The Annual Meeting of Delphi Economic Forum VII: New Realities, held from April 6 to April 9 and sponsored by Qualco Group, marked a much-longed return to the town of Delphi, under the auspices of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic. The event comprised rather insightful panels, where leading minds exchanged their knowledge and experience, with the one of “Debt & Deleveraging: Economic Consequences and the Day After” that took place on April 7, leaving us all a bit wiser when it comes to NPLs, the servicing market, challenges and what to expect in the years to come.

Orestis Omran, Partner, Head of Greece at DLA Piper, was the moderator of the panel, with George Georgakopoulos, Managing Director Greece at Intrum, Nikos Vardaramatos, CEO at Quant, Artemis Theodoridis, Executive Chairman at Cepal Hellas, Apostolos Goutzinis, Partner at Milbank and Anthimos Thomopoulos, Founder & CEO of Hellenic Finance, sharing their views in this intriguing discussion.

When it comes to the servicing landscape and challenges in this respect, Mr. Vardaramatos set the tone, declaring that “Servicers have undertaken NPLs’ settlement issue as a whole, currently having more than 100bn under management; this undoubtedly constitutes a major challenge. Furthermore, concerning collectability, Mr. Vardaramatos stated, “This is a two-way street: One challenge is linked to both the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, leading to borrowers hesitating to settle their arrears. The other challenge revolves around the legal claim. Following the pandemic, there is a substantial accrual of auctions, and it remains to be seen whether the system will prove to be sufficient. In parallel, we have observed a significant capacity shortage for notaries. All the challenges mentioned above get in the way of Servicers. In the meantime, despite the considerable capacity in the servicing market, we run short of talent.”

Rigorous transactions’ underwriting and thorough business planning are our key focal areas.

Watch the insightful panel “Debt & Deleveraging: Economic Consequences and the Day After”, where top leaders in the sector share their experience and knowledge: