The seventh annual SEE NPL Forum took place on 17 November 2023 at Belgrade’s Mona Plaza Hotel, with institutional sponsorship from the National Association of Valuers of Serbia.

The event once again focused on non-performing loans (NPLs), bringing together more than 150 bankers, government officials, financial advisors, valuers, investors, lawyers, and debt collectors.

At this year’s SEE NPL Forum, VP Law Firm made a major contribution to debates in panel discussions and shared key insights and expertise with leading figures in the NPL market.

Jelisaveta Janić, Partner at VP and manager of the firm’s Banking and Finance Department, moderated a panel devoted to regulating the NPL market in the Balkans, where she spoke with Bojan Fras, Vice-Governor of the Croatian National Bank, Nikola Bašanović, Head of the Directorate for Licensing, Approvals, Measures and Compliance at the Central Bank of Montenegro, and Miloš Simonović, Managing Director of SVEA Finance and Creditexpress Serbia. The discussion centred on the impacts of the various regulatory approaches adopted in the Balkans by looking at pending legislation in Croatia, different strategies applied in Montenegro, and the lack of specific regulations in Serbia.

Daniela Todorovska, Corporate Attorney at Law in collaboration with VP Law Firm, North Macedonia, took part in a second panel discussion that examined trends in NPL transactions across the Western Balkans. The panel was moderated by Mirela Ibrahimović Ćato, Co-Founder and Managing Director of ODM Collections Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also included Biljana Seratlić, Head of the Department for Non-Performing Assets Management and Collection at NLB Banka Banja Luka, and Nikola Bošković, Head of Credit Risk Management & DAM Department at Addiko Banka Crna Gora. This segment of the conference looked at sellers of NPL portfolios other than banks, providing a high-level summary of the NPL portfolio purchase process and post-acquisition activities and an overview of the portfolios currently on sale, together with the latest news about NPL transactions in the Western Balkans market.

VP is grateful to New Angles Consulting, who organised the Forum, for the trust they have shown us in making us a part of this traditional event. We look forward to collaborating again in the future and are eager to share our knowledge and expertise to help advance the NPL industry in the Western Balkans.