Banks consider Italian solution for cutting bad loans and staff

Greek banks are examining various scenarios for ridding themselves of more nonperforming loans and reducing their staff, in an effort to meet commitments for a rapid streamlining of financial figures and cost reduction.

These twin objectives are meant to take the local credit sector out of the vicious cycle of losses, lifting the reservations of investors who have turned their back on local lenders, leading to losses of almost 50 percent in their capitalization in just six months.

The solution of selling bad loans along with the transfer of staff to the new company that will undertake the management of the NPL portfolio, has already been implemented by Italian bank Intesa, which transferred NPLs worth 11 billion euros to Sweden's Intrum. The management of those loans has been granted to a new Italian company, jointly created by Intesa and Intrum, to which the Italian...

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