"The extension of GACS, the Italian State's public securitization guarantee, is important for Italian banks because a solid system needs an NPE ratio below a certain level." Prelios Group CEO Riccardo Serrini was interviewed by the editor of Class CNBC, Andrea Cabrini, on July 4. "The average European NPE ratio is 5%, whereas in Italy it’s 15%," Serrini added. "Asset-liability statements need to be cleaned up and the GACS guarantee has demonstrated how important and useful this tool is. Today there are 13 NPL securitization transactions with the public guarantee in the market pipeline. Prelios is working on 9 of them. Should the GACS be extended the banks will certainly continue to make use of it." Click here for the full interview