NPL management companies promise to offer innovative and sustainable solutions to borrowers

Tasos Panousis, president of the Association of Liabilities from Loans and Credit Management Companies, told journalists that the members of the association have absolutely no desire to proceed with auctions of real estate property in order to "take" peoples' homes, stressing that this was far from their goal. Instead, acting in full cooperation with borrowers, they will seek to find solutions that are mutually beneficial, he added. Consensus procedures will be followed both in corporate and consumer loans, he said, and only strategic bad borrowers will have a problem.
 Panousis said the Greek NPLs market was the fourth largest in Europe in terms of volume, approaching 100 billion euros (of which 80 billion are bank assets), but the highest in Europe in terms of the percentage of loans (around 45 pct)  characterised as non-performing exposures (NPEs).
 Another 20 billion euros in loans are outside the banking system, while Greek banks have pledged to either sell or securitise more than 30 billion euros worth of NPLs by 2021, thus creating a market worth more than 50 billion euros in the next three years.
 A total of 17 NPL management companies have been licensed and supervised by the Bank of Greece and others will follow, with a workforce of around 2,000 which is expected to double in the coming years.
Panousis said the operation of these companies will help in the restructuring of the market and the economy and noted that their primary goal was to allow sustainable companies to be restructured and continue healthy operation, along with locating companies that require liquidation. He said that viable solutions will be offered to borrowers that will return several loans currently in arrears to being serviced normally, thus benefiting the company involved, its workers and the banking system.