Member Article

COVID-19 Although the first big wave of requests for repayment deferrals of banking and non-banking loans may seem to be over, a further one is likely just to come once some debtors realise the actual effects of COVID-19 crisis on their economic situation and the pandemic time frame for filing the requests for repayment deferrals will start approaching its end.

Therefore, we have prepared thisupdate of our original client alert of 3 April 2020 on this topic, now revised uponthefinallyadopted law.

Since the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak, the deferrals of loan repayments and other repayments (such as leasing payments, etc.) had been provided by credit institutions or other financial institutions voluntarily, upon their negotiations with debtors, upon their discretion and within the formal process for approval of deferred repayments with a potential future negative effect on the credit score of the debtor.

Following the discussions between the Government of the Slovak Republic, the National Bank of Slovakia, the commercial banks and other financial institutions on measures regarding deferrals of repayments of loans and other credit instruments during the coronavirus SARSCoV-2 pandemic, on 7 April 2020, the National Council of the Slovak Republic adopted Act No. 75/2020 Coll. amending Act No. 67/2020 Coll. on certain extraordinary measures in the area of finance in relation to the spread of dangerous contagious human disease COVID-19 (the “Act”). The Act became effective on 9 April 2020 and sets forth the legislative framework for the deferrals of repayments of loans and other credit instruments for consumers, SMEs and selfemployed individuals.

The below described regulation of the deferrals of repayments shall apply during the “period of pandemic” which means the period from 12 March 2020, when the Government of the Slovak Republic declared an emergency situation due to COVID-19 in the territory of the Slovak Republic, until the end of the calendar month in which the emergency situation is revoked.

You can read more on DEFERRALS OF REPAYMENTS OF LOANS AND OTHER CREDIT INSTRUMENTS in our legal update prepared by Simona Halakova and Miroslav Zaťko of our Banking & Finance team on 19 May2020 based on the finally adopted Act thereon. Full version of this legal update you can find in the PDF document HERE.