DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 26 September 2013

on additional measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral

(ECB/2013/35)

(2013/645/EU)

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, Article 12.1, Article 14.3 and Article 18.2 thereof,

Having regard to Guideline ECB/2011/14 of 20 September 2011 on monetary policy instruments and procedures of the Eurosystem (1) and Decision ECB/2013/6 of 20 March 2013 on the rules concerning the use as collateral for Eurosystem monetary policy operations of own-use uncovered government-guaranteed bank bonds (2),

Whereas:

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Changes and additions to certain provisions of Guideline ECB/2011/14

1. The rules for the conduct of Eurosystem monetary policy operations and the eligibility criteria for collateral laid down in this Decision shall apply in conjunction with other Eurosystem legal acts related to the monetary policy instruments and procedures of the Eurosystem and, in particular, Guideline ECB/2011/14.

2. In the event of any discrepancy between this Decision and Guideline ECB/2011/14 and/or any measures implementing them at national level, this Decision shall prevail. The NCBs shall continue to apply all provisions of Guideline ECB/2011/14 unaltered unless otherwise provided for in this Decision.

Article 2

Information requests

1. As part of the monetary policy framework referred to in Chapter 1 of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14, the Eurosystem reserves the right to request and obtain any relevant information needed to carry out its tasks and achieve its objectives in relation to monetary policy operations.

2. This right is without prejudice to any other existing specific rights of the Eurosystem to request information related to monetary policy operations.

Article 3

Common eligibility criteria for marketable assets

1. The following paragraphs shall be read in conjunction with the Eurosystem common eligibility requirements for marketable assets mentioned in Section 6.2.1.1(1) of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14 and the risk control measures for marketable assets mentioned in Section 6.4.2 of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14.

2. Each eligible debt instrument shall have:

3. All structures not included in paragraph 2 are ineligible. Hence, the list of excluded coupon structures of the second subparagraph of Section 6.2.1.1(1) of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14 shall be deemed inapplicable. Assets that were on the list of eligible assets on the date of entry into force of this Decision and that become ineligible because of paragraph 2 will remain eligible for 12 months from the date of entry into force of this Decision.

4. The eligibility assessment of an asset as regards its coupon structure, in the event that the coupon is of a multi-step type ‘�either fixed or floating ‘�shall be based on the entire lifetime of the asset with both a forward and backward-looking perspective.

5. Eligible coupons shall have no issuer optionalities, i.e. they shall not allow changes in the coupon structure during the entire lifetime of the asset, based on a forward and backward-looking perspective, that are contingent on an issuer‘檚 decision.

6. The second paragraph of Section 6.7 of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14 shall cease to apply.

Article 4

Additional eligibility criterion for commercial-mortgage backed securities

Without prejudice to the eligibility criteria of Section 6.2.1.1.2 of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14, the cash-flow generating assets backing commercial-mortgage backed securities shall not contain loans which are at any time, structured, syndicated or leveraged. For the purposes of this Article, the terms ‘structured loan‘� ‘syndicated loan‘�and ‘榣everaged loan‘�shall have the meanings given to them in points 4 to 6 of Article 3(6) of Guideline ECB/2013/4.

Article 5

Specific eligibility criteria for covered bonds

1. The following paragraphs shall be read in conjunction with the additional eligibility criteria for covered bonds specified in Section 6.2.1.1.3 of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14.

2. For the purposes of Section 6.2.1.1.3(b) of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14, an entity is considered to be part of a consolidated group or affiliated to the same central body if there are close links between the entities involved as described in Section 6.2.3.2. The common group membership or affiliation is to be determined at the time the senior units of the asset-backed security are transferred into the cover pool of the covered bond, in line with Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions (7).

3. Covered bonds which were on the list of eligible assets on 30 March 2013 shall benefit from a grandfathering period until 28 November 2014. Tap issues of such covered bonds may also benefit from the grandfathering period provided that, from 31 March 2013, asset-backed securities that do not comply with the requirements specified in Section 6.2.1.1.3(a) to (c) of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14 are not added to the cover pool.

4. Paragraphs 1 to 3 above shall be understood without prejudice to the rules of Decision ECB/2013/6 concerning the use as collateral for Eurosystem monetary policy operations of own-use uncovered government-guaranteed bank bonds.

Article 6

Additional high credit standards for marketable assets

1. The ECAI credit assessment of marketable assets other than asset-backed securities, mentioned in Section 6.3.2(a) ECAI credit assessment, of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14, shall be subject to the following criteria:

2. The credit quality threshold applicable to asset-backed securities subject to the loan-level data reporting requirements, as specified in the Eurosystem credit assessment framework in Section 6.3.2(b) ECAI credit assessment of asset-backed securities- of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14, shall correspond to Credit Quality Step (CQS) 2 of the Eurosystem‘檚 harmonised rating scale (‘single A‘�a href="#ntr11-L_2013301EN.01000601-E0011" id="ntc11-L_2013301EN.01000601-E0011" shape="rect"> (11)