Strategies for Managing Banks’ Legacy Assets: part 1 (of 2) context, setting the scene, Spain 2012

This two-part working paper series represents a distillation of practical approaches with regard to the successful management of so-called “legacy assets” which include both impaired as well as non-performing loans, particularly in those in the real estate and property sectors. This two-part set uses case examples, based on developments in Spain during 2012 with the eventual foundation of SAREB, drawing on national, other European and North American experiences as well as expert practices. The set should be considered in their entirety. Part 1 sets the context of Spain in 2012 during the height of the credit-sovereign crisis. (Part 2 provides an assessment of the strategies, implementation issues and decisions that led to the eventual establishment of SAREB).