BoG scolds practices of servicers
Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras has voiced concern about practices that loan management companies resort to with borrowers. Addressing the annual general meeting of servicers’ association (EEDADP), the central banker noted that the BoG “receives a large number of complaints from individuals and enterprises regarding the practices they implement.”
Stournaras called on debt management companies to stick to the Ethics Code introduced by the central bank. “The management of nonperforming loans ought to take place with full respect for borrowers and based on optimum practices,” he stressed. He also noted the significance of the companies’ role, as they have undertaken to manage NPLs of 67 billion euros. This rises to €103 billion when also incorporating the performing loans that banks have conceded for management.
Speaking at the same event, EEDADP president and Eurobank FPS chief executive Tasos Panousis noted that servicers have restructured loans of more than €4.7 billion in the years 2020 and 2021 alone, offering solutions that in their majority have also included the forgiving of some debt. He also stressed there will be no sympathy for strategic defaulter behavior.
