendations, consistent with good business practices. I have led teams (sales, insurance and management) to successfully negotiate contract terms with customers. Effective Communicator and Negotiator. I am a people person, and for the past 13 years, I have acquired excellent oral and written communication skills that enable me to interact and negotiate effectively with stakeholders at all levels. I am a self-starter with a strong work ethic. I have a high degree of resourcefulness, diligence, and dependability. Most important, I adapt to changing priorities quickly, thriving in an environment with high volume and short turnaround deadlines. My experience over the years allows me to transfer my skills to all types of contracts to meet the client’s needs. I am hopeful to provide similar legal expertise, effective contract administration and leadership to your organization. It would be a pleasure to meet within the next few weeks and discuss how my qualifications, experience, and capabilities will best fit the needs of your outfit.

Tom is a former chief legal officer of public and private companies. He has extensive experience in mergers & acquisitions, commercial transactions, joint ventures, finance, securities laws and general corporate law across a broad range of industries, including construction, consumer products, e-commerce, energy and healthcare. As an attorney who practiced at two different Top 50 international law firms, he can deliver "Big Law" service at a competitive price. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Tom served as an officer in the U.S. Army and attained the rank of Captain. He served a tour in Iraq where he led a reconnaissance platoon and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Amy has served as outside general counsel and litigator to established businesses throughout western Washington since 2010. Her passion and focus is providing the best possible representation for clients in the construction, transportation and hospitality industries.

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Assignment of Accounts Receivable: Meaning, Considerations

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Charlene Rhinehart is a CPA , CFE, chair of an Illinois CPA Society committee, and has a degree in accounting and finance from DePaul University.

Investopedia / Jiaqi Zhou

What Is Assignment of Accounts Receivable?

Assignment of accounts receivable is a lending agreement whereby the borrower assigns accounts receivable to the lending institution. In exchange for this assignment of accounts receivable, the borrower receives a loan for a percentage, which could be as high as 100%, of the accounts receivable.

The borrower pays interest, a service charge on the loan, and the assigned receivables serve as collateral. If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the agreement allows the lender to collect the assigned receivables.

Key Takeaways

• Assignment of accounts receivable is a method of debt financing whereby the lender takes over the borrowing company's receivables.
• This form of alternative financing is often seen as less desirable, as it can be quite costly to the borrower, with APRs as high as 100% annualized.
• Usually, new and rapidly growing firms or those that cannot find traditional financing elsewhere will seek this method.
• Accounts receivable are considered to be liquid assets.
• If a borrower doesn't repay their loan, the assignment of accounts agreement protects the lender.

Understanding Assignment of Accounts Receivable

With an assignment of accounts receivable, the borrower retains ownership of the assigned receivables and therefore retains the risk that some accounts receivable will not be repaid. In this case, the lending institution may demand payment directly from the borrower. This arrangement is called an "assignment of accounts receivable with recourse." Assignment of accounts receivable should not be confused with pledging or with accounts receivable financing .

An assignment of accounts receivable has been typically more expensive than other forms of borrowing. Often, companies that use it are unable to obtain less costly options. Sometimes it is used by companies that are growing rapidly or otherwise have too little cash on hand to fund their operations.

New startups in Fintech, like C2FO, are addressing this segment of the supply chain finance by creating marketplaces for account receivables. Liduidx is another Fintech company providing solutions through digitization of this process and connecting funding providers.

Financiers may be willing to structure accounts receivable financing agreements in different ways with various potential provisions.​

Special Considerations

Accounts receivable (AR, or simply "receivables") refer to a firm's outstanding balances of invoices billed to customers that haven't been paid yet. Accounts receivables are reported on a company’s balance sheet as an asset, usually a current asset with invoice payments due within one year.

Accounts receivable are considered to be a relatively liquid asset . As such, these funds due are of potential value for lenders and financiers. Some companies may see their accounts receivable as a burden since they are expected to be paid but require collections and cannot be converted to cash immediately. As such, accounts receivable assignment may be attractive to certain firms.

The process of assignment of accounts receivable, along with other forms of financing, is often known as factoring, and the companies that focus on it may be called factoring companies. Factoring companies will usually focus substantially on the business of accounts receivable financing, but factoring, in general, a product of any financier.

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