Eligible assets for covered bonds under Article 129 of the Capital Requirements Regulation

E-003949/2017

Subject: Eligible assets for covered bonds under Article 129 of the Capital Requirements Regulation

According to Article 129 of the Capital Requirements Regulation, covered bonds which are collateralised by ships are eligible for preferential treatment. More specifically, Article 129(1)(g) lists 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 among the eligible assets.
The article, however, does not mention assets with similar characteristics to ships, such as aircraft or trains.
In this context, does the Commission believe that, by excluding such assets, which are similar to ships, Article 129 might have any effect on competition?
What are the reasons justifying the Commission’s choice to exclude aircraft, trains and other similar means of transport from the list of eligible assets, while nevertheless including ships?
Does the Commission believe that other means of transport could be included among the list of eligible assets?

Answer given by Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the Commission

When the current rules governing the preferential treatment of certain covered bonds were introduced, a number of Member States had explicit legal frameworks for the issuance of ship-covered bonds in place, and historical evidence over the default and loss behaviour of ship loans was available. This was not the case for potential issuances of covered bonds collateralised by lending secured by aircraft or trains.
In its October 2015 report to the European Parliament and the Council on capital requirements for covered bonds, the Commission stated that it did not intend to make any proposals to include aircraft loans as eligible assets in the list of eligible assets in Article 129 of the Capital Requirement Regulation (CRR). This followed unequivocal advice from the European Banking Authority to that effect, which had raised a number of prudential concerns primarily linked to asset and market characteristics.
The Commission seeks to ensure an adequate prudential treatment for covered bonds that encourages sound lending to the real economy and also limits unjustified competitive distortions. The Commission is not aware of any such distortions caused by treating different types of assets differently as currently provided for in Article 129 of the CRR.
In more general terms, the Commission will consider which means of transport should be included in the list of eligible assets under Article 129 of the CRR in the context of its work on a legislative proposal on covered bonds. The proposal is expected for the first quarter of 2018.

E-003949/2017

Suġġett: Assi eliġibbli għal bonds koperti skont l-Artikolu 129 tar-Regolament dwar ir-Rekwiżiti ta’ Kapital
Skont l-Artikolu 129 tar-Regolament dwar ir-Rekwiżiti ta’ Kapital, il-bonds koperti li huma kkollateralizzati mill-vapuri huma eliġibbli għal trattament preferenzjali. B’mod aktar speċifiku, fost l-assi eliġibbli, l-Artikolu 129(1)(g) jelenka s-self iggarantit permezz ta’ self marittimu fuq vapuri sad-differenza bejn 60 % tal-valur tal-vapur mirhun u l-valur ta’ kwalunkwe rahan preċedenti.
L-artikolu, madankollu, ma jsemmix assi b’karatteristiċi simili għall-vapuri, bħall-ajruplani jew ferroviji.
F’dan il-kuntest, il-Kummissjoni temmen li, billi teskludi dawn l-assi, li huma simili għall-vapuri, l-Artikolu 129 jista’ jkollu xi effett fuq il-kompetizzjoni?
X’inhuma r-raġunijiet li jiġġustifikaw l-għażla tal-Kummissjoni li teskludi lill-ajruplani, il-ferroviji u mezzi oħra simili ta’ trasport mil-lista tal-assi eliġibbli, filwaqt li madankollu tinkludi lill-vapuri?
Il-Kummissjoni temmen li mezzi oħra ta’ trasport jistgħu jiġu inklużi fost il-lista ta’ assi eliġibbli?
Tweġiba mogħtija mill-Viċi President Dombrovskis

Meta ġew introdotti r-regoli attwali li jirregolaw it-trattament preferenzjali ta’ ċerti bonds koperti, għadd ta’ Stati Membri kellhom oqfsa legali espliċiti għall-ħruġ ta’ bonds koperti tal-bastimenti, u kienet disponibbli evidenza storika fuq l-imġiba ta’ inadempjenza u ta’ telf ta’ self tal-bastimenti. Dan ma kienx il-każ għall-ħruġ protenzjali ta’ bonds koperti kollateralizzati bl-għoti ta’ self iggarantit minn inġenji tal-ajru jew ferroviji.

Fir-rapport tagħha ta’ Ottubru 2015 lill-Parlament Ewropew u lill-Kunsill dwar rekwiżiti ta’ kapital għal bonds koperti, il-Kummissjoni ddikjarat li hija ma kellhiex l-intenzjoni li tagħmel xi proposti biex tinkludi s-self tal-inġenji tal-ajru bħala assi eliġibbli fil-lista ta’ assi eliġibbli fl-Artikolu 129 tar-Regolament dwar ir-Rekwiżiti tal-Kapital (Capital Requirement Regulation, CRR). Dan segwa l-parir inekwivokabbli mingħand l-Awtorità Bankarja Ewropea għal dan il-għan, li kienet semmiet għadd ta’ preokkupazzjonijiet prudenzjali marbuta primarjament mal-karatteristiċi tal-assi u tas-suq.

Il-Kummissjoni tfittex li tiżgura trattament prudenzjali adattat għall-bonds koperti li jinkoraġġixxi s-self fis-sod lill-ekonomija reali u jillimita wkoll tħarbit fil-kompetizzjoni. Il-Kummissjoni ma tafx b’xi tħarbit bħal dan ikkawżat bit-trattament ta’ tipi differenti ta’ assi b’mod differenti kif attwalment previst fl-Artikolu 129 CRR.

F’termini aktar ġenerali, il-Kummissjoni se tikkunsidra liema mezzi ta’ trasport jinħtieġ li jiġu inklużi fil-lista ta’ assi eliġibbli skont l-Artikolu 129 CRR fil-kuntest tal-ħidma tagħha dwar proposta leġiżlattiva dwar bonds koperti. Il-proposta hi mistennija għall-ewwel kwart tal-2018.