Cypriot NPL scheme on mortgages

Cypriot authorities plan to submit an official request to the European Commission in June for the implementation of a mortgage-to-rent scheme, aiming to address nonperforming loans collateralized with primary residences and the premises of small and medium-sized enterprises with an estimated contractual value of 3 billion euros.

Ignition point

If our cold March and relatively cool April made us wonder whether the planet really is heating up, we need only look to the East, where, since March, countries at about the same latitude as us (and some more northerly) are dealing with unusually high temperatures. 

Hidden opportunity

The energy crisis comes with a hidden opportunity: Efforts to contain soaring gas, oil and electricity rates could, at the same time, spawn a drive to remove at least some of the structural distortions which cause problems in the market.