EUR-Lex Access to European Union law
This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Document 32016O0031
Guideline (EU) 2016/2298 of the European Central Bank of 2 November 2016 amending Guideline (EU) 2015/510 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (ECB/2016/31)
Guideline (EU) 2016/2298 of the European Central Bank of 2 November 2016 amending Guideline (EU) 2015/510 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (ECB/2016/31)
Guideline (EU) 2016/2298 of the European Central Bank of 2 November 2016 amending Guideline (EU) 2015/510 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (ECB/2016/31)
OJ L 344, 17.12.2016, p. 102–116
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
In force
17.12.2016 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
L 344/102 |
GUIDELINE (EU) 2016/2298 OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 2 November 2016
amending Guideline (EU) 2015/510 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (ECB/2016/31)
THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first indent of Article 127(2) thereof,
Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular the first indent of Article 3.1, Articles 9.2, 12.1, 14.3, 18.2 and the first paragraph of Article 20 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) |
Achieving a single monetary policy entails defining the tools, instruments and procedures to be used by the Eurosystem, which consists of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of those Member States whose currency is the euro (hereinafter the ‘NCBs’), in order to implement such a policy in a uniform manner throughout the Member States whose currency is the euro. |
(2) |
For the purpose of monetary policy operations, the Eurosystem may conduct either fixed-rate or variable-rate tender procedures. Guideline (EU) 2015/510 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/60) (1) should be amended to incorporate some necessary technical and editorial refinements relating to the operational steps of tender procedures. |
(3) |
The Eurosystem considers it necessary to amend the eligibility criteria and to adjust the risk control measures applicable to senior unsecured debt instruments issued by credit institutions or investment firms or their closely linked entities within its collateral framework to take into account the implementation of Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and the Council (2) in Member States. |
(4) |
The Eurosystem has developed a single framework for assets eligible as collateral so that all Eurosystem credit operations are carried out in a harmonised manner by means of the implementation of this Guideline in all Member States whose currency is the euro. The Governing Council considers it necessary to introduce some changes to the Eurosystem's collateral framework to allow the inclusion of coupon structures with potential negative cash flows for marketable assets. |
(5) |
The Eurosystem requires the provision of comprehensive and standardised loan-level data on the pool of cash-flow generating assets backing asset-backed securities. Loan-level data must be submitted by the relevant parties to a loan-level data repository designated by the Eurosystem. Eurosystem requirements for designating loan-level data repositories, as well as the actual designation process, need to be further clarified in the interest of transparency. |
(6) |
With the aim of safeguarding the adequacy of Eurosystem collateral, the eligibility criteria for credit claims, and, in particular, the criterion on restrictions to realisation should be amended. NCBs should take specific measures to exclude or significantly mitigate set-off risk when they accept credit claims as collateral. Credit claims originated before 1 January 2018 which have not been subject to those measures may be mobilised as collateral until 31 December 2019 provided that all other eligibility criteria are fulfilled. |
(7) |
In order to protect the Eurosystem against the risk of financial losses in the event of a counterparty's default, eligible assets mobilised as collateral for Eurosystem credit operations should be subject to the risk control measures laid down in Title VI of Part Four of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60). As a result of the regular review of the Eurosystem risk control framework, the Governing Council considers that several adjustments should be made. |
(8) |
Eligible assets are required to meet the Eurosystem's credit quality requirements specified in the Eurosystem credit assessment framework (ECAF), which lays down the procedures, rules and techniques to ensure that the Eurosystem's requirement for high credit standards for eligible assets is maintained. Following a review of the ECAF rules, specific changes should be made, in particular in relation to the general acceptance criteria of external credit assessment institutions (ECAIs) and additional operational requirements for ECAIs with respect to covered bonds. |
(9) |
Several minor technical amendments need to be made in the interests of clarity, for example with regard to the terminology of covered bonds. |
(10) |
Therefore, Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60) should be amended accordingly, |
HAS ADOPTED THIS GUIDELINE:
Article 1
Amendments
Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60) is amended as follows:
1. |
Article 2 is amended as follows:
|
2. |
Article 25 is amended as follows:
|
3. |
in Article 30, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following: ‘1. Standard tender procedures shall be publicly announced by the ECB in advance. In addition, the NCBs may announce standard tender procedures publicly and directly to counterparties, if deemed necessary. 2. Quick tender procedures may be publicly announced by the ECB in advance. In quick tender procedures that are publicly announced in advance, the NCB may contact the selected counterparties directly if deemed necessary. In quick tender procedures that are not announced publicly in advance, the selected counterparties shall be contacted directly by the NCBs.’; |
4. |
in Article 43, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. The ECB shall publicly announce its tender allotment decision with respect to the tender results. In addition, the NCBs may announce the ECB's tender allotment decision publicly and directly to counterparties if they deem it necessary.’; |
5. |
in Article 55a, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3. In the case of branches, the information reported under paragraph 1 shall relate to the institution to which the branch belongs.’; |
6. |
in Article 61, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. The ECB shall publish an updated list of eligible marketable assets on its website, in accordance with the methodologies indicated on its website and shall update it every day on which TARGET2 is operational. Marketable assets included on the list of eligible marketable assets become eligible for use in Eurosystem credit operations upon their publication on the list. As an exception to this rule, in the specific case of short-term debt instruments with same-day value settlement, the Eurosystem may grant eligibility from the date of issue. Assets assessed in accordance with Article 87(3) shall not be published on this list of eligible marketable assets.’; |
7. |
in Article 63, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall have either of the following coupon structures until final redemption:
|
8. |
the following Article 77a is inserted: ‘Article 77a Restrictions on investments for asset-backed securities Any investments of monies standing to the credit of the issuer's or of any intermediary SPV's bank accounts under the transaction documentation shall not consist, in whole or in part, actually or potentially, of tranches of other ABSs, credit-linked notes, swaps or other derivative instruments, synthetic securities or similar claims.’; |
9. |
in Article 73, paragraph 7 is deleted; |
10. |
in Article 78, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. Comprehensive and standardised loan-level data on the pool of cash-flow generating assets backing the ABSs shall be made available in accordance with the procedures set out in Annex VIII, which include the information on the required data quality score and the requirements for the Eurosystem's designation of loan-level data repositories. In its eligibility assessment, the Eurosystem takes account of: (a) any failure to deliver data, and (b) how frequently individual loan-level data fields are found not to contain meaningful data.’; |
11. |
in Section 2, Chapter 1 of Title II of Part Four the following Subsection 4 is inserted:
Article 81a Eligibility criteria for certain unsecured debt instruments 1. To be eligible for Eurosystem credit operations, unsecured debt instruments issued by credit institutions or investment firms, or by their closely-linked entities as defined in Article 138(2), shall comply with the general eligibility criteria relating to all types of marketable assets laid down in Section 1, with the exception of the requirement laid down in Article 64 to the extent that the unsecured debt instrument is subject to statutory subordination. 2. For the purposes of this subsection, statutory subordination means the subordination, based on a statutory framework applicable to the issuer, of an unsecured debt instrument that is not subject to subordination pursuant to the terms and conditions of the debt instrument, i.e. contractual subordination.’; |
12. |
in Article 83, point (a) is replaced by the following:
|
13. |
in Article 104, the following paragraph 3a is inserted: ‘3a. From 1 January 2018, NCBs shall employ a mechanism to ensure that set-off risk has been excluded or significantly mitigated when they accept as collateral credit claims originated after that date. Credit claims originated before 1 January 2018 which have not been subject to that mechanism may be mobilised as collateral until 31 December 2019 provided that all other eligibility criteria are fulfilled.’; |
14. |
Article 120 is amended as follows:
|
15. |
in Article 122(3), point (b) is replaced by the following:
|
16. |
in Article 137, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. The general eligibility criteria for marketable assets laid down in Title II of Part Four shall apply, except that marketable assets:
|
17. |
in Article 138(3), point (a) is replaced by the following:
|
18. |
in Article 139, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. Unsecured debt instruments issued by a counterparty or any other entity closely linked to that counterparty, as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 138, and fully guaranteed by one or several EEA public sector entities which have the right to levy taxes shall not be mobilised as collateral for Eurosystem credit operations by that counterparty either:
|
19. |
in Article 141, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. A counterparty shall not submit or use as collateral unsecured debt instruments issued by a credit institution, or by any other entity with which that credit institution has close links, to the extent that the value of such collateral issued by that credit institution or other entity with which it has close links taken together exceeds 2,5 % of the total value of the assets used as collateral by that counterparty after the applicable haircut. This 2,5 % threshold shall not apply in either of the following cases:
|
20. |
Article 143 is deleted; |
21. |
the following Article 144a is inserted: ‘Article 144a Eligible assets with negative cash flows 1. NCBs shall provide that a counterparty shall remain liable for the timely payment of any amount of negative cash flows related to eligible assets submitted or used by it as collateral. 2. If a counterparty fails to effect timely payment pursuant to paragraph 1, the Eurosystem may, but is not obliged to, discharge the relevant payment. NCBs shall provide that a counterparty shall refund the Eurosystem, immediately upon request from the Eurosystem, of any amount of negative cash flows paid by the Eurosystem as a result of the counterparty's failure. If a counterparty fails to make a timely payment pursuant to paragraph 1, the Eurosystem shall have the right to debit immediately and without prior notification an amount equal to the amount the Eurosystem has to pay on behalf of such counterparty either from:
3. Any amount paid by the Eurosystem under paragraph 2 that is not refunded by a counterparty immediately upon request and that cannot be debited by the Eurosystem from any relevant account as provided for under paragraph 2, shall be considered as a credit from the Eurosystem, for which a sanction is applicable in accordance with Article 154.’; |
22. |
in Article 154(1), point (a) is replaced by the following:
|
23. |
in Article 154(1), the following point (e) is added:
|
24. |
in Article 156(1), point (a) is replaced by the following:
|
25. |
in Article 156(4), point (a) is replaced by the following:
|
26. |
in Article 166, the following paragraph 4a is added: ‘4a. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements which ensure that, at all times, the home NCB is in a legal position to impose a financial penalty for a failure of a counterparty to reimburse or pay, in full or in part, any amount of the credit or of the repurchase price, or to deliver the purchased assets, at maturity or when otherwise due, in the event that no remedy is available to it pursuant to Article 166(2). The financial penalty shall be calculated in accordance with Annex VII, Section I, paragraph 1(a) to this Guideline and Annex VII, Section I, paragraphs 2 and 4 to this Guideline, taking into account the amount of cash that the counterparty could not pay or reimburse, or of the assets the counterparty could not deliver, and the number of calendar days during which the counterparty did not pay, reimburse or deliver.’; |
27. |
Annexes VII, VIII and XII are amended, and a new Annex IXa and Annex IXb is inserted, in accordance with the Annex to this Guideline. |
Article 2
Taking effect and implementation
1. This Guideline shall take effect on the day of its notification to the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro.
2. The national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro shall take the necessary measures to comply with this Guideline and apply them from 1 January 2017. They shall notify the ECB of the texts and means relating to those measures by 5 December 2016 at the latest.
Article 3
Addressees
This Guideline is addressed to all Eurosystem central banks.
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 2 November 2016.
For the Governing Council of the ECB
The President of the ECB
Mario DRAGHI
(1) Guideline (EU) 2015/510 of the European Central Bank of 19 December 2014 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (ECB/2014/60) (General Documentation Guideline) (OJ L 91, 2.4.2015, p. 3).
(2) 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).
ANNEX
Annexes VII, VIII and XII to Guideline (EU) 2015/510(ECB/2014/60) are amended, and new Annexes IXa and IXb are inserted, as follows:
1. |
in Annex VII, paragraph 1(b) is replaced by the following:
|
2. |
in Annex VII, paragraph 5(a) is replaced by the following:
|
3. |
in Annex VII, paragraph 6 is replaced by the following:
|
4. |
in Annex VII, paragraph 7 is replaced by the following:
|
5. |
Annex VIII is amended as follows:
|
6. |
The following Annex IXa is inserted: ‘ANNEX IXa Minimum coverage requirements for external credit assessment institutions in the Eurosystem credit assessment framework This Annex applies to the acceptance of a credit rating agency (CRA) as an ECAI in the Eurosystem credit assessment framework, as specified in Article 120(2). 1. COVERAGE REQUIREMENTS
2. CALCULATION OF COVERAGE
3. REVIEW OF COMPLIANCE
|
7. |
The following Annex [IXb] is inserted: ‘ANNEX IXb Minimum requirements in the Eurosystem credit assessment framework for new issue and surveillance reports on covered bond programmes 1. INTRODUCTION For the purposes of the Eurosystem credit assessment framework (ECAF), external credit assessment institutions (ECAIs), in respect of the Article 120(2), must comply with specific operational criteria in relation to covered bonds, with effect from 1 July 2017. In particular, ECAIs shall:
This Annex sets out these minimum requirements in detail. ECAIs' compliance with these requirements will be regularly reviewed. If the criteria are not fulfilled for a particular covered bond programme, the Eurosystem may deem the public credit rating(s) related to the relevant covered bond programme not to meet the high credit standards of the ECAF. Thus, the relevant ECAI's public credit rating may not be used to establish the credit quality requirements for marketable assets issued under the specific covered bond programme. 2. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
|
8. |
Annex XII, Section VI is amended as follows:
|
(*1) The prices shown for a specific valuation date correspond to the most representative price on the business day preceding this valuation date.’;