Member Article

During the first half of March, Miloš Vučković, Partner at Karanović & Nikolić, attended the two-day long Distressed Assets Forum in London, UK. The event was a good opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the field of trading non-performing loans (NPL's) on the European market, with many prominent banking, real-estate, advisory, and legal executives appearing as speakers and panellists.One of the key takeaways from this conference has been a joint-consensus among the participants about the Western European NPL trading market being overly saturated, with the trading focus now consequently shifting in the direction of Eastern Europe, with Greece and Romania presenting front-running markets. Moreover, based on some of the conversations that Miloš had the pleasure of having with the representatives of a number of asset management companies and investment funds including APS Holding, DDM Group, and Elements Capital Partners, a conclusion can be reached that – amongst those areas of more immediate relevance to us – the Slovenian and Croatian markets also present potential focus points for NPL trading, with a particular emphasis on Croatia in the near future. In addition, as far as the adequacy of the Serbian NPL market is concerned, it is also being considered for future investments, although with a clearly outlined prerequisite that any specific venture on behalf of the investors' would have to be a project valued at a minimum of EUR 500 million.Speaking from the perspective of Karanović & Nikolić's position in this part of the business arena, and his overall impression of the learnings gained at the London conference, Miloš has remarked that "Our geographical surrounding has a number of companies that are already deeply immersed in NPL trading activities, and by forming alliances with these companies we can give our practice a chance to tap into an emerging sphere of business."