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.