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The new EU Directive on credit servicers and credit purchasers

The EU Directive 2021/2167 on credit servicers and credit purchasers was adopted on 24 November 2021 and entered into force on 28 December 2021. The Directive is commonly known as the Non-Performing Loans Directive and sets out a common framework and requirements for credit (loan) servicers and purchasers including non-performing loan investors. The Member States shall adopt measures implementing the Directive before 29 December 2023 and apply those measures from 30 December 2023.

The key objective of the Directive is to promote the development of the secondary market for non-performing loans held by banks in the EU. It aims to achieve this goal by establishing a common set of rules that will apply to credit servicers operating in the EU.

The credit servicers (“hitelgondozó” in Hungarian) are those who manage and enforce the rights and obligations related to a creditor’s rights under a non-performing credit agreement on behalf of a credit purchaser. The Directive establishes a new licensed status for credit servicers. The Directive requires the credit servicers to obtain a licence for their activities and sets out the requirements for their authorisation. The authorisation process will be harmonised throughout the EU.