1. Introduction
On 18 March 2025, the new Credit Servicer and Credit Recipients Act (Kreditdienstleister- und Kreditkäufergesetz - KKG), BGBl I 6/2025, came into force. It implemented the European ‘Non-Performing Loans Directive’ (NPL Directive (EU) 2021/2167) into national law. It concerns the handling of so-called ‘non-performing loans’.
The KKG regulates obligations for loan purchases of non-performing loans, requirements for and supervision of national and pan-European credit servicers and the authorisation procedure for credit servicers in Austria.
2. Goals
The aim of the NPL Directive is,
to enable credit institutions to better deal with non-performing loans,
to support the development of secondary markets for non-performing loans in Austria and the EU and
to reduce the future accumulation of non-performing loans.
This is to be realised through standardised regulations for credit purchasers and credit servicers.
Therefore
the authorisation requirements and processes are harmonised,
obstacles to the transfer of loans and cross-border sales within the EU are being removed,
safeguards are put in place through standardised regulatory and supervisory rules, and
borrower rights are safeguarded and strengthened.
3. Scope of application
The scope of application of the KKG includes
non-performing loan agreements that are classified as ‘non-performing exposures’ in accordance with Art 47a of CRR Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013
and granted by credit institutions
incorporated in the European Union.
The addressees of the regulations are credit servicers and credit purchasers:
Credit purchasers buy
claims of a lender from a non-performing loan agreement
or the non-performing credit agreement itself,
in accordance with applicable Union law or national law. As a rule, they do not manage and collect the claims themselves, but commission credit servicers to do so.
Credit servicers act on behalf of credit purchasers and require a licence from the competent national authority (in Austria: Financial Market Authority FMA). They manage the outstanding payments from the acquired non-performing loans and collect them, although they are not permitted to accept or hold payments themselves. This distinguishes the credit servicer from the traditional debt collection agency, whose scope of application is much broader.
To be categorised as a credit servicer, at least one credit servicing activitiy must be provided. This includes, for example
Enforcement of payments,
renegotiations with the borrower or
management of complaints.
4. Procedure and obligations
The KKG is applicable if a credit institution based in the EU sells a non-performing loan it has granted. Prior to the sale, the credit institution is obliged to provide information to the potential loan buyer so that the latter can make an informed decision. For this purpose, the credit institution may disclose personal data of the borrower to the potential buyer
The banking secrecy rule pursuant to § 38 BWG also applies to (potential) loan purchasers and borrowers (§ 16 (3) KKG).
In the event of a sale of a non-performing loan or claims arising from it, the credit institution must submit certain information on the loan purchases to the FMA every six months. This includes, for example, information on the non-performing loan sold, such as the outstanding amount or the number and scope of the loans sold.
Contractual and civil law principles for the transfer of claims and the protection of consumers or borrowers remain unaffected by the KKG.
5.FMA as licensing and supervisory authority
Authorisation by the FMA is required for the provision of credit servicer activities.
Essentially, the credit servicer must be a legal entity with reliable management, professional suitability and a solid corporate structure, reliable complaints management and sufficient transparency. The FMA has published more detailed information, which you can find here.
The FMA has extensive supervisory, investigative and sanctioning powers.