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Roundtable of industry experts on European NPL platforms

The objective of this roundtable is for the discussion to lead to concrete steps in defining industry standards for European NPL platforms.

Background

One of the key areas for reducing risk in the European banking sector is to spur further decline in non-performing loans (NPLs). The financial crisis and subsequent recessions led to more widespread inability of borrowers to pay back their loans, as more people and companies faced continued payment difficulties and even bankruptcy. Consequently, many banks saw a build-up of NPLs on their books. This reduced the bank’s capacity to lend, including to small and medium-sized enterprises. In turn, this negative effect in terms of credit supply also reduces the capacity of businesses to invest, hence creating a tangible effect on the real economy.

In order to reduce the high NPL stocks, the Union agreed on a comprehensive set of measures outlined in the “Action Plan to Tackle NPLs in Europe” , which is currently being implemented. In response to this need and going beyond the 2016 Council Roadmap, the Commission presented a dedicated and comprehensive package of measures in March 2018 to further reduce NPLs.

In the Action Plan, the Council called on the European Central Bank, the European Banking Authority and the Commission to consider setting up an NPL transaction platform in order to stimulate the development of secondary markets. Commission services’ recently published a staff working document on the potential set-up of such a platform, drafted jointly by the Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Banking Authority.

An EU-wide NPL platform would be an electronic marketplace where holders of NPLs – banks and non-bank creditors – and interested investors can exchange information and trade. Such a platform has the potential to address several current sources of market failure in the secondary market for NPLs, including asymmetry of information between sellers and buyers and high transaction costs. As a result, it could help banks increase sales and obtain higher sales prices than currently possible, ease investor access to NPL markets, and thereby allow banks to dispose of NPLs and clean up their balance sheets faster. Such a platform could help deal with current stocks of NPLs and provide a permanent channel for the efficient disposal of future NPLs as they arise.

Roundtable for industry stakeholders

In order to advance the setup of NPL platforms with European scope, Directorate General for Financial stability, financial services and capital markets union arranged a roundtable of industry experts. The intention was that the discussion could lead to concrete steps in defining industry standards for European NPL platforms and allow for further practical exchanges on how to foster stronger and deeper secondary markets for NPLs in Europe.

  • capital markets union | financial supervision
  • Tuesday 15 January 2019, 10:00 - 16:00 (CET)
  • Brussels, Belgium
  • Live streaming available

Practical information

When
Tuesday 15 January 2019, 10:00 - 16:00 (CET)
Where
Brussels, Belgium

Description