VP Law has continued its traditional association with a key regional event dedicated to non-performing loans (NPLs) and finance by supporting the eighth iteration of the SEE NPL + Finance Forum, which took place in Belgrade on 29 November 2024.

The Forum focused on a broad range of issues, from regulatory standards highlighted by keynote speakers, officials of the National Bank of Serbia and the Central Bank of Montenegro, to an assessment of the key economic trends facing the region. Multiple panels raised awareness of the challenges and opportunities in the NPL sector, looking particularly at new European initiatives such as the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and amendments to the Serbian Payment Services Law. The participants also looked at the role of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) loans and digitalisation in the financial sector, with particular emphasis placed on the use of artificial intelligence in managing credit portfolios and NPL sales.

A panel dedicated to the South-East European NPL market considered key issues such as curbing NPL growth, the impact of new European regulations on non-EU countries, how investors and banks could help reduce NPLs, and how the real estate sector affected credit risk. The discussion here was moderated by Predrag Miladinović, VP’s Managing Partner and Vice-President of the Association of Serbian Debt Management Companies (AKUPS), with insights shared by Jelisaveta Janić, Partner and Head of Banking and Finance at VP, Petar Mrkonjić, CEO of debt management firm EOS Matrix Bosnia-Herzegovina, Janja Bubaš, Head of Portfolio Acquisition and Risk Control at EOS Matrix Croatia, and Matija Arapović, CEO of Prima Solvent d.o.o.

VP Law takes this opportunity to thank New Angles Consulting, the Forum’s organisers, for their long-standing partnership and trust. We remain committed to providing legal support and helping improve the business environment across the region whilst continuously striving to forge closer links between the legal and the financial sector.