It can be assumed that a loan must generally be classified as a problem loan if the borrower’s debt-servicing capacity cannot be ensured for the foreseeable future and it thus seems impossible to limit counterparty credit risk. If recovery is deemed necessary, an institution must then decide under BTO 1.2.5, item 3 of the MaRisk whether it will pursue the recovery option.

In the light of the national impact of the coronavirus crisis – now becoming evident in this respect – there is no doubt that it would be reasonable and customary for banks to pursue the recovery option with borrowers that demonstrated debt-servicing capacity prior to the crisis. BaFin is currently suspending the applicability of BTO 1.2.5, item 3 of the MaRisk; borrowers can be granted loans even if, due to the crisis, their debt-servicing capacity cannot be ensured at present or will essentially depend on the further course of the crisis. The institution must conduct an internal evaluation and conclude that the entity will be capable of survival (after the crisis), i.e. that it will again generate debt service or would not have become a recovery case without the coronavirus crisis.

This can automatically be assumed for all borrowers that receive funds from the planned KfW support programme or, where applicable, from support programmes of the federal states and the municipalities. These loans are not to be classified as problem loans for the time being; only towards the end of the support period will it have to be decided whether continued pursuit of the recovery option would require restructuring (and thus require the loans to be treated as problem loans and also require the submission of recovery reports).