The rate of new bad loans is projected to decline further this year. The NPL ratio is finally peaking; a slight decline was actually observed in Q4-2015 for each of the top 5 banking groups.
Third, in recent months there has been a perception in the market (and in the press) that the Supervisory Board of the SSM (the single supervisor in the euro area) is pushing banks to rapidly dispose of their NPLs. Such perception might also have been among the drivers behind the significant fall of euro-area (and Italian in particular) bank stock prices.