Konstantinos Vouterakos, partner and head of our Finance & Banking practice, participated as a panel speaker in the NPL Europe 2016 – Autumn Conference organized by SmithNovak and held in London on 28-29 September 2016.

Konstantinos was sitting in the panel discussing “Corporate & SME in Europe”. The panel discussion covered topics relating to the pools of corporate and SME stocks and their significance in the economic cycle, the comparison between debt sales and write-offs and recent trends in the above market segment.
The Conference attracted more than 400 participants from over 200 companies and organizations, such as banks, servicers, funds, rating agencies, law firms, and other professionals specialized in the NPLs market across Europe. The various panels discussed recent developments in Italy, Spain, Ireland, UK, the Netherlands, Greece, Slovenia and Hungary, while break-out sessions concentrated on the various market segments, such as corporate and SME loans, residentials and CRE assets and unsecured loans.

The instability experienced recently in the Italian banking sector, highlights the importance of a number of macroeconomic and political factors in determining the developments in the NPLs market. While the Greek banks are gradually, although slowly, moveing into a more active management of the problem so as to support the country’s much needed economic recovery, at a regional and global level a number of risks raise new questions. For the Greek market, the political and economic stability remains a key issue for investors.

The Conference was organized by SmithNovak, an organization specialized in organizing niche summits in the debt market. The conference attracted sponsors from the industry and international legal networks.