Predrag Miladinović moderates panel at Bank FinIng conference

Predrag Miladinović, managing partner at VP Law Firm and Vice President of the Association of Serbian Debt Management Companies (AKUPS), moderated the panel on risks associated with non-performing loans (NPLs) at the annual Bank FinIng conference, organised by the Association of Serbian Banks.

The panellists were Nemanja Marković, member of the Supervisory Board of Adriatic Banka, a new entrant to the local market after its takeover of Expobanka, Ivan Marić, Head of Legal at EOS Matrix, a major Serbian distressed asset investor, and Miloš Simonović, Director at Svea Finance and Creditexpress, reputable NPL investors and servicing firms.

The participants exchanged their experiences with NPL volumes and trends in collecting on NPLs and distressed assets, with particular emphasis on the regulation of the NPL and debt management industry, agreeing that regulation was required to mitigate risk in how banks work with their NPL servicing companies. Mr Marković emphasised that bringing debt management firms into the framework of regulated financial institutions and ensuring they reported to regulators would facilitate better informed risk decision-making by banks. One especially beneficial development in this regard, the panel heard, would be to ensure data provided by debt management firms was fed into the Association of Serbian Banks Credit Bureau for purposes of creditworthiness reporting.

This year’s 21st annual Bank FinIng conference was organised by the Association of Serbian Banks and saw a variety of experts in areas affecting bank risks exchange experiences with bank staff about topical risk management issues.