Why the European NPL Alliance

A market without a voice

A single European market

Europe’s non-performing loan market has become a single market in everything but its representation. Portfolios are bought, sold and serviced across borders. Investors, servicers and banks operate in several jurisdictions at once. At the European level, however, the industry has so far lacked a dedicated association.

From a national association to a European one

BKS — the Bundesvereinigung Kreditankauf und Servicing — has represented Germany’s loan purchase and servicing industry since 2007: setting professional standards, advancing legal certainty, and giving the NPL market a credible, evidence-based voice. As the market became European, this work increasingly extended beyond Germany.

Why Europe, why now: the Credit Servicers Directive

The EU Credit Servicers Directive (2021/2167) made the shift explicit. By harmonising the rules for credit servicers and credit purchasers — and letting them passport across member states — it turned 27 national markets into one European framework. A market regulated at the European level needs industry representation at the same level. BKS has worked on this file since 2018 and supported the Directive’s transposition into German law in 2023.

The logical next step

The European NPL Alliance is that voice. It extends BKS’s established work — standards, advocacy, market intelligence and a trusted network — to the European stage. As an association dedicated exclusively to NPL purchasing and servicing, BKS is well placed to represent the market where its rules are now written. It already holds a seat on the European Commission’s NPL Advisory Panel — bringing operational practice to the table where European NPL policy is shaped.