Filenews 9 July 2022 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
The Ministry of Finance has made three more changes to the controversial bills that strengthen the legal framework for the management of non-performing loans and govern the licensing and operation of loan servicing companies, in order to convince the parties to approve them next Thursday, during the last Plenary session before the closure of the Parliament for the summer holidays.
In fact, if the plans go smoothly, then, at the end of the month, the Government will submit a request to the Commission for the disbursement of the €85 million from the Recovery Fund, as, as is well known, these legislations are the last prerequisite for the second tranche.
The Minister of Finance Konstantinos Petrides, in a new letter sent to the members of the House Standing Committee on Finance, expresses the assessment that in all likelihood based on the data based on the formulation of the texts of the revised bills, the ministry can still argue to Brussels that the final government proposal achieves the objectives of the reform, i.e. improving the working environment for the management of non-performing loans.
At the same time, it stresses that it is up to the Services of the European Commission to judge whether the final form of the package of bills substantially improves the conditions for the management of non-performing loans and achieves the objective of the milestone of the Recovery Plan.
It also indicates that during the discussion of the bills in the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, the positions of MPs were changing and concerns remain, especially with regard to the practices of credit servicers. "It is up to the legislative body to judge the final form of the bills, having before it the views of both the Ministry of Finance and the stakeholders", adds Mr. Petrides.
At the same time, the minister reiterates that the bills are part of the axis of the Recovery Plan, which concerns financial stability and should be implemented by December 31, 2021. "In case this milestone is not reached. no assurance can be provided of the impact that this may have on the expected disbursement of the funding from the Recovery Fund to cover the costs of implementing the investments provided for in the National Recovery Fund", he warns.
The three changes by the Ministry of Finance
The three changes made by the Ministry of Finance in order to find a compromise solution concern access to the data of the guarantors, through the Artemis system and through the Land Registry. Specifically, following a recommendation by the MPs, the Ministry of Finance deleted the provisions concerning the acquisition of access by the administrator to data of a collateral provider or of a person or guarantor connected to the borrower, after obtaining explicit consent from the specific persons.
In addition, the recommendation of the Financial Commissioner was adopted, by which the manager, in relation to borrowers or guarantors or collateral providers, acts in full compliance with the provisions of the basic law. The Minister of Finance welcomes the position expressed by the Commissioner in the memorandum he submitted to the Parliament, in which he considers a very important development for reaching a consensus and voting on the bills. In the revised bills, a phrase is also reinstated which was inadvertently deleted and caused confusion. It should be noted that on Monday the bills will be before the competent committee for the umpteenth time.
INTERVENTION
Does not lift another postponement
On Monday, the members of the Finance Committee will have to make their final decisions on the bills for loan servicing companies, so that the application can proceed for the €85 million from the Recovery Fund. It hopefully does not raise more delay on an issue that was supposed to be closed more than seven months ago. It would be good for the Ministry of Finance, in addition to the changes it has made to the bills, to give the required information to the parties in relation to the text of the bill for the foreclosure court. Only in this way can he convince the parties...
