The Advisory Board, which is mainly made up of high-ranking representatives of German banks, plays a key role as an important body within BKS.
In accordance with the BKS statutes, the Advisory Board is responsible in particular for the development and maintenance of standardised guidelines for legally compliant capital market-oriented trading and the management of non-performing loans in the German jurisdiction. In addition, the Advisory Board develops professional standards for the management of loan portfolios. These guidelines and standards are adopted by the General Meeting at the request of the Executive Committee and form the foundation for the professional and responsible activities of BKS members.
Other tasks of the Advisory Board include
- Advising the Executive Board on strategic and technical issues
- Promoting the exchange of experience and cooperation between members
- Representing the interests of the industry vis-à-vis relevant stakeholders
- Support in the further development and professionalisation of the market for loan purchasing and servicing
By closely involving experts from the banks, the Advisory Board ensures that its work is always practice-orientated and geared towards the needs of the sector. At the same time, it benefits from the wealth of experience and expertise of its members in order to develop forward-looking solutions.
Prof. Dr. Christoph Schalast
Chairman of the Advisory Board
Christoph Schalast is a lawyer, notary and expert in commercial law based in Frankfurt am Main. After studying law in Frankfurt, Lausanne, Saarbrücken and Strasbourg, he gained valuable experience at renowned law firms before setting up his own practice in Frankfurt in 1995. Schalast’s expertise is regularly recognised by leading industry publications such as JUVE, Handelsblatt and Legal 500 Germany. WirtschaftsWoche ranks him among the top advisors for M&A and banking in Germany. Prof. Schalast is involved in numerous committees and associations, including as editor of the renowned journal M&A Review and head of the M&A LL.M. programme at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. He is also chairman of the annual NPL Forum and M&A/Private Equity conferences. Since the 1990s, Christoph Schalast has been advising ministries and institutions in transition states on legal reform and harmonisation with EU law and has been involved in legislation for Slovenia, Lithuania, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. As a sought-after expert, he is regularly quoted by leading German and international business media on legal topics and comments on current developments in radio and television.
Ahmet Bilen
Member of the Advisory Board
Ahmet Bilen is responsible for the NPL portfolio of Santander Consumer Bank AG. In his role, he is responsible for defining strategies, managing the processing and sale of collateralised and uncollateralised portfolios. Over the past few years, Bilen has also supported and implemented projects relating to the outsourcing and carve-out of internal work-out departments in Germany and abroad for the Santander Group.
Sandra Förster
Member of the Advisory Board
Sandra Förster has been working for DKB AG since 1997 and has held several management positions here, ranging from sales, product development and production management to risk and fraud management. Since 2018, Förster has been Head of Credit Consult and Director of DKB AG. She is responsible for processes for all customer groups with regard to early risk identification, intensive and problem loan support, processing and the sale of collateralised and uncollateralised NPL portfolios and individual exposures. The risk provisioning process integrated in accordance with IFRS9 also plays an important role here.
Förster has also supported various DKB projects on digitalisation, outsourcing and work-out topics
Förster has also supported various DKB projects on digitalisation, outsourcing and work-out topics
Janine Hardi
Member of the Advisory Board
Janine Hardi has been a qualified lawyer since 2003 and has been running the information and advisory platform for property annuities ‘RentePlusImmobilie’, which she founded in 2021. Until 2020, Hardi was Managing Director at FMS-Wertmanagement AöR. She established the International Commercial Real Estate division there back in 2011 following the state takeover of the distressed HRE portfolio. Prior to this, she worked for Hudson Advisors Germany for 5 years and was responsible for property-backed loan portfolios in Germany. She spent 1.5 years of this time in Bermuda, from where she was responsible for investor support for NPL portfolios of the Lone Star Funds. In her role as a lawyer, Hardi advises NPL investors and creditors of non-performing loans in due diligence and workout phases. She is also a certified Digital Transformation Manager. In 2018, Hardi was awarded the Bavarian Volunteer Award for her many years of service on the board of a non-profit association. Since 2022, she has headed the ‘Bankfachwirt’ degree programme for the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management in the ‘Law’ department.
Torsten Kohl
Member of the Advisory Board
Torsten Kohl has more than 20 years of experience in the processing of non-performing and default-prone credit exposures. As divisional director, Kohl is responsible for problem loan management at Mainzer Volksbank eG. Prior to this, he headed the Special Tasks Credit department, where he was responsible for the sale of various NPL portfolios.
Kohl completed a banking apprenticeship and then successfully graduated from university with a degree in business administration.
Kohl completed a banking apprenticeship and then successfully graduated from university with a degree in business administration.
Lars Löffelholz
Member of the Advisory Board
Lars Löffelholz is Head of GRM Intensive Care Service Centre and Managing Director of Commerz Service-Center Intensive GmbH of Commerzbank AG. He previously worked there for several years as Head of Workout Domestic and Private Clients Standard. From 2004 to 2008, Löffelholz was responsible for distressed loan sales at Eurohypo AG. Löffelholz is a qualified banker and holds a degree in business administration.
Sabine Otte
Member of the Advisory Board
Sabine Otte is Director of Risk Management | Receivables Management Strategy at TARGOBANK AG. She has more than 20 years of experience in risk management. This includes the issuing and portfolio management of credit products as well as the processing strategies and operational handling of non-performing and default-prone credit exposures in various countries.
In her current role as Director Receivables Management Strategy, she is responsible for processing and outsourcing strategies as well as the sale of secured and unsecured NPL portfolios. As a Global Management Associate at Citigroup, she gained experience in various countries. Since 1999, she has held management positions in financial services in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Before moving to the banking sector, Otte worked for the Bavarian State Ministry for Federal and European Affairs in Brussels before moving to the banking sector in 1997. She holds a European Secretary ESA from the European Secretarial Academy, Vienna, and a Master of Business Administration from Texas Christian University, Forth Worth.
In her current role as Director Receivables Management Strategy, she is responsible for processing and outsourcing strategies as well as the sale of secured and unsecured NPL portfolios. As a Global Management Associate at Citigroup, she gained experience in various countries. Since 1999, she has held management positions in financial services in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Before moving to the banking sector, Otte worked for the Bavarian State Ministry for Federal and European Affairs in Brussels before moving to the banking sector in 1997. She holds a European Secretary ESA from the European Secretarial Academy, Vienna, and a Master of Business Administration from Texas Christian University, Forth Worth.
Holger Petry
Member of the Advisory Board
Holger Petry is Head of Collections at ING-DiBa and is responsible for processing the bank’s NPL portfolio in Retail Banking. Before joining ING-DiBa in 2009, he held various management positions in problem loan management at Nassauische Sparkasse.
He has more than 20 years of experience in the NPL sector and has been involved in and responsible for several transactions of secured and unsecured loan portfolios.
Petry is a qualified lawyer and in-house lawyer.
He has more than 20 years of experience in the NPL sector and has been involved in and responsible for several transactions of secured and unsecured loan portfolios.
Petry is a qualified lawyer and in-house lawyer.
Claus Radünz
Member of the Advisory Board
Claus Radünz is responsible for the secondary market of distressed or defaulted loans at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW). Before joining LBBW in 2009, he worked at Commerzbank AG and Credit Suisse in Frankfurt / London / Singapore, where he was responsible for the development and expansion of distressed loan trading and the restructuring of financial institutions, sovereigns and major international companies. Claus Radünz is a banker and property specialist (IHK), studied in Frankfurt and Edinburgh (UK) and holds a degree in business administration from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (formerly Hochschule für Bankwirtschaft). He is a member of the advisory board of Bundesvereinigung Kreditankauf und Servicing e.V. (BKS), a board member of Deutsche Kreditmarkts-Standards e.V. (DKS) and the author of various publications on credit trading, restructuring and training.
Markus Thanner
Member of the Advisory Board
Markus Thanner is Head of Back Office Credit and Chief Representative of Bankhaus Bauer Privatbank Aktiengesellschaft. Until 2016, he was Managing Director of the co-operative-oriented HFI Finanz- und Investitions-Beratungsgesellschaft Hamm mbH (HFI). GFKL Financial Services AG (GFKL – now the Lowell Group) – for which Thanner had worked since 2004 as Managing Director of Proceed Portfolio Services GmbH and Universal Leasing GmbH, among others – held a stake in HFI from 2007 to 2012. Before joining GFKL and BAG, Thanner worked in the credit division of today’s UniCredit Bank GmbH and today’s VR Smart Finanz AG.
Dr. Marcus Tusch
Member of the Advisory Board
Dr Marcus Tusch is a lawyer and was a member of the Management Board of Düsseldorfer Hypothekenbank AG until 2019. In addition to the back office property financing and capital market division, he is responsible in particular for the legal, risk controlling and auditing departments. Prior to this role, the doctor of law held senior positions at an international asset management company and in the credit and legal departments of several international banks.
