About

The recovery department of the Spain branch of Novo Banco is structured in three main areas: a pre-litigation area, a litigation area and a monitoring and control area. The recovery team is not only responsible for avoiding major losses, but also for facilitating business for the bank. It comprises of two internal lawyers with the support of two other external lawyers and is integrated with three other technical members; two of them are experts in debt recovery, and one of them is specific to monitoring the department’s operative. ‘We changed the structure to look and find, the fast solution without going to courts’, says lawyer and manager for the recovery department, Eduardo Sánchez Agustí. ‘Being a small bank allows us to apply and implement this type of structure more quickly. This department’s “boutique” structure, allows us to know each case providing an individual and concrete solution’, he adds. This has allowed the legal team to make more advantageous transactions for the bank, negotiating above market standards. During the last months the legal team has proceeded to work on the sale of the largest mixed portfolio of non performing loans and real estate owned property ever made by Novo Banco Spain.