Partner James Duncan (London-Derivatives & Structured Finance) participated in a panel on “The Sell Side Perspective” at the NPL Greece Conference in Athens on May 30-31, 2018. The session looked at topics including “When Will the Market Open Up and What Are the Key Considerations for the Banks?” and “Auctions: An Effective Means of Selling Bad Loans in Greece?”

The session concluded with a panel discussion on:

• How effective are auctions in Greece?
• How is IFRS9 impacting bank provisioning and are they fully provisioned to sell the volumes as per SSM targets? 
• What are the specific technical issues for banks when selling bad loans and how can these be resolved? 
• How are prices likely to evolve and will there be significant bid/ask spreads? 
• What are the specific legal obstacles to transactions and what key steps should be taken by the courts to resolve this?