Ever since the latest
Law on Enforcement and Security entered into force on the 1st of
July, 2016, an issue arose over the wording and scope of Article 48, dealing
with how creditors acquiring claims can initiate enforcement. The main idea behind
this new law was to make it easier for creditors to collect claims.

However,
something went wrong along the way and, instead of improving the creditors’
position, the law did quite the opposite. In cases of transfer of claims, the
now (in)famous Article 48 required from the new creditor to evidence the
transfer by a certified document, or to prove the transfer by a final
court/administrative decision.

The
court had conflicting and strange interpretations of this provision, to the
extent that the courts would recognise transfer only when the transfer was
based on law, but not when based on contract. The Serbian Parliament has previously tried to resolve
this issue, but the first interpretation from late 2016 did not make much
difference.

Naturally,
this caused quite a stir, especially in the NPL market. Lawyers and bankers were
very active in trying to resolve the matter. After a number of discussions,
round tables and conferences, the Parliament finally issued a new interpretation
article 48 on the 17th of December, 2017 – leaving no doubt that the
transfer of claim refers both to transfer based on law and contract.

Earlier
in the fall, the Serbian Supreme Court adopted a similar standpoint, reasoning
that the ratio behind this article was to give broader possibilities to
creditors.

All in
all, good news for the NPL market at the end of the year, leading to a more exciting
2018 with no procedural hurdles in collecting acquired claims.