The European Commission on Thursday announced that it has approved the Greek government’s plans to support the reduction of non-performing loans (NPLs) of Greek banks, finding that these “are free of state aid”, ANA reports.
The Commission concluded that, under the asset protection scheme (known by the name of “ Hercules”), the Greek state will be remunerated in line with market conditions for the risk it will assume by granting a guarantee on securitized non-performing loans.
“ Hercules” is designed to help banks in securitizing and moving non-performing loans off their balance sheets. Under the scheme, an individually managed, private securitization vehicle will buy non-performing loans from the bank and sell notes to investors. The State will provide a public guarantee for the senior, less risky notes of the securitization vehicle. In exchange, the State will receive remuneration at market terms. The objective is to attract a wide range of investors and to support the banks in their ongoing efforts to reduce the amount of non-performing loans on their balance sheets.
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