Last Thursday 16th of May, Hipoges participated in the 4th Edition NPL Days Europe Summit organised by DD Talks. The event took place at the Hotel Catalonia Barcelona Gran Plaza, located in the Plaza de España of this great city.
The NPL Days Europe Summit where Hipoges had the opportunity to participate as Gold Sponsor and to bebate about the latest trends in Non-Performing Loans (NPLs), their growth forecasts and updates in the distressed debt sector.
Key topics covered during the day included the impact of secondary markets, changes in securitisation regulations, the EU directive for servicers and credit buyers, and the use of Asset Management Companies and Asset Protection Schemes managing NPLs. This edition also highlighted the need to modernise insolvency and debt recovery laws in order to efficiently combat delinquency problems, as well as debates on recent financial market concerns over inflationary increases and conflicts, loan quality, possible investment opportunities, and other topics of interest.
During this fourth edition of the NPL Days Europe Summit, 84 speakers participated in a total of 16 enriching panels. In addition, more than 253 delegates from 14 different countries were present, as well as 11 sponsors, including Hipoges.
Among all the delegates, our Managing Partner & Co-CEO Claudio Panunzio, our Chief Services Offer Margarida Maia, Pedro Valle-Domingues Chief Business Development Officer, Juan Ramón Prieto Chief Operations Officer, and Luigi Izzo Chief Business Development Officer were present.
NPL Days Europe Summit event
Throughout the day there were many different debates, as well as specific times and spaces to chat with other participants with great opportunities to build their network.
The first debates of the 4th edition of the NPL Days Europe Summit, which took place simultaneously in different rooms, dealt with NPLs in Spain, sub-performing loans/re-performing Loans, and the latest developments in Greece and Cyprus. Specifically, Pedro Valle-Domingues, our Chief Business Development had the opportunity to participate as speaker in the NPLs in Spain debate.
Pedro addressed the challenges or delays in registering outright purchases of secured NPLs with the Land Registry and how the implementation of the Servicing Directive may be a viable solution. Currently, the secondary market for NPLs is experiencing a notable activation, driven by the substantial volume of NPLs still held by purchasers.
The sale of loans guaranteed by the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) is feasible but requires meticulous compliance with specific legal and procedural requirements. These NPLs can be managed through a variety of strategies, including securitisation structures that bundle and sell the loans as securities to investors, providing liquidity and risk spreading. When considering the sale of unlikely-to-pay (UTP) loans, buyers often use acquisition structures such as outright portfolio sales, joint ventures, or partnership arrangements with specialised asset managers. Buyers are increasingly looking for servicers specialising in one type of product; for example, secured NPL loans require servicers with expertise in collateral management and legal procedures, while unsecured NPL loans require robust unsecured recovery strategies.
During the second half of the event, four debates were held, presenting the current situation in France, Turkey, Eastern countries such as Romania, Slovenia and Poland, and the secondary market. In this last debate, our Chief Services Officer Margarida Maia shared her point of view in the subject.
The growth and dynamics of the secondary NPL market are mainly driven by regulatory initiatives aimed at reducing bad loans on banks’ balance sheets, increasing investor interest in distressed assets, and improving economic conditions. Recent regulatory changes, such as the implementation of the EU NPL directive and improvements in insolvency frameworks, have facilitated more transparent and efficient trading and valuation of bad loans. However, valuation and due diligence challenges remain due to the complexity and heterogeneity of NPL portfolios, the quality of underlying collateral and legal uncertainties. Looking ahead, secondary market activity is expected to remain robust over the next two years, with investors employing strategies such as leveraging advanced data analytics for better asset valuation, forming strategic partnerships with specialised servicers and using securitisation to manage and spread risk. These approaches allow investors to identify, evaluate and capitalise on opportunities, while navigating the complexities of the bad loan landscape.
Just before the lunch break there was a short but intense debate: Revealing credit intelligence. The lunch break was followed by three more blocks of discussions.
The first block discussed the distressed real estate market, technology and artificial intelligence, and securitization. The second block was to discuss the market in the UK and Ireland, the servicing market in Europe, and Portugal. Finally, the third and last block featured two panels, on Italy and on asset recovery and litigation finance.
Participation in events of this calibre are a must for Hipoges. During these events, the company has the opportunity to share its views and experience with other industry experts, as well as to work on a broader and stronger network. Not just this one, but, the company takes part in other events throughout the year.