Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) adopted their negotiating position with the European Parliament on Wednesday 27 March on the proposal for a directive to stimulate secondary markets for ‘non-performing loans’ (NPLs).
The legislative proposal introduces accreditation requirements (legal establishment in the EU, proof of probity...) which, when met, will allow companies acquiring NPLs to operate in the EU (see EUROPE 11981/13). These 'credit servicers’ will then have to communicate certain information about themselves to the authorities of the host countries where they operate.
In particular, Member States will require the investors concerned to set up internal procedures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. And they stress that the accreditation requirements do not preclude stricter rules already in place in the Member States.
Concerning the supervision of credit managers, Member States made few changes to the provisions contained in the Commission's original proposal. Any inspections of the manager’s branch offices will be carried out jointly between the authorities of the home and host countries and must be carried out in accordance with the law of the host country, they specify.
In the event of an infringement of future European rules and in the absence of any reaction from the authorities of the home country, the authorities of the host country may adopt sanctions, including a ban on the credit manager’s branch operations in their territory.
It should be noted that the EU Council deleted all the provisions relating to the introduction of an accelerated out-of-court procedure for the recovery of non-performing loans excluding consumer credit.
Finally, the deadline for the application of future rules is set at 2 years after their entry into force.
Read the text agreed by the Member States: http://bit.ly/2HJH4E6. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)