In Ukraine there will be a public register of debtors

The debtors entered into the registry.

The Ukrainian government creates the unified state register of debtors of all the banks. It is a condition of further cooperation of Ukraine with the International monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union for funding. According to the Memorandum with the IMF, in September, all banks, including the bankrupt, must pay into the registry the information about their debtors. A complete system should earn by the end of this year.

This registry will allow banks to see if potential borrowers already had problems with repayment of past debts, and consequently to assess the risks of their lending.

“This is to avoid risks by banks when granting loans, as well as to provide an adequate assessment of credit risk on loans provided. This will increase the reliability of the banking system, strengthening the protection of interests of depositors and other creditors of banks”, – explained in the National Bank of Ukraine, which will manage the registry.

Data on borrowers needs to include information about their financial condition, collateral or guarantors. The national Bank assured that the Ukrainians will be able to have access to information about itself in the registry and may require changes in case of disagreement with its contents.

Collecting information about borrowers is widespread in the world practice. Public credit registries exist in 16 EU countries, such as Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal, and another six countries they are now.

A large debt problem

In Ukraine the problem of bad debts is now very extensive. According to the National Bank, more than 55 percent of all loans in the country not serviced – debt businesses and citizens to banks amounts to more than 560 billion. The reasons for the emergence of such a large debt were several.

“For the years 2014 and 2015, Ukraine’s GDP fell, and the national currency devalued three times. Funds to meet liabilities to banks was much less. It is a natural consequence of the crisis in the economy, military action and the loss of part of the country”, – explained the Chairman of the Board oschadbanka Andrew Lush.

Financial experts believe that a unified list of debtors who do not fulfill their obligations, will allow them to solve the issue of bad loans.

“The existence of a single registry will provide banks access to more information on servicing the borrowers loans. This will help proper decision-making in the provision of Bank loans”, – said the Director of the credit Department of the Bank “Pivdenny” Victoria Skoch.

Bankers are also offering to transfer information to the register from the state register of bankrupts and court decisions to have more data about the solvency of potential customers.

The issue of disclosure

By this time in Ukraine operated by private credit bureaus that collect information about the debtor. But the work was not too effective because they do not cover all borrowers and collected information not all banks.

“Now the credit Bureau has no information on loans to customers of liquidated banks. So you need a single registry and one database for information about the financial discipline of borrowers,” – says Victoria Skoch.

The national Bank said that I have the right to obtain from banks information on credit operations. At the same time, lawyers specializing in banking law, saying the law “On personal data protection” allows banks to transmit information about the borrower only with the consent of, or solely in the interests of national security, economic welfare and protect the rights of individuals.

“Just refer to the NBU the right to obtain from banks information constituting Bank secrecy, not enough for the formation of the registry of borrowers, in particular on existing credit agreements. Therefore, this issue requires a separate resolution at the level of the law,” explained managing partner of the legal company “the Magician” Alexander Novaline.

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