THEEuropean Banking Authority (EBA) has extended the moratoriums on bank credits until 31 March 2021. It is a breath of fresh air for the banks that arrives just as the EU commissioner for financial services, Mairead McGuinness, responding to a question by the former president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani (Ppe), makes it clear that the calendar provisioning, the trap most feared by lenders on problem loans, will be postponed by at least six months. "In December - writes McGuinness - the Commission will publish a communication on further measures to address the issue of non-performing loans". The Commission, he added, "is monitoring the impact of the Covid-19 emergency on banks and their customers, and confirms its commitment to react quickly and decisively if and when necessary". The postponement of calendar provisioning had been repeatedly requested by banks subjected to strong pressure on NPLs and UTPs in the period of the Covid-19 crisis.
Returning to the moratoriums, Thursday The Sun 24 hours he specifies that this is a measure that temporarily suspends the prudential requirements that automatically trigger the classification of restructured exposures as non-performing loans. In this way, the Authority favors credit to the economy, facilitating the intervention of banks in favor of families and companies prostrated by the pandemic.
The EBA, however, does not fail to take precautions. To prevent non-performing loans from being forgotten during this non-automated moratorium period, the Authority introduces two limits: a nine-month ceiling on moratoriums and new documentation that banks will have to provide to the ECB by presenting a plan for assessing probable defaults by creditors.
The new provisions of the EBA they apply to loans for which a maximum moratorium period of nine months has been agreed since 30 September. The nine months must be respected for moratoriums granted between 30 September and 31 March and do not apply to loans with moratoriums granted before 30 September, unless the suspension was less than nine months (if, for example, the first suspension lasted 6 months, the second one that benefits from the new guidelines cannot exceed three months).
