EC Clears Mark For Operation

  • 11 Feb 2016 8:00 AM
EC Clears Mark For Operation
The European Commission has authorised the operation of the Hungarian Reorganisation and Receivables Management Company (MARK), established by the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) last November to buy bad commercial real estate loans and properties from banks, the central bank said.

“Since MARK will purchase assets at market price, based on the validation of the European Commission, the planned asset acquisition programme does not contain state aid,” it said.

In a statement announcing its approval of MARK, the EC said it “concluded that the pricing models used by the Hungarian asset management company ensure it will buy non-performing loans at market prices”.

“If a Member State intervenes as a private investor would do and is remunerated for the risk assumed in a way a private investor would have accepted, then such interventions do not constitute state aid,” it explained.

The NBH said the EC’s decision “marked the end of intense expertlevel consultations taking nearly a year”. MARK was established late in 2014.

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