FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *   Bell Ryan B 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 06/21/2018 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC [ECPG] (Last) (First) (Middle) 3111 CAMINO DEL RIO NORTH, SUITE 103 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director _____ 10% Owner __X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) EVP and COO of MCM 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) (Street) SAN DIEGO, CA 92108 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line) _X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) Common Stock 17,719 (1) D Â

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.			SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
Employee Stock Option (right to buy)	  (2)	03/09/2024	Common Stock	12,047	$ 30.95	D	Â

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Bell Ryan B 3111 CAMINO DEL RIO NORTH SUITE 103 SAN DIEGO, CA 92108	Â	Â	  EVP and COO of MCM	Â

Signatures

/s/ Michael Chin, Attorney-in-Fact for Ryan Bell		07/02/2018
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	These shares include (1) 1,881 unvested restricted stock awards ("RSAs") that vest on March 9, 2019, (2) 6,351 unvested RSAs that vest in equal installments on December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, (3) 2,961 unvested RSAs that vest in equal installments on March 9, 2019 and March 9, 2020 and (4) 3,829 unvested restricted stock units that vest in equal installments on March 9, 2019, March 9, 2020 and March 9, 2021 with each restricted stock unit representing the right to receive one share of Encore Capital Group, Inc. common stock.
(2)	Grant to the reporting person on March 9, 2017 under the Encore Capital Group, Inc. 2013 Incentive Compensation Plan. One-third of the shares have vested and are exercisable. Subject to continued employment, one-third of the shares will vest on March 9, 2019 and the remaining one-third will vest on March 9, 2020.

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