FSB examines Italy’s effort to reduce bank non-performing loans

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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has released its Peer Review of Italy, evaluating the country’s progress in reducing non-performing loans (NPLs) within the banking sector.

The review acknowledges Italy’s substantial success in decreasing NPLs on bank balance sheets, dropping from a peak of EUR 360 billion ($391.5 billion) in December 2015 to EUR 63 billion ($68.5 billion) by June 2023. This achievement is attributed to various measures, including accounting and regulatory actions, close collaboration among domestic authorities, the establishment of a secondary market for NPLs, and the introduction of a government guarantee scheme for the securitization of bank bad loans. Additionally, reforms to both in- and out-of-court restructuring and enforcement procedures played a significant role in this success.

While recognizing these accomplishments, the review suggests that further measures can be implemented to sustain progress and enhance the environment for NPL management in the banking sector. Recommendations include fostering the secondary market for NPLs and closely monitoring and improving the efficiency of the insolvency, debt restructuring, and debt enforcement framework.

Ryozo Himino, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Standards Implementation (SCSI) at FSB, highlighted the coordinated efforts of Italian authorities as a valuable reference for other jurisdictions facing similar challenges, providing a comprehensive framework encompassing regulation, supervision, accounting, secondary market development, and judicial process reform.