East Asia & Pacific (Part I): NPL Resolution, SMEs Restructuring and Insolvency in the Post-COVID-19 Landscape

On May 11, 2022, Charles Booth spoke at East Asia & Pacific : NPL Resolution, Insolvency and SMEs in Post-Covid-19 times. “Many governments, supervisory and macroprudential authorities in East Asia and Pacific (EAP) and worldwide have taken bold and large-scale action to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies and banking systems. A significant part of the policy measures deployed internationally focus on loan forbearance. In addition, preparing the enabling environment for efficient and effective Non-Performing Loan (NPL) resolution has gained importance to maintain banking sector stability.
 
This workshop will take stock of the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis so far in EAP, on the economy’s financial sector and vulnerable sectors particularly Small and Medium Enterprises. It will also share experiences and lessons from other countries to identify good practices in prudential supervision and regulation and a robust enabling environment for NPL resolution and to facilitate private sector participation. Panelists will discuss the existing tools (legal and regulatory) in selected jurisdictions of EAP to address business failure of SMEs, and the role of the financial sector and the insolvency courts in this regard. This also includes an overview of restructuring options within EAP and possible approaches for enhancing business restructuring using available out of court and court tools.”