Alternative lending : risks, supervision and resolution of credit AIFs

Defence date: 23 October 2020 (Online)Examining Board: Prof. Stefan Grundmann (EUI); Prof. Peter Drahos (EUI); Prof. Christos Gortsos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens); Professor Filippo Zatti (University of Florence)The thesis examines the emergence of Debt/Credit Alternative Investment Funds in the EU, the risks that they can pose to financial stability, and the regulatory and supervisory tools available to mitigate these risks. The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2009 revealed many of the flaws in the regulation of the Banking Industry and led to massive regulatory interventions. The new rules forced Banks to maintain higher quality and quantity of capital, leading to the reduced lending capacities of Banks. This created a gap in the financing of small and medium enterprises, which is covered by alternative lenders and more specifically by Debt/Credit Alternative Investment Funds. The thesis first examines the reasons behind the emergence of these new innovative products, the risks that they can cause to the financial system, and the risk of a general market failure that can be caused by the failure of these funds. The risks of lending for both Banks and Debt/Credit Alternative Investment are then analyzed and compared. After reaching the conclusion that the risks of lending for both industries are similar, the thesis analyzes and compares the regulatory tools available in the International and European Banking legislation and in the European legislation on Alternative Investment Funds. The research has shown that although Banks and Credit/Debt Alternative Investment Funds are conducting the same lending activities, there are many differences in the regulatory requirements that they must follow, especially in relation to mitigating macroprudential and systemic risks. The thesis subsequently explores the necessity for developing a new framework tailored to Credit/Debt Alternative Investment Funds and ends with specific proposals on new macroprudential, supervision, and resolution tools to be applied to Credti/Debt Alternative Investment Funds

Re-assessment of depositional conditions of Cretaceous deposits around the Amfilochia and Arta areas

Sedimentological studies of the Cretaceous limestones in the central Ionian basin (Amfilochia, Arta as well as Kerasonas areas) indicate that these deposits are composed of calciturbidites interbedded with breccia-microbreccia deposits. In the Amfilochia new cross-section, with a NNW-SSE direction, the lower Cretaceous Vigla limestones and Vigla shales were outcropped for the first time. This section is directed parallel to the paleo Ionian basin axis and the fact of the lateral discontinuity of Vigla limestones and Vigla shales indicate that during the sedimentation of these two Formations there was a restriction along the paleo basin axis, probably due to synsedimentary transfer fault activity. Forty-two (42) samples from Vigla shales were analyzed for their content in CaCO3 and TOC, showed that these sediments present poor to fair hydrocarbon potential. In the Arta new cross-section, with a NE-SW direction, the Upper Cretaceous Senonian deposits showed strong deformation that took place during the compressional regime that affected the Ionian basin after sedimentation. This deformation appears stronger in the western part being close to a major thrust, and thus it is possible that this deformation could be responsible for the high secondary porosity of Upper Cretaceous deposits. Microfacies analysis of these deposits showed in general that deep-sea depositional environments prevailed, nevertheless in a few cases indications for the presence of environments with a shallow character imply the existence of isolated carbonate platforms close to the studied sections. In the studied sections with an E-W direction, no lateral changes were observed in the depositional conditions within the same Formation introducing standard depositional conditions across the paleo basin

Alternative lending : risks, supervision, and resolution of debt funds

Published: 30 September 2022The book covers alternative lending using the emergence of Debt Funds in the EU as a case study. The book explores the risks that they can pose to financial stability, and the regulatory and supervisory tools available to mitigate these risks. Through this analysis, the book uncovers the risks and potential risk mitigation tools that can be applied to the alternative lenders-including debt funds and other potential alternative lenders. After identifying the reasons behind the growth of alternative lenders (using as example the assets of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and in particular debt funds) and the simultaneous decrease of the banks' assets, the book analyses the systemic importance of the alternative lenders and the risk channels through which the systemic risk can spread to the banking sector and the financial system. Then, the book deals with the financial innovation-market failure theory and demonstrates that financial innovations (e.g. debt funds, securitisations) can cause market failures, resulting in regulatory interventions. Of interest to banking and financial regulation academics, researchers, and practitioners this book analyses the regulatory provisions in place for both credit institutions and debt funds, including the Basel Accords, the Capital Requirements Directives and Regulations, and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) and its implementation in various EU jurisdictions, before offering a proposal for a new three-defensive framework applicable to debt funds and to other potential alternative lenders Promitheas Peridis is a senior associate in the advisory compliance department of a major financial institution (Asset Management) in Luxembourg. He specialises and advises on the whole spectrum of Alternative Investment Funds. He holds a PhD in Law from the European University Institute (EUI) with a specialisation in Alternative Investment Funds, a LLM in Comparative, European and International Law from the European University Institute (EUI), a LLM in International Banking Law and Finance from the University of Edinburgh and a LLM in German Law with specialisation in Financial Criminal Law from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. He also teaches seminars on investment funds law and capital market law at several universities.Chapter 1: Introduction -- Part I: Alternative Lending and How to Regulate -- Chapter 2: Towards an EU market-based financial system: The emergence of Credit Alternative Investment Funds -- Chapter 3: The need for regulation: Innovation and Market Failure -- Part II: AIF-Lending and Bank Lending Compared -- Chapter 4: Lending and its risks: A comparison between Banks and Alternative Investment Funds -- Chapter 5: Regulatory tools to deal with the banking lending risks -- Chapter 6: Risk Management Tools in AIFs: The case of AIFMD -- Part III: The Policy Conclusions to Draw and Summary of the Book -- Chapter 7: Need for a new regulation or supervision and resolution regimes? -- Chapter 8: Concluding RemarksPublished version of EUI PhD thesis, 202