The 11th edition of the National Congress on Jurimetrics, Banking and Finance, will be the ideal place where to discuss about the current state of the NPL industry. Operators that silently withdraw from the market and others that show some signs of weakness. However, we are also witnessing to mergers and acquisitions and large-scale divestitures”; and then, new EU-derived laws which will require a reconsideration of the roles of the many market players; the tendency to favour size, but also the choice of specialisation; Italy as a model at a European level in terms of NPLs and the role of Asset Management Companies; the Crisis Code, but also company crisis and, perhaps, crisis of the traditional way of doing banking; Stage 2 loans and the functional architecture of servicers as a support to banks; risk and portfolio pricing as a market constant, yet to be resolved; new technologies: much ado about nothing or a real game-changer?

The recovery of non-performing loans and the management of likely defaults are, in essence, a form of art. As such, they hold the secrets of the “guild” and require the verbal exchange of knowledge; hence the opportunity to meet again in Verona to allow the “workshops” and their “artists” to share their experiences. New rules (a new crisis code and a new civil procedure reform) are forcing us to challenge consolidated practices. All this in the face of a persistent difficult economic situation, which makes the art of recovery and management increasingly challenging and increasingly subject to uncertainty. Added to this are doubts about a possible financial crisis.

The 2021 edition – one year after the start of the pandemic – was marked by confusion, by the Krísis and, therefore, by choice and decision. The 2022 edition – with the ongoing health crisis and the resulting economic and social crisis – can be defined as Schmitt’s “state of exception” (Ausnahmezustand), where ordinary rules are broken, changed, and given new and unexpected connotations.
NPEs originate from a state of emergency; we could say that – in varying degrees of intensity – UTPs and NPLs are ontologically emergency situations. The NPE issue itself exploded in 2015-2016, because of its macroeconomic impact (everyone remembers the € 349 billions hanging over Italian banks’ balance sheets) and gave rise to new market operators, that, over the years, have evolved considerably, as have the sector’s operations, while remaining within the scope of a state of emergency (to be distinguished from a state of exception). The viral pandemic forced us into a true and proper state of exception. Historically every society develops its specific methods to manage and hopefully overcome their existential crises that can seriously threaten the foundations of the society itself. From Mesopotamia (with the debt jubilee in 2400 BC in Ebla) to Israel (with the scapegoat ritual), and then ancient Greece (with the pharmákōi ritual), human beings have invented social, economic and legal technologies to go back to a normal state that can guarantee social cohesion.

“Crisis”, despite all appearances, is a beautiful word. It derives from the Greek krísis (κρίσις), and it means “choice, decision”, from the verb krino (κρίνω), which means “to distinguish, to judge”. 2021 will be the year of the crisis, the year in which market operators have to make choices and take fundamental decisions for their entrepreneurial future. It is the year of the crisis because need clearly distinguish between a liquidation approach towards NPLs and in addition a going concern approach to UTP. It will be the year of the crisis because we are, and we will be, on a crest (a word which has the same origin as crisis) and, thanks to the choices and decisions taken, we will finally understand on which side of the crest we are. We need to avoid the situation where we “will have no choice”. To do so it is fundamental to get together, discuss, share doubts and ideas, to avoid the crisis in its worst sense. The eighth edition of the Congress on Jurimetrics, Banking and Finance will be our ideal crest. Ad maiora

The seventh edition of the event took place on 13th October, 2020 at Palazzo della Gran Guardia, a historic building in the centre of Verona. The city of Verona has always been a very lively financial centre, as it has long been the venue of some of the most important players in the banking and insurance market.
The event was followed by a gala dinner in the evening.

The banking and finance world has changed from being difficult to being complicated. The word “complicated” comes from the Latin phrase “cum plicum”, which means “folds, creases”. Therefore, the word “complicated” refers to something which is difficult to unravel, something which cannot be explained by a simple analytical approach, something that instead requires a systemic approach. We believe that the only way to govern complexity is to share ideas. As George Bernard Shaw wrote: “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”

The topic chosen for the 6th edition of the National Congress on Jurimetrics, Banking and Finance is the most relevant one today for banks and servicers, i.e. the NPLs and UTPs sector. The conference wants to address and explore the topic from different perspectives (regulators, credit institutions, servicers and lawyers), discussing models, reviewing deals, suggesting outlooks and helping seize opportunities. Participants include industry leaders eager to meet new business partners and explore trends: i.e. investors, credit institutions, servicers, rating agencies and advisors.