Management of distressed assets in banks

In recent years, as a result of the increase in the ratio of non-performing loans (“NPL”) in Turkey, banks and some other market players have been taking various actions, along with the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) to adopt some fast-response measures. In this regard, BRSA’s recent press release dated September 17, 2019 announced that the amount of loans that must be watched under follow-up accounts, has reached 46 billion TRY, and that the banks are required to make necessary changes in loan classifications and to set aside the expected loan loss provisions by the end of 2019. In addition, establishment of a common asset management company by banks has recently become one of the options considered in dealing with the nonperforming loans.