►M10 To be eligible for the preferential treatment set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article, covered bonds as defined in point (1) of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2019/2162 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 22 ) shall meet the requirements set out in paragraphs 3, 3a and 3b of this Article and shall be collateralised by any of the following eligible assets: ◄
exposures to or guaranteed by central governments, the ESCB central banks, public sector entities, regional governments or local authorities in the Union;
exposures to or guaranteed by third country central governments, third-country central banks, multilateral development banks, international organisations that qualify for the credit quality step 1 as set out in this Chapter, and exposures to or guaranteed by third-country public sector entities, third-country regional governments or third-country local authorities that are risk weighted as exposures to institutions or central governments and central banks in accordance with Article 115(1) or (2), or Article 116(1), (2) or (4) respectively and that qualify for the credit quality step 1 as set out in this Chapter, and exposures within the meaning of this point that qualify as a minimum for the credit quality step 2 as set out in this Chapter, provided that they do not exceed 20 % of the nominal amount of outstanding covered bonds of the issuing institutions;
exposures to credit institutions that qualify for credit quality step 1 or credit quality step 2, or exposures to credit institutions that qualify for credit quality step 3 where those exposures are in the form of:
short‐term deposits with an original maturity not exceeding 100 days, where used to meet the cover pool liquidity buffer requirement of Article 16 of Directive (EU) 2019/2162; or
derivative contracts that meet the requirements of Article 11(1) of that Directive, where permitted by the competent authorities;
loans secured by residential property up to the lesser of the principal amount of the liens that are combined with any prior liens and 80 % of the value of the pledged properties;
residential loans fully guaranteed by an eligible protection provider referred to in Article 201 qualifying for the credit quality step 2 or above as set out in this Chapter, where the portion of each of the loans that is used to meet the requirement set out in this paragraph for collateralisation of the covered bond does not represent more than 80 % of the value of the corresponding residential property located in France, and where a loan-to-income ratio respects at most 33 % when the loan has been granted. There shall be no mortgage liens on the residential property when the loan is granted, and for the loans granted from 1 January 2014 the borrower shall be contractually committed not to grant such liens without the consent of the credit institution that granted the loan. The loan-to-income ratio represents the share of the gross income of the borrower that covers the reimbursement of the loan, including the interests. The protection provider shall be either a financial institution authorised and supervised by the competent authorities and subject to prudential requirements comparable to those applied to institutions in terms of robustness or an institution or an insurance undertaking. It shall establish a mutual guarantee fund or equivalent protection for insurance undertakings to absorb credit risk losses, whose calibration shall be periodically reviewed by the competent authorities. Both the credit institution and the protection provider shall carry out a creditworthiness assessment of the borrower;
loans secured by commercial immovable property up to the lesser of the principal amount of the liens that are combined with any prior liens and 60 % of the value of the pledged properties. Loans secured by commercial immovable property are eligible where the loan‐to‐value ratio of 60 % is exceeded up to a maximum level of 70 % if the value of the total assets pledged as collateral for the covered bonds exceed the nominal amount outstanding on the covered bond by at least 10 %, and the bondholders’ claim meets the legal certainty requirements set out in Chapter 4. The bondholders’ claim shall take priority over all other claims on the collateral;
loans secured by maritime liens on ships up to the difference between 60 % of the value of the pledged ship and the value of any prior maritime liens.
For the purposes of points (c), (d)(ii) and (f)(ii) of the first subparagraph, exposures caused by transmission and management of payments of the obligors of, or liquidation proceeds in respect of, loans secured by pledged properties of the senior units or debt securities shall not be comprised in calculating the limits referred to in those points.
For the purposes of point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, the following shall apply:
for exposures to credit institutions that qualify for credit quality step 1, the exposure shall not exceed 15 % of the nominal amount of outstanding covered bonds of the issuing credit institution;
for exposures to credit institutions that qualify for credit quality step 2, the exposure shall not exceed 10 % of the nominal amount of outstanding covered bonds of the issuing credit institution;
for exposures to credit institutions that qualify for credit quality step 3 that take the form of short‐term deposits, as referred to in point (c)(i) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article, or the form of derivative contracts, as referred to in point (c)(ii) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article, the total exposure shall not exceed 8 % of the nominal amount of outstanding covered bonds of the issuing credit institution; the competent authorities designated pursuant to Article 18(2) of Directive (EU) 2019/2162 may, after consulting EBA, allow exposures to credit institutions that qualify for credit quality step 3 in the form of derivative contracts, provided that significant potential concentration problems in the Member States concerned due to the application of credit quality step 1 and 2 requirements referred to in this paragraph can be documented;
the total exposure to credit institutions that qualify for credit quality step 1, 2 or 3 shall not exceed 15 % of the nominal amount of outstanding covered bonds of the issuing credit institution and the total exposure to credit institutions that qualify for credit quality step 2 or 3 shall not exceed 10 % of the nominal amount of outstanding covered bonds of the issuing credit institution.
For the purposes of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the total nominal amount of all cover assets as defined in point (4) of Article 3 of that Directive shall be at least of the same value as the total nominal amount of outstanding covered bonds (‘nominal principle’), and shall consist of eligible assets as set out in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Member States may set a lower minimum level of overcollateralisation for covered bonds or authorise their competent authorities to set such a level, provided that:
either the calculation of overcollateralisation is based on a formal approach where the underlying risk of the assets is taken into account, or the valuation of the assets is subject to the mortgage lending value; and
the minimum level of overcollateralisation is not lower than 2 %, based on the nominal principle referred to in Article 15(6) and (7) of Directive (EU) 2019/2162.
The assets contributing to a minimum level of overcollateralisation shall not be subject to the limits on exposure size set out in paragraph 1a and shall not count towards those limits.
Covered bonds for which a credit assessment by a nominated ECAI is available shall be assigned a risk weight in accordance with Table 6a which corresponds to the credit assessment of the ECAI in accordance with Article 136.
Table 6a
Credit quality step |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
Risk weight |
10 % |
20 % |
20 % |
50 % |
50 % |
100 % |
Covered bonds for which a credit assessment by a nominated ECAI is not available shall be assigned a risk weight on the basis of the risk weight assigned to senior unsecured exposures to the institution which issues them. The following correspondence between risk weights shall apply:
if the exposures to the institution are assigned a risk weight of 20 %, the covered bond shall be assigned a risk weight of 10 %;
if the exposures to the institution are assigned a risk weight of 50 %, the covered bond shall be assigned a risk weight of 20 %;
if the exposures to the institution are assigned a risk weight of 100 %, the covered bond shall be assigned a risk weight of 50 %;
if the exposures to the institution are assigned a risk weight of 150 %, the covered bond shall be assigned a risk weight of 100 %.
( 1 ) Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 establishing a framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms and amending Council Directive 82/891/EEC, and Directives 2001/24/EC, 2002/47/EC, 2004/25/EC, 2005/56/EC, 2007/36/EC, 2011/35/EU, 2012/30/EU and 2013/36/EU, and Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010 and (EU) No 648/2012, of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 173, 12.6.2014, p. 190).
( 2 ) Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2014 establishing uniform rules and a uniform procedure for the resolution of credit institutions and certain investment firms in the framework of a Single Resolution Mechanism and a Single Resolution Fund and amending Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 (OJ L 225, 30.7.2014, p. 1).
( 3 ) Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of 15 October 2013 conferring specific tasks on the European Central Bank concerning policies relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions (OJ L 287, 29.10.2013, p. 63).
( 4 ) Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on the prudential requirements of investment firms and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010, (EU) No 575/2013, (EU) No 600/2014 and (EU) No 806/2014 (OJ L 314, 5.12.2019, p. 1).
( 5 ) Directive (EU) 2019/2034 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on the prudential supervision of investment firms and amending Directives 2002/87/EC, 2009/65/EC, 2011/61/EU, 2013/36/EU, 2014/59/EU and 2014/65/EU (OJ L 314, 5.12.2019, p. 64).
( 6 ) Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (OJ L 173, 12.6.2014, p. 349).
( 7 ) OJ L 335, 17.12.2009, p. 1.
( 8 ) Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) (OJ L 302, 17.11.2009, p. 32).
( 9 ) Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and amending Directives 2003/41/EC and 2009/65/EC and Regulations (EC) No 1060/2009 and (EU) No 1095/2010 (OJ L 174, 1.7.2011, p. 1).
( 10 ) Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 laying down a general framework for securitisation and creating a specific framework for simple, transparent and standardised securitisation, and amending Directives 2009/65/EC, 2009/138/EC, 2011/61/EU and Regulations (EC) No 1060/2009 and (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ L 347, 28.12.2017, p. 35).
( 11 ) Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC (OJ L 337, 23.12.2015, p. 35).
( 12 ) OJ L 222, 14.8.1978, p. 11.
( 13 ) OJ L 302, 17.11.2009, p. 1.
( 14 ) Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 182, 29.6.2013, p. 19).
( 15 ) Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and amending Directive 2001/34/EC (OJ L 390, 31.12.2004, p. 38).
( 16 ) Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on improving securities settlement in the European Union and on central securities depositories and amending Directives 98/26/EC and 2014/65/EU and Regulation (EU) No 236/2012 (OJ L 257, 28.8.2014, p. 1).
( 17 ) OJ L 331, 15.12.2010, p. 48.
( 18 ) OJ L 331, 15.12.2010, p. 84.
( 19 ) Directive 2014/49/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on deposit guarantee schemes (OJ L 173, 12.6.2014, p. 149).
( 20 ) Directive 98/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 1998 on settlement finality in payment and securities settlement systems (OJ L 166, 11.6.1998, p. 45).
( 21 ) OJ L 250, 2.10.2003, p. 10.
►M10 ( 22 ) Directive (EU) 2019/2162 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on the issue of covered bonds and covered bond public supervision and amending Directives 2009/65/EC and 2014/59/EU (OJ L 328, 18.12.2019, p. 29). ◄
( 23 ) OJ L 135, 31.5.1994, p. 5.
( 24 ) Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC (OJ L 133, 22.5.2008, p. 66).
( 25 ) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 680/2014 of 16 April 2014 laying down implementing technical standards with regard to supervisory reporting of institutions according to Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 191, 28.6.2014, p. 1).
( 26 ) Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1).
( 27 ) OJ L 3, 7.1.2004, p. 36.
( 28 ) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 of 3 November 2008 adopting certain international accounting standards in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 320, 29.11.2008, p. 1).
( 29 ) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1205/2011 of 22 November 2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 adopting certain international accounting standards in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 7 (OJ L 305, 23.11.2011, p. 16).
( 30 ) Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on markets in financial instruments amending Council Directives 85/611/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directive 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 93/22/EEC (OJ L 145, 30.4.2004, p. 1).
( 31 ) Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36).
( *1 ) OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 1.’;