Fosse Financial - German Bad Debts Highest In Europe

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 12, 2008 – Sources say that research by Fosse Financial has revealed that German Banks hold the highest level of non-performing loans in Europe, due to a slowdown in the ability of the German Banks to sell the loans to investors last year.

Non-performing loans are loans at risk of default, or loans where the borrower fails to meet the redemption schedule. The research by Fosse Financial’s team of analysts apparently also revealed that while Germany has the largest share of non- performing loans in Europe, Italian banks have the second largest with an estimated EUR100 billion in bad debts, as of the end of 2007.

A spokesperson for Fosse Financial apparently stated that Germany’s trade in non-performing loans has been suffering as a result of several factors, including the impact of the global credit crunch on non-performing loan portfolio prices and banks' hesitance to offer new portfolios on the market.

Fosse Financial’s research team apparently concluded that the main cause of a high level of bad debts in the portfolios of German Banks was the weak economy and rising number of insolvencies since the mid-1990s, as well as a simultaneous fall in the value of loan collateral.