SYRIZA will vote down the government’s bill on NPL loans, and request roll-call vote

SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance will vote against the bill on defaulted loans in principle and will request a roll-call vote on specific articles, the party said after a meeting of its economics-related sections on Monday.

The meeting’s agenda focused on discussing the draft law “Loans: Transparency, competitiveness, protection of the vulnerable – Incorporation of EU Directive 2021/2167, reintroduction of the ‘Hercules’ program and other emergency regulations,” and was attended by party leader Stephanos Kasselakis.

The draft legislation includes measures to: introduce greater transparency, more information and respect of debtors’ rights for servicers; update an out-of-court mechanism and expand protection for vulnerable debtors; improve the operating framework of a sale and lease-back agency; introduce measures to boost competition, such as loan offerings from non-banking agencies; and to expand transactions through the IRIS system. The EU Directive relates to credit servicers and credit purchasers, and amends earlier regulations.

Reasons for rejection

In an informational note, the main opposition party said it would reject the bill, which has been tabled in parliament, because “it follows the set-up of the bankruptcy law that New Democracy introduces which lifts every protection of a family’s principal residence [from defaulting and being auctioned], and still does not protect a principal residence, it does not take into account a borrower’s reasonable expenses, and it raises the danger of burdening Greek taxpayers further, as there is a risk that the guarantees will be included in the public debt.”

The party also underlined that neither does the bill offer the option of currency conversion in loan contracts to another currency (e.g. Swiss franc), and does not guarantee transparency by servicers on interest rates, remaining details, and generally on the algorithm to be used to pay off loans.

Along with asking for a roll-call vote on the entire bill and for specific articles, SYRIZA said it will “table again its proposal for the protection of the principal residence, which relates to the specific Directive’s content.” The main opposition party will also formally request that the business plans for portfolios included in the Hercules plan and have been guaranteed by the Greek state be tabled in parliament. In addition, it will request that the reports provided by credit agencies to the state underpinning its guarantees are also tabled in parliament.

“For SYRIZA-PA and its president, the economy issues – such as high cost of living, taxation, private debt, and nonperforming loans – are of the highest priority. By standing toughly against the Mitsotakis government’s catastrophic policies, as well as with well-processed and substantiated proposals, we shall always stand by citizens and their problems,” the informational note concluded.