These initiatives, amongst others, include: the development of a secondary market for both performing and non-performing loans; the establishment of an enhanced framework for out-of-court workouts and pre-bankruptcy procedures, as well as the overhaul of bankruptcy legislation; the recently revised Code of Conduct for banks for the transparent, effective and, where appropriate, flexible treatment of cooperating borrowers facing difficulties in servicing their debt obligations; amendments to legislation to ensure the cooperation of old shareholders in the restructuring of the underlying businesses; the launch of a comprehensive monitoring framework in relation to banks’ non-performing exposure resolution activities, and, finally, a series of targets and key performance indicators that aim at reducing overall nonperforming exposures by 40% by the end of 2019.
The start of a new EU institutional cycle also adds importance to this reflection. I totally concur with Mario Draghi when he said, in January, at the European Parliament, that “The euro is the most tangible representation of European integration that our citizens encounter, on a daily basis”1.