Spanish NPL portfolio acquisitions

In the article that Herbert Smith Freehills prepared last year for the Global ABS 2023 (Spanish portfolio acquisitions – recent trends, challenges and outlook for the future), we analysed the challenges to achieve registration of direct sales of secured loans as an issue that has been present in the Spanish NPL market for a number of years now, and we also pointed to the implementation of the NPL Directive¹ in Spain as a potential key milestone to unblock this situation. 

The draft bill for the implementation of the NPL Directive (hereinafter, the "Draft Bill")² was approved by the Spanish government (Consejo de Ministros) on 14 May 2024 and became publicly available on 20 May 2024. 

For this Global ABS 2024, Herbert Smith Freehills is pleased to share that the Draft Bill provides grounds for market players to be optimistic on this topic. 

In this guide we provide a brief recap of the issue and of the impact it has been having in the Spanish NPL market as well as the key provisions in the Draft Bill.

1. "NPL Directive" means Directive (EU) 2021/2167 of 24 November 2021 on credit servicers and credit purchasers. 
2. Anteproyecto de Ley de Administradores y Compradores de Créditos y por la que se modifican la Ley 16/2011, de 24 de junio, de Contratos de Crédito al Consumo, y la Ley 5/2019, de 15 de marzo, Reguladora de los Contratos de Crédito Inmobiliario.

Read the full guide