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►B ►M2 GUIDELINE (EU) 2015/510 OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 19 December 2014  
on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (General Documentation 
Guideline) (ECB/2014/60) ◄ 
(recast)  
(OJ L 91, 2.4.2015, p. 3)  
Amended by:  
Official Journal  
No page  date  
►M1 Guideline (EU) 2015/732 of the European Central Bank of 16 Apr il 
2015  L 116  2 2  7.5.2015  
►M2 Guideline (EU) 2015/1938 of the European Central Bank of 27 Au gust 
2015  L 282  4 1  28.10.2015  
►M3 Guideline (EU) 2016/64 of the European Central Bank of 18 Nove mber 
2015  L 14  2 5  21.1.2016  
►M4 Guideline (EU) 2016/2298 of the European Central Bank of 2 
November 2016  L 344  102  17.12.2016  
►M5 Guideline (EU) 2017/1362 of the European Central Bank of 18 Ma y 
2017  L 190  2 6  21.7.2017  
►M6 Guideline (EU) 2018/570 of the European Central Bank of 7 Febr uary 
2018  L 95  2 3  13.4.2018  
►M7 Guideline (EU) 2019/1032 of the European Central Bank of 10 Ma y 
2019  L 167  6 4  24.6.2019  
►M8 Decision (EU) 2020/506 of the European Central Bank of 7 April  2020  L 109I  1  7.4.2020  
►M9 Guideline (EU) 2020/1690 of the European Central Bank of 25 
September 2020  L 379  7 7  13.11.2020  
►M10  Guideline (EU) 2021/889 of the European Central Bank of 6 May 2021  L 196  1  3.6.2021  
Corrected by:  
►C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 332, 18.12.2015, p. 158 (2015/1938)  02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 1
02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 2  
▼M2 
GUIDELINE (EU) 2015/510 OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL 
BANK  
of 19 December 2014  
on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy 
framework (General Documentation Guideline) (ECB/2014/60) 
▼B 
(recast)  
CONTENTS  
PART ONE — SUBJECT MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS  
PART TWO — THE EUROSYSTEM MONETARY POLICY 
TOOLS, OPERATIONS, INSTRUMENTS AND PROCEDURES  
TITLE I — Open market operations  
Chapter 1 — Overview of open market operations  
Chapter 2 — Categories of open market operations  
Chapter 3 — Instruments for open market operations  
TITLE II — Standing facilities  
Chapter 1 — Marginal lending facility  
Chapter 2 — Deposit facility  
TITLE III — Procedures for Eurosystem monetary policy operation s 
Chapter 1 — Tender and bilateral procedures for Eurosystem open  
market operations  
Section 1 — Tender procedures  
Section 2 — Operational steps for tender procedures  
Subsection 1 — Announcement of tender procedures  
Subsection 2 — Preparation and submission of bids by counterpar ties 
Subsection 3 — Tender allotment  
Subsection 4 — Announcement of tender results  
Section 3 — Bilateral procedures for Eurosystem open market 
operations  
Chapter 2 — Settlement procedures for Eurosystem monetary polic y 
operations  
PART THREE — ELIGIBLE COUNTERPARTIES  
PART FOUR — ELIGIBLE ASSETS  
TITLE I — General principles  
TITLE II — Eligibility criteria and credit quality requirements  for 
marketable assets  
Chapter 1 — Eligibility criteria for marketable assets  
Section 1 — General eligibility criteria for marketable assets  
Section 2 — Specific eligibility criteria for certain types of marketable 
assets  
Subsection 1 — Specific eligibility criteria for asset-backed s ecurities  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 3  
Subsection 2 — Specific eligibility criteria for covered bonds backed 
by asset-backed securities  
Subsection 3 — Specific eligibility criteria for debt certifica tes issued 
by the eurosystem  
Subsection 4 — Specific eligibility criteria for certain unsecu red debt 
instruments  
Chapter 2 — Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for market able 
assets  
TITLE III — Eligibility criteria and credit quality requirement s for 
non-marketable assets  
Chapter 1 — Eligibility criteria for non-marketable assets  
Section 1 — Eligibility criteria for credit claims  
Section 2 — Eligibility criteria for fixed-term deposits  
Section 3 — Eligibility criteria for RMBDs  
Section 4 — Eligibility criteria for DECCs  
Chapter 2 — Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for 
non-marketable assets  
Section 1 — Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for credit  claims  
Section 2 — Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for RMBDs  
Section 3 — The Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for DE CCs 
TITLE IV — Guarantees for marketable and non-marketable assets  
TITLE V — Eurosystem credit assessment framework for eligible 
assets  
TITLE VI — Risk control and valuation framework of marketable a nd 
non-marketable assets  
Chapter 1 — Risk control measures for marketable assets  
Chapter 2 — Risk control measures for non-marketable assets  
Chapter 3 — Valuation rules for marketable and non-marketable a ssets  
TITLE VII — Acceptance of non euro-denominated collateral in 
contingencies  
TITLE VIII — Rules for the use of eligible assets  
TITLE IX — Cross-border use of eligible assets  
PART FIVE — SANCTIONS IN THE EVENT OF A FAILURE TO 
COMPLY WITH COUNTERPARTY OBLIGATIONS  
PART SIX — DISCRETIONARY MEASURES  
PART SEVEN —  ADDITIONAL MINIMUM COMMON FEATURES 
IN RELATION TO EUROSYSTEM MONETARY POLICY 
OPERATIONS  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 4  
Chapter 1 — Additional minimum common features applicable to al l 
arrangements for Eurosystem monetary policy operations  
Chapter 2 — Additional minimum common features applicable to bo th 
repurchase and collateralised loan agreements  
Chapter 3 — Additional minimum common features exclusive to 
repurchase agreements  
Chapter 4 — Additional minimum common features exclusive to 
collateralised loan arrangements  
Chapter 5 — Additional minimum common features exclusive to 
foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy purposes  
PART EIGHT — FINAL PROVISIONS  
ANNEX I — Minimum reserves  
ANNEX II — Announcement of tender operations  
ANNEX III — Allotment of tenders and tender procedures  
ANNEX IV — Announcement of tender results  
ANNEX V — Criteria for the selection of counterparties to parti cipate 
in foreign exchange intervention operations  
ANNEX VI — Cross-border use of eligible assets  
ANNEX VIa — Eligibility criteria for the use of securities sett lement 
systems and links between securities settlement 
systems in Eurosystem credit operations  
ANNEX VII — Calculation of sanctions to be applied in accordanc e 
with part five and financial penalties to be applied in 
accordance with part seven  
ANNEX VIII — Loan-level data reporting requirements for 
asset-backed securities and the requirements for 
loan-level data repositories  
ANNEX IX — Eurosystem credit assessment framework performance 
monitoring process  
ANNEX IXa — Minimum coverage requirements for external credit 
assessment institutions in the Eurosystem credit 
assessment framework  
ANNEX IXb — Minimum requirements in the Eurosystem credit 
assessment framework for new issue and surveillance 
reports on covered bond programmes  
ANNEX IXc — ECAI acceptance criteria and application process  
ANNEX XI — Security forms  
ANNEX XII — Examples of Eurosystem monetary policy operations 
and procedure  
ANNEX XIIa —  
ANNEX XIII — Correlation table  
ANNEX XIV — Repealed Guideline with list of its successive 
amendments  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 5  
PART ONE  
SUBJECT MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS  
Article 1  
Subject matter and scope  
1. This Guideline sets out the uniform rules for the implementa tion 
of the single monetary policy by the Eurosystem throughout the 
Member States whose currency is the euro.  
2. The Eurosystem shall take all the appropriate measures to 
implement Eurosystem monetary policy operations in accordance w ith 
the principles, tools, instruments, requirements, criteria and procedures 
laid down in this Guideline.  
3. The legal relationship between the Eurosystem and its 
counterparties shall be established in appropriate contractual or regu­
latory arrangements applied by the relevant NCB, in which the 
provisions of this Guideline are implemented accordingly.  
4. The ECB's Governing Council may, at any time, change the too ls, 
instruments, requirements, criteria and procedures for the impl emen­
tation of Eurosystem monetary policy operations.  
5. The Eurosystem reserves the right to request and obtain any 
relevant information from counterparties that is needed to carr y out its 
tasks and achieve its objectives in relation to monetary policy  
operations. This right is without prejudice to any other existi ng 
specific rights of the Eurosystem to request information relati ng to 
monetary policy operations.  
Article 2  
Definitions  
For the purposes of this Guideline, the following definitions s hall apply:  
(1) ‘actual/360 day-count convention’ means the convention appl ied 
in Eurosystem monetary policy operations which determines the 
actual number of calendar days included in the calculation of 
interest by using a 360-day year as the basis;  
▼M7 
(2) ‘agency’ means an entity that is established in a Member St ate 
whose currency is the euro and that either engages in certain 
common-good activities carried out at national or regional leve l 
or serves their funding needs, and which the Eurosystem has 
classified as an agency. The list of entities classified as 
agencies shall be published on the ECB's website and shall 
specify whether the quantitative criteria for valuation haircut  
purposes set out in Annex XIIa are met in respect of each entit y; 
▼B 
(3) ‘asset-backed securities’ (ABSs) means debt instruments tha t are 
backed by a pool of ring fenced financial assets (fixed or 
revolving), that convert into cash within a finite time period.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 6  
In addition, rights or other assets may exist that ensure the 
servicing or timely distribution of proceeds to the holders of 
the security. Generally, asset-backed securities are issued by a 
specially created investment vehicle which has acquired the 
pool of financial assets from the originator or seller. In this  
regard, payments on the asset-backed securities depend 
primarily on the cash flows generated by the assets in the 
underlying pool and other rights designed to assure timely 
payment, such as liquidity facilities, guarantees or other 
features generally known as credit enhancements;  
(4) ‘bilateral procedure’ means a procedure whereby the NCBs or , in 
exceptional circumstances the ECB, conduct fine-tuning 
operations or outright transactions, directly with one or more 
counterparties, or through stock exchanges or market agents, 
without making use of tender procedures;  
(5) ‘book-entry system’ means a system that enables transfers o f 
securities and other financial assets which do not involve the 
physical movement of paper documents or certificates, e.g. the 
electronic transfer of securities;  
(6) ‘business day’ means: (a) in relation to an obligation to m ake a 
payment, any day on which TARGET2 is operational to effect 
such a payment; or (b) in relation to an obligation to deliver 
assets, any day on which the SSS through which delivery is to 
be made is open for business in the place where delivery of the  
relevant securities is to be effected;  
▼M6 
(7) ‘central securities depository’ (CSD) means a central secur ities 
depository as defined in point (1) of Article 2(1) of Regu­
lation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council (  1 ); 
▼B 
(8) ‘collateralised loan’ means an arrangement between an NCB a nd 
a counterparty whereby liquidity is provided to a counterparty by 
way of a loan that is secured by an enforceable security intere st 
granted by that counterparty to the NCB in the form of e.g. a 
pledge, assignment or charge granted over assets;  
(9) ‘collection of fixed-term deposits’ means an instrument use d in 
conducting open market operations, whereby the Eurosystem 
invites counterparties to place fixed-term deposits on accounts  
with their home NCBs in order to absorb liquidity from the 
market;  
▼M2 
(10) ‘competent authority’ means a public authority or body officia lly 
recognised by national law that is empowered by national law to  
supervise institutions as part of the supervisory system in the  
relevant Member State, including the ECB with regard to the 
tasks conferred on it by Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 (  2 ); ▼B 
( 1 ) Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of  the Council 
of 23 July 2014 on improving securities settlement in the Europ ean 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). 
( 2 ) Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of 15 October 2013 confe rring 
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).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 7  
(11) ‘counterparty’ means an institution fulfilling the eligibi lity criteria 
laid down in Part Three entitling it to access the Eurosystem's  
monetary policy operations;  
▼M4 
(12) ‘covered bond’ means a debt instrument that is dual recour se: (a) 
directly or indirectly to a credit institution; and (b) to a dy namic 
cover pool of underlying assets, and for which there is no 
tranching of risk;  
▼B 
(13) ‘credit claim’ means a claim for the repayment of money, w hich 
constitutes a debt obligation of a debtor vis-à-vis a counterpa rty. 
Credit claims also include  Schuldscheindarlehen  and 
Dutch-registered private claims on the government or other 
eligible debtors that are covered by a government guarantee, 
e.g. housing associations;  
(14) ‘credit institution’ means a credit institution within the  meaning 
of Article 2(5) of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council (  1 ) and point (1) of Article 4(1) 
of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council (  2 ), which is subject to supervision by a competent 
authority; or a publicly-owned credit institution within the 
meaning of Article 123(2) of the Treaty that is subject to supe r­
vision of a standard comparable to supervision by a competent 
authority;  
(15) ‘credit rating’ has the same meaning as in Article 3(1)(a)  of 
Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council (  3 ); 
▼M3 
(16) ‘cross-border use’ means the submission, as collateral, by  a  
counterparty to its home NCB of:  
(a) marketable assets held in another Member State whose 
currency is the euro;  
(b) marketable assets issued in another Member State and held i n 
the Member State of the home NCB;  
(c) credit claims where the credit claim agreement is governed by 
the laws of another Member State whose currency is the euro 
other than that of the home NCB;  ▼B 
( 1 ) Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Co uncil of 
26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions a nd the prudential 
supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amendi ng Directive 
2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC ( OJ L 176, 
27.6.2013, p. 338). 
( 2 ) Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of  the Council 
of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit instituti ons and 
investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ L  176, 
27.6.2013, p. 1). 
( 3 ) Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and o f the 
Council of 16 September 2009 on credit rating agencies (OJ L 30 2, 
17.11.2009, p. 1).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 8  
(d) retail mortgage-backed debt instruments (RMBDs) in 
accordance with the applicable procedures of the CCBM;  
(e) non-marketable debt instruments backed by eligible credit 
claims (DECCs) issued and held in another Member State 
whose currency is the euro other than that of the home NCB;  
▼B 
(17) ‘currency hedge’ means an agreement entered into between a  
securities issuer and a hedge counterparty, pursuant to which a  
portion of the currency risk arising from the receipt of cash f lows 
in a non-euro currency is mitigated by swapping the cash flows 
for euro currency payments to be made by the hedge 
counterparty, including any guarantee by the hedge counterparty  
of those payments;  
(18) ‘custodian’ means an entity which undertakes the safekeepi ng and 
administration of securities and other financial assets on beha lf of 
others;  
(19) ‘default market value’ means, with regard to any assets on  any 
date:  
(a) the market value of such assets at the default valuation ti me 
calculated on the basis of the most representative price on the  
business day preceding the valuation date;  
(b) in the absence of a representative price for a particular a sset 
on the business day preceding the valuation date, the last 
trading price is used. If no trading price is available, the 
NCB undertaking the operation will define a price, taking 
into account the last price identified for the asset in the 
reference market;  
(c) in the case of assets for which no market value exists, any  
other reasonable method of valuation;  
(d) if the NCB has sold the assets or equivalent assets at the 
market price before the default valuation time, the net 
proceeds of sale, after deducting all reasonable costs, fees 
and expenses incurred in connection with such sale, such 
calculation being made and amounts determined by the NCB;  
(20) ‘delivery-versus-payment’ or ‘delivery-against-payment sys tem’ 
means a mechanism in an exchange-for-value settlement system 
which ensures that the final transfer, i.e. the delivery, of as sets 
occurs only upon the occurrence of a corresponding final transf er 
of other assets, i.e. the payment;  
(21) ‘deposit facility’ means a standing facility offered by th e Euro­
system which counterparties may use to make overnight deposits 
at the Eurosystem through an NCB, which are remunerated at 
a pre-specified interest rate;  ▼M3
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 9  
(22) ‘deposit facility rate’ means the interest rate applied to  the deposit 
facility;  
▼M6 
(22a) ‘direct link’ means an arrangement between two SSSs opera ted 
by CSDs, whereby one CSD becomes a direct participant in the 
SSS operated by the other CSD by opening a securities account, 
in order to allow the transfer of securities through a book-ent ry 
process;  
▼M2 
(23) ‘domestic use’ means the submission, as collateral, by a 
counterparty established in a Member State whose currency is 
the euro, of:  
(a) marketable assets issued and held in the same Member State 
as that of its home NCB;  
(b) credit claims where the credit claim agreement is governed by 
the laws of the Member State of its home NCB;  
(c) RMBDs issued by entities established in the Member State of  
its home NCB;  
(d) non-marketable debt instruments backed by eligible credit 
claims issued and held in the same Member State as that 
of its home NCB;  
▼B 
(24) ‘earmarking system’ means a system for NCBs' collateral 
management whereby liquidity is provided against specified, 
identifiable assets earmarked as collateral for specified Euro­
system credit operations. The substitution of these assets with  
other specific eligible assets may be permitted by the home 
NCB provided that they are earmarked as collateral and are 
adequate for the specific operation;  
▼M9 
(24a) ‘EEA legislative covered bond’ means a covered bond which  is 
issued in accordance with the requirements under Article 52(4) of 
Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council (  1 ); 
▼B 
(25) ‘eligible assets’ means assets that fulfil the criteria la id down in 
Part Four and are accordingly eligible as collateral for Euro­
system credit operations;  
▼M6 
(25a) ‘eligible link’ means a direct or relayed link that the E urosystem 
has assessed as compliant with the eligibility criteria laid do wn in 
Annex VIa for use in Eurosystem credit operations and is 
published on the Eurosystem list of eligible links on the ECB's  
website. An eligible relayed link is composed of underlying 
eligible direct links;  
(25b) ‘eligible SSS’ means an SSS operated by a CSD that the Eu ro­
system has assessed as compliant with the eligibility criteria laid 
down in Annex VIa for use in Eurosystem credit operations and 
is published on the Eurosystem list of eligible SSSs on the ECB 's 
website;  ▼B 
( 1 ) Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Co uncil of 
13 July 2009 on the coordination of laws, regulation and admini strative 
provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment i n transferable 
securities (UCITS) (OJ L 302, 17.11.2009, p. 32).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 10  
(26) ‘end-of-day’ means the time of the business day following 
closure of TARGET2 at which the payments processed in 
TARGET2 are finalised for the day;  
▼M7 
(26a) ‘ESMA reporting activation date’ means the first day on w hich 
both (a) a securitisation repository has been registered by the  
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and 
therefore becomes an ESMA securitisation repository and (b) 
the relevant implementing technical standards, in the format of  
the standardised templates, have been adopted by the 
Commission under Article 7(4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 
of the European Parliament and of the Council (  1 ) and have 
become applicable;  
(26b) ‘ESMA securitisation repository’ means a securitisation 
repository within the meaning of point (23) of Article 2 of Reg u­
lation (EU) 2017/2402, which is registered with ESMA pursuant 
to Article 10 of that Regulation;  
▼B 
(27) ‘euro area inflation index’ means an index provided by Eur ostat 
or a national statistical authority of a Member State whose 
currency is the euro, e.g. the Harmonised Index of Consumer 
Prices (HICP);  
(28) ‘European Economic Area’ (EEA) means all Member States, 
regardless of whether or not they have formally acceded to the 
EEA, together with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway;  
(29) ‘Eurosystem’ means the ECB and the NCBs;  
(30) ‘Eurosystem business day’ means any day on which the ECB a nd 
at least one NCB are open for the purpose of conducting Euro­
system monetary policy operations;  
(31) ‘Eurosystem credit operations’ means: (a) liquidity-provid ing 
reverse transactions, i.e. liquidity-providing Eurosystem 
monetary policy operations excluding foreign exchange swaps 
for monetary policy purposes and outright purchases; and (b) 
intraday credit;  ▼B 
( 1 ) Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 of the European Parliament and of t he Council of 
12 December 2017 laying down a general framework for securitisa tion and 
creating a specific framework for simple, transparent and stand ardised secu­
ritisation, and amending Directives 2009/65/EC, 2009/138/EC and  
2011/61/EU and Regulations (EC) No 1060/2009 and (EU) No 648/20 12 
(OJ L 347, 28.12.2017, p. 35).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 11  
(31a) ‘Eurosystem designated repository’ means an entity design ated by 
the Eurosystem in accordance with Annex VIII and which 
continues to fulfil the requirements for designation set out in  
that Annex;  
▼B 
(32) ‘Eurosystem monetary policy operations’ means open market 
operations and standing facilities;  
▼M6 __________  
▼B 
(34) ‘final transfer’ means an irrevocable and unconditional tr ansfer 
which effects the discharge of the obligation to make the trans fer; 
▼M6 
(35) ‘financial corporation’ means a financial corporation as d efined in 
Annex A to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council (  1 ); 
▼B 
(36) ‘fine-tuning operations’ means a category of open market 
operations executed by the Eurosystem, particularly to deal 
with liquidity fluctuations in the market;  
(37) ‘fixed coupons’ means debt instruments with a predetermine d 
periodic interest payment;  
(38) ‘fixed-rate tender procedure’ means a tender procedure whe reby 
the ECB specifies the interest rate, price, swap point or sprea d in 
advance of the tender procedure and participating counterpartie s 
bid the amount they want to transact at that fixed interest rat e, 
price, swap point or spread;  
(39) ‘floating coupon’ means a coupon linked to a reference int erest 
rate with a resetting period corresponding to this coupon of no  
longer than one year;  
(40) ‘foreign exchange swap for monetary policy purposes’ is an  
instrument used in conducting open market operations whereby 
the Eurosystem buys or sells euro spot against a foreign curren cy 
and, at the same time, sells or buys it back in a forward trans ­
action on a specified repurchase date;  ▼M7 
( 1 ) Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of  the Council 
of 21 May 2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in 
the European Union (ESA 2010) (OJ L 174, 26.6.2013, p. 1).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 12  
(41) ‘home NCB’ means the NCB of the Member State whose 
currency is the euro in which the counterparty is established;  
(42) ‘indicative calendar for the Eurosystem's regular tender 
operations’ means a calendar prepared by the Eurosystem, as 
endorsed by the ECB's Governing Council, which indicates the 
timing of the reserve maintenance period, as well as the 
announcement, allotment and maturity of main refinancing 
operations and regular longer-term refinancing operations;  
▼M2 
(42a) ‘in-kind recapitalisation with public debt instruments’ m eans any 
form of increase in the subscribed capital of a credit institut ion 
where all or part of the consideration is provided through a di rect 
placement with the credit institution of sovereign or public se ctor 
debt instruments that have been issued by the sovereign state o r 
public sector entity providing the new capital to the credit 
institution;  
▼B 
(43) ‘international central securities depository’ (ICSD) means  a CSD 
that is active in the settlement of internationally traded secu rities 
from various national markets, typically across currency areas;  
(44) ‘international organisation’ means an entity listed in Art icle 118 
of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, whereby exposures to such an 
entity are assigned a 0 % risk weight;  
(45) ‘international securities identification number’ (ISIN) me ans the 
international identification code assigned to securities issued  in 
financial markets;  
▼M6 
(46) ‘intraday credit’ means intraday credit as defined in poin t (26) of 
Article 2 of Guideline ECB/2012/27 (  1 ); 
▼M4 
(46a) ‘investment firm’ means an investment firm within the mea ning 
of point (2) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;  
▼M6 
(46b) ‘investment fund’ means money market funds (MMFs) or 
non-money market funds (non-MMFs) as defined in Annex A 
to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;  ▼B 
( 1 ) Guideline ECB/2012/27 of 5 December 2012 on a Trans-European 
Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer system 
(TARGET2) (OJ L 30, 30.1.2013, p. 1).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 13  
(47) ‘issuance of ECB debt certificates’ means a monetary polic y 
instrument used in conducting open market operations, whereby 
the ECB issues debt certificates which represent a debt obligat ion 
of the ECB in relation to the certificate holder;  
▼M9 
(48) ‘jumbo covered bond’ means an EEA legislative covered bond  
with an issuing volume of at least EUR 1 billion, for which at 
least three market-makers provide regular bid and ask quotes;  
▼M3 
(49) ‘leasing receivables’ means the scheduled and contractuall y 
mandated payments by the lessee to the lessor under the term 
of a lease agreement. Residual values are not leasing receivabl es. 
Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) agreements, i.e. agreements 
pursuant to which the obligor may exercise its option: (a) to 
make a final payment to acquire full legal title of the goods; or 
(b) to return the goods in settlement of the agreement; are 
assimilated to leasing agreements;  
▼M9 
(49a) ‘legislative covered bond’ means a covered bond which is either 
an EEA legislative covered bond or a non-EEA G10 legislative 
covered bond;  
▼B 
(50) ‘liquidity support’ means any structural, actual or potent ial 
feature that is designed or deemed appropriate to cover any 
temporary cash flow shortfall that may occur during the 
lifetime of an ABS transaction;  
▼M7 
(50a) ‘loan-level data repository’ means an ESMA securitisation  
repository or a Eurosystem designated repository;  
▼B 
(51) ‘longer-term refinancing operations’ (LTROs) means a categ ory 
of open market operations that are executed by the Eurosystem i n 
the form of reverse transactions that are aimed at providing 
liquidity with a maturity longer than that of the main refinanc ing 
operations to the financial sector;  
(52) ‘main refinancing operations’ (MROs) means a category of 
regular open market operations that are executed by the Euro­
system in the form of reverse transactions;  
(53) ‘maintenance period’ has the same meaning as defined in 
Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9);  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 14  
(54) ‘margin call’ means a procedure relating to the applicatio n of 
variation margins, implying that if the value of the assets 
mobilised as collateral by a counterparty, as regularly 
measured, falls below a certain level, the Eurosystem requires 
the counterparty to supply additional eligible assets or cash. For 
pooling systems, a margin call is performed only in cases of 
under-collateralisation, and for earmarking systems symmetric 
margin calls are performed, each method as further specified in  
the national documentation of the home NCB;  
(55) ‘marginal interest rate’ means the lowest interest rate in  
liquidity-providing variable rate tender procedures at which bi ds 
are fulfilled, or the highest interest rate in liquidity-absorb ing 
variable rate tender procedures at which bids are fulfilled;  
(56) ‘marginal lending facility’ means a standing facility offe red by 
the Eurosystem which counterparties may use to receive 
overnight credit from the Eurosystem through an NCB at a pre- 
specified interest rate subject to a requirement for sufficient  
eligible assets as collateral;  
(57) ‘marginal lending facility rate’ means the interest rate a pplied to 
the marginal lending facility;  
(58) ‘marginal swap point quotation’ means the swap point quota tion 
at which the total tender allotment is exhausted;  
(59) ‘marketable assets’ means debt instruments that are admitt ed to 
trading on a market and that fulfil the eligibility criteria la id down 
in Part Four;  
(60) ‘maturity date’ means the date on which a Eurosystem monet ary 
policy operation expires. In the case of a repurchase agreement  or 
swap, the maturity date corresponds to the repurchase date;  
(61) ‘Member State’ means a Member State of the Union;  
(62) ‘ multi cédulas ’ means debt instruments issued by specific Spanish 
SPVs (Fondo de Titulización de Activos, FTA) enabling a certain  
number of small-sized single  cédulas  (Spanish covered bonds) 
from several originators to be pooled together;  
(63) ‘multilateral development bank’ means an entity listed in 
Article 117(2) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, whereby 
exposures to such an entity are assigned a 0 % risk weight;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 15  
(64) ‘multiple rate auction (American auction)’ means an auctio n in 
which the allotment interest rate or price or swap point equals  the 
interest rate or price or swap point offered in each individual  bid;  
(65) ‘multi-step coupon’ means a coupon structure where the mar gin 
part ( x) increases more than once during the life of the asset 
according to a predetermined schedule on predetermined dates, 
usually the call date or the coupon payment date;  
(66) ‘national central bank’ (NCB) means a national central ban k of a 
Member State whose currency is the euro;  
(67) ‘NCB business day’ means any day on which an NCB is open f or 
the purpose of conducting Eurosystem monetary policy 
operations, including days when branches of such an NCB may 
be closed due to local or regional bank holidays;  
(68) ‘non-EEA G10 countries’ means the countries participating in the 
Group of Ten (G10) that are not EEA countries, i.e. the United 
States of America, Canada, Japan and Switzerland;  
▼M9 
(68a) ‘non-EEA G10 legislative covered bond’ means a covered bo nd 
issued in accordance with the requirements of the national 
covered bond legislative framework of a non-EEA G10 country;  
▼B 
(69) ‘non-financial corporation’ has the same meaning as in 
Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;  
▼M2 
(70) ‘non-marketable asset’ means any of the following assets: 
fixed-term deposits, credit claims, RMBDs and non-marketable 
debt instruments backed by eligible credit claims;  
(70a) ‘Non-marketable debt instruments backed by eligible credi t 
claims’ (hereinafter ‘DECCs’) means debt instruments:  
(a) that are backed, directly or indirectly, by credit claims t hat 
satisfy all Eurosystem eligibility criteria for credit claims i n 
accordance with Section 1, Chapter 1 of Title III of Part 
Four, subject to the provisions of Article 107f;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 16  
(b) that offer dual recourse to: (i) a credit institution that is the 
originator of the underlying credit claims; and (ii) the 
dynamic cover pool of underlying credit claims referred to 
in point (a);  
(c) for which there is no tranching of risk;  
▼M9 __________  
▼B 
(72) ‘outright transaction’ means an instrument used in conduct ing 
open market operations, whereby the Eurosystem buys or sells 
eligible marketable assets outright in the market (spot or 
forward), resulting in a full transfer of ownership from the 
seller to the buyer with no connected reverse transfer of 
ownership;  
(73) ‘pooling system’ means a system for NCBs' collateral 
management, whereby a counterparty maintains a pool account 
with an NCB to deposit assets collateralising that counterparty 's 
related Eurosystem credit operations, whereby the assets are 
recorded in such a way that an individual eligible asset is not  
linked to a specific Eurosystem credit operation and the 
counterparty may substitute eligible assets on a continuous bas is; 
▼M4 
(74) ‘public credit rating’ means a credit rating which is: (a)  issued or 
endorsed by a credit rating agency registered in the Union that  is 
accepted as an external credit assessment institution by the Eu ro­
system; and (b) disclosed publicly or distributed by subscripti on; 
▼B 
(75) ‘public sector entity’ means an entity that is classified by a 
national statistical authority as a unit within the public sect or 
for the purposes of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;  
(76) ‘quick tender’ means a tender procedure, which is normally  
executed within a time frame of 105 minutes from the 
announcement of the tender to the certification of the allotmen t 
result, and which can be restricted to a limited set of 
counterparties, as further specified in Part Two;  
▼M6 
(76a) ‘relayed link’ means a link established between SSSs oper ated by 
two different CSDs which exchange securities transactions or 
transfers through a third SSS operated by a CSD acting as an 
intermediary or, in the case of SSSs operated by CSDs partici­
pating in TARGET2-Securities, through several SSSs operated by 
CSDs acting as intermediaries;  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 17  
(77) ‘repurchase agreement’ means an arrangement whereby an 
eligible asset is sold to a buyer without any retention of 
ownership on the part of the seller, while the seller simul­
taneously obtains the right and the obligation to repurchase an  
equivalent asset at a specific price on a future date or on dem and; 
(78) ‘repurchase date’ means the date on which the buyer is obl iged to 
sell back equivalent assets to the seller in relation to a tran saction 
under a repurchase agreement;  
(79) ‘repurchase price’ means the price at which the buyer is o bliged 
to sell back equivalent assets to the seller in relation to a t rans­
action under a repurchase agreement. The repurchase price equal s 
the sum of the purchase price and the price differential corre­
sponding to the interest on the advanced liquidity over the 
maturity of the operation;  
(80) ‘reverse transaction’ means an instrument used in conducti ng 
open market operations and when providing access to the 
marginal lending facility whereby an NCB buys or sells 
eligible assets under a repurchase agreement or conducts credit  
operations in the form of collateralised loans;  
(81) ‘safe custody account’ means a securities account managed by an 
ICSD, CSD or NCB on which credit institutions can place sec­
urities eligible for Eurosystem credit operations;  
▼M6 
(82) ‘securities settlement system’ (SSS) means a securities se ttlement 
system as defined in point (10) of Article 2(1) of Regulation ( EU) 
No 909/2014, which allows the transfer of securities, either fr ee 
of payment (FOP), or against payment (delivery versus 
payment (DVP));  
▼B 
(83) ‘settlement date’ means the date on which a transaction is  settled;  
(84) ‘single rate auction (Dutch auction)’ means an auction in which 
the allotment interest rate or price or swap point applied for all 
satisfied bids is equal to the marginal interest rate or price or 
swap point;  
(85) ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ (SPV) means a securitisation spe cial 
purpose entity as defined in point 66 of Article 4(1) of Regu­
lation (EU) No 575/2013;  
(86) ‘standard tender’ means a tender procedure which is normal ly 
carried out within a time frame of 24 hours from the 
announcement of the tender to the certification of the allotmen t 
result;  
(87) ‘structural operations’ means a category of open market 
operations executed by the Eurosystem to adjust the structural 
liquidity position of the Eurosystem vis-à-vis the financial 
sector or pursue other monetary policy purposes as further 
specified in Part Two;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 18  
__________  
(88a) ‘sustainability performance target’ (SPT) means a target set by 
the issuer in a publicly available issuance document, measuring  
quantified improvements in the issuer’s sustainability profile over 
a predefined period of time with reference to one or more of th e 
environmental objectives set out in Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of  
the European Parliament and of the Council (  1 ) and/or to one or 
more of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United 
Nations relating to climate change or environmental degra­
dation (  2 ); 
▼B 
(89) ‘swap point’ means the difference between the exchange rat e of 
the forward transaction and the exchange rate of the spot trans ­
action in a foreign exchange swap, quoted according to general 
market conventions;  
(90) ‘tap issuance’ or ‘tap issue’ means an issue forming a sin gle 
series with an earlier issuance or issue;  
(91) ‘TARGET2’ means the real-time gross settlement system for the 
euro, providing settlement of payments in euro in central bank 
money, regulated under Guideline ECB/2012/27;  
(92) ‘tender procedure’ means a procedure whereby the Eurosyste m 
provides liquidity to, or withdraws liquidity from, the market 
whereby the NCB enters into transactions by accepting bids 
submitted by counterparties after a public announcement;  
(93) ‘trade date (T)’ means the date on which a trade, i.e. an 
agreement on a financial transaction between two counterparties , 
is struck. The trade date may coincide with the settlement date  for 
the transaction (same-day settlement) or precede the settlement  
date by a specified number of business days (the settlement dat e 
is specified as T + the settlement lag);  
▼M9 __________  
▼M6 
(95) ‘tri-party agent’ (TPA) means a CSD operating an eligible SSS 
that has entered into a contract with an NCB whereby such CSD 
is to provide certain collateral management services as an agen t 
of that NCB;  
▼B 
(96) ‘Union’ means the European Union;  
(97) ‘valuation haircut’ means a percentage decrease applied to  the 
market value of an asset mobilised as collateral in Eurosystem 
credit operations;  
(98) ‘valuation markdown’ means a certain percentage decrease i n the 
market value of assets, mobilised as collateral in Eurosystem 
credit operations, prior to the application of any valuation ha ircut;  ▼M9 
( 1 ) Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and the C ouncil of 
18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable 
investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (OJ L 198, 2 2.6.2020, 
p. 13). 
( 2 ) Contained in the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ ad opted by the 
UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015.
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 19  
(99) ‘variable rate tender procedure’ means a tender procedure 
whereby participating counterparties bid both the amount they 
want to transact and the interest rate, swap point or price at 
which they want to enter into transactions with the Eurosystem 
in competition with each other, and whereby the most 
competitive bids are satisfied first until the total amount off ered 
is exhausted;  
▼M5 
(99a) ‘wind-down entity’ means an entity, whether privately or publicly 
owned, that (a) has as its main purpose the gradual divestment of 
its assets and the cessation of its business; or (b) is an asse t 
management or divestment entity established to support 
financial sector restructuring and/or resolution, including ass et 
management vehicles resulting from a resolution action in the 
form of the application of an asset separation tool pursuant to  
Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council (  1 ) or national legislation imple­
menting Article 42 of Directive 2014/59/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council (  2 ); 
▼B 
(100) ‘zero coupon’ means a debt instrument with no periodic co upon 
payments.  
PART TWO  
THE EUROSYSTEM MONETARY POLICY TOOLS, 
OPERATIONS, INSTRUMENTS AND PROCEDURES  
Article 3  
Eurosystem monetary policy implementation framework  
1. The tools used by the Eurosystem in the implementation of 
monetary policy shall consist of:  
(a) open market operations;  
(b) standing facilities;  
(c) minimum reserve requirements.  
2. The minimum reserve requirements are specified in Regulation  
(EC) No 2531/98 and Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9). 
Certain features of the minimum reserve requirements are illust rated in 
Annex I for information purposes.  ▼B 
( 1 ) Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 of the European Parliament and of  the Council 
of 15 July 2014 establishing uniform rules and a uniform proced ure for the 
resolution of credit institutions and certain investment firms in the framework 
of a Single Resolution Mechanism and a Single Resolution Fund a nd 
amending Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 (OJ L 225, 30.7.2014, p. 1). 
( 2 ) Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Co uncil of 
15 May 2014 establishing a framework for the recovery and resol ution of 
credit institutions and investment firms and amending Council D irective 
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 Euro pean 
Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 173, 12.6.2014, p. 190).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 20  
Article 4  
Indicative characteristics of the Eurosystem monetary policy 
operations  
An overview of the characteristics of the Eurosystem monetary p olicy 
operations is set out in Table 1.  
▼M6 
Table 1  
Overview of characteristics of the Eurosystem monetary policy operations  
Categories of the monetary 
policy operations Types of instruments 
Maturity Frequency Procedure  
Provision of liquidity Absorption of 
liquidity
 Open market operations Main refinancing 
operations Reverse trans­
actions — One week Weekly Standard tender 
procedures  
Longer-term refi­
nancing operations Reverse trans­
actions — Three 
months (*) Monthly (*) Standard tender 
procedures  
Fine-tuning 
operations Reverse trans­
actions Reverse trans­
actions Non-stan­
dardised Non-stan­
dardised Tender procedures 
Bilateral 
procedures (**)  
Foreign 
exchange swaps Foreign 
exchange swaps  
— Collection of 
fixed-term 
deposits  
Structural operations Reverse trans­
actions Reverse trans­
actions Non-stan­
dardised Non-stan­
dardised Standard tender 
procedures (***)  
— Issuance of ECB 
debt certificates Less than 
12 months  
Outright 
purchases Outright sales — Bilateral 
procedures Tender 
procedures (****)
 Standing facilities Marginal lending 
facility Reverse trans­
actions — Overnight Access at the discretion of 
counterparties  
Deposit facility — Deposits Overnight Access at the discretion of 
counterparties  
(*) Pursuant to Article 7(2)(b), Article 7(2)(c), Article 7(3) and Article 7(4). 
(**) Pursuant to Article 8(2)(c), Article 10(4)(c), Article 11( 5)(c) and Article 12(6)(c). 
(***) Pursuant to Article 9(2)(c), Article 10(4)(c) and Article  13(5)(d). 
(****) Pursuant to Article 9(2)(c) and Article 14(3)(c).  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 21  
TITLE I  
OPEN MARKET OPERATIONS  
CHAPTER 1  
Overview of open market operations  
Article 5  
Overview of categories and instruments in respect of open market 
operations  
1. The Eurosystem may conduct open market operations to steer 
interest rates, manage the liquidity situation in the financial  market 
and signal the stance of monetary policy.  
2. Depending on their specific purpose, open market operations can 
be grouped under the following categories:  
(a) main refinancing operations;  
(b) longer-term refinancing operations;  
(c) fine-tuning operations;  
(d) structural operations.  
3. Open market operations shall be conducted by means of the 
following instruments:  
(a) reverse transactions;  
(b) foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy purposes;  
(c) the collection of fixed-term deposits;  
(d) the issuance of ECB debt certificates;  
(e) outright transactions.  
4. As regards the specific categories of open market operations  laid 
down in paragraph 2, the following instruments referred to in p aragraph 
3 shall be applicable:  
(a) MROs and LTROs are conducted exclusively by means of revers e 
transactions;  
(b) fine-tuning operations may be conducted by means of:  
(i) reverse transactions;  
(ii) foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy purposes;  
(iii) the collection of fixed-term deposits;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 22  
(c) structural operations may be conducted by means of:  
(i) reverse transactions;  
(ii) the issuance of ECB debt certificates;  
(iii) outright transactions.  
5. The ECB shall initiate open market operations and shall also  
decide on the terms and conditions for their execution and on t he 
instrument to be used.  
CHAPTER 2  
Categories of open market operations  
Article 6  
Main refinancing operations  
1. The Eurosystem shall conduct MROs by means of reverse 
transactions.  
2. As regards their operational features, MROs:  
(a) are liquidity-providing operations;  
(b) are normally conducted each week in accordance with the ind icative 
calendar for the Eurosystem's regular tender operations;  
(c) normally have a maturity of one week, as indicated in the i ndicative 
calendar for the Eurosystem's regular tender operations, subjec t to 
the exception laid down in paragraph 3;  
(d) are executed in a decentralised manner by the NCBs;  
(e) are executed by means of standard tender procedures;  
▼M6 
(f) are subject to the eligibility criteria laid down in Part T hree, which 
must be fulfilled by all counterparties submitting bids for suc h 
operations;  
▼B 
(g) are based on eligible assets as collateral.  
3. The maturity of MROs may differ on the grounds of varying ba nk 
holidays in Member States whose currency is the euro.  
4. The ECB's Governing Council shall decide on the interest rat es for 
the MROs on a regular basis. The revised interest rates shall b ecome 
effective from the beginning of the new reserve maintenance per iod. 
5. Notwithstanding paragraph 4, the ECB's Governing Council may  
change the interest rate for the MROs at any point in time. Suc h 
decision shall become effective at the earliest from the follow ing Euro­
system business day.  
6. MROs are executed by means of fixed rate tender procedures o r 
variable rate tender procedures, as decided by the Eurosystem.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 23  
Article 7  
Longer-term refinancing operations  
1. The Eurosystem shall conduct LTROs by means of reverse trans ­
actions to provide counterparties with liquidity with a maturit y longer 
than that of the MROs.  
2. As regards their operational features, LTROs:  
(a) are liquidity-providing reverse operations;  
(b) are conducted regularly each month in accordance with the 
indicative calendar for the Eurosystem's regular tender operati ons, 
subject to the exception laid down in paragraph 4;  
(c) normally have a maturity of three months in accordance with  the 
indicative calendar for the Eurosystem's regular tender operati ons, 
subject to the exceptions laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4;  
(d) are executed in a decentralised manner by the NCBs;  
(e) are executed by means of standard tender procedures;  
▼M6 
(f) are subject to the eligibility criteria as laid down in Par t Three, 
which must be fulfilled by all counterparties submitting bids f or 
such operations;  
▼B 
(g) are based on eligible assets as collateral.  
3. The maturity of LTROs may differ on the grounds of varying 
bank holidays in Member States whose currency is the euro.  
4. The Eurosystem may conduct — on a non-regular basis — 
LTROs with a maturity other than three months. Such operations are 
not specified in the indicative calendar for the Eurosystem's r egular 
tender operations.  
5. LTROs with a maturity of more than three months that are 
conducted on a non-regular basis, as referred to in paragraph 4 , may 
have an early repayment clause. Such an early repayment clause may 
represent either an option or a mandatory obligation for counte rparties 
under which they repay all or part of the amounts they were all otted in a 
given operation. Mandatory early repayment clauses shall be bas ed on 
explicit and predefined conditions. The dates on which the earl y 
repayments become effective shall be announced by the Eurosyste m 
at the time of the announcement of the operations. The Eurosyst em 
may decide in exceptional circumstances to suspend early repaym ents 
on specific dates on the grounds of, inter alia, bank holidays in Member 
States whose currency is the euro.  
6. LTROs are executed by means of variable rate tender procedur es, 
unless it is decided by the Eurosystem to execute them by means  of 
a fixed-rate tender procedure. In such a case, the rate applica ble to 
fixed-rate tender procedures may be indexed to an underlying 
reference rate (e.g. average MRO rate) over the life of the ope ration, 
with or without a spread.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 24  
Article 8  
Fine-tuning operations  
1. The Eurosystem may conduct fine-tuning operations by means o f 
reverse transactions, foreign exchange swaps for monetary polic y 
purposes or the collection of fixed-term deposits, in particula r to deal 
with liquidity fluctuations in the market.  
2. As regards their operational features, fine-tuning operation s: 
(a) may be conducted either as a liquidity-providing or as a li quidity- 
absorbing operation;  
(b) have a frequency and maturity that are normally not standar dised;  
(c) are normally executed by means of quick tender procedures, unless 
the Eurosystem decides to conduct the specific fine-tuning oper ation 
by other means (standard tender procedure or bilateral procedur e) in 
the light of specific monetary policy considerations or in orde r to 
react to market conditions;  
(d) are executed in a decentralised manner by the NCBs, without  
prejudice to Article 45(3);  
▼M6 
(e) are subject to the eligibility criteria for counterparties as laid down 
in Part Three, depending on:  
(i) the specific type of instrument for conducting fine-tuning 
operations; and  
(ii) the applicable procedure for that specific type of instrum ent; 
▼B 
(f) when conducted by means of reverse transactions, they are b ased on 
eligible assets as collateral.  
▼M2 
3. The ECB may conduct fine-tuning operations on any Eurosystem  
business day to counter liquidity imbalances in the reserve mai ntenance 
period. If the trade day, settlement day and reimbursement day are not 
NCB business days, the relevant NCB is not required to conduct such 
operations.  
▼B 
4. The Eurosystem shall retain a high degree of flexibility as regards 
its choice of procedures and operational features in the conduc t of 
fine-tuning operations, in order to react to market conditions.  
Article 9  
Structural operations  
1. The Eurosystem may conduct structural operations by means of  
reverse transactions, the issuance of ECB debt certificates or outright 
transactions to adjust the structural position of the Eurosyste m vis-à-vis 
the financial system, or pursue other monetary policy implement ation 
purposes.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 25  
2. As regards their operational features, structural operations : 
(a) are liquidity-providing or liquidity-absorbing operations;  
(b) have a frequency and maturity that is not standardised;  
(c) are executed by means of tender or bilateral procedures, de pending 
on the specific type of instrument for conducting the structura l 
operation;  
(d) are executed in a decentralised manner by the NCBs;  
▼M6 
(e) are subject to the eligibility criteria for counterparties as laid down 
in Part Three, depending on: (i) the specific type of instrumen t for 
conducting structural operations; and (ii) the applicable proce dure 
for that specific type of instrument;  
▼B 
(f) liquidity-providing structural operations are based on elig ible assets 
as collateral, with the exception of outright purchases.  
3. The Eurosystem shall retain a high degree of flexibility as regards 
its choice of procedures and operational features in the conduc t of 
structural operations in order to react to market conditions an d other 
structural developments.  
CHAPTER 3  
Instruments for open market operations  
Article 10  
Reverse transactions  
1. Reverse transactions are specific instruments to conduct ope n 
market operations whereby an NCB buys or sells eligible assets under 
a repurchase agreement or conducts credit operations in the for m of 
collateralised loans depending on the relevant contractual or r egulatory 
arrangements applied by the NCBs.  
2. Repurchase agreements and collateralised loans shall comply with 
the additional requirements for such instruments set out in Par t Seven.  
3. Liquidity-providing reverse transactions shall be based on e ligible 
assets as collateral, pursuant to Part Four.  
▼M6 
4. As regards their operational features, reverse transactions for 
monetary policy purposes:  
(a) may be conducted either as liquidity-providing or 
liquidity-absorbing operations;  
(b) have a frequency and maturity that depends on the category of open 
market operation for which they are used;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 26  
(c) that fall into the category open market operations are exec uted by 
means of standard tender procedures, with the exception of 
fine-tuning operations, where they are executed by means of 
tender or bilateral procedures;  
(d) that fall into the category marginal lending facility are e xecuted as 
described in Article 18;  
(e) are executed in a decentralised manner by the NCBs, without  
prejudice to Article 45(3).  
▼B 
5. Liquidity-absorbing reverse transactions shall be based on a ssets 
provided by the Eurosystem. The eligibility criteria of those a ssets shall 
be identical to those applied for eligible assets used in 
liquidity-providing reverse transactions, pursuant to Part Four . 
No valuation haircuts shall be applied in liquidity-absorbing r everse 
transactions.  
Article 11  
Foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy purposes  
1. Foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy purposes consist of 
simultaneous spot and forward transactions in euro against a fo reign 
currency.  
2. Foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy purposes shall 
comply with the additional requirements for such instruments se t out 
in Part Seven.  
3. Unless decided otherwise by the ECB's Governing Council, the  
Eurosystem shall operate only in widely traded currencies and i n 
accordance with standard market practice.  
4. In each foreign exchange swap for monetary policy purposes, the 
Eurosystem and the counterparties shall agree on the swap point s for the 
transaction that are quoted in accordance with general market 
conventions. The exchange rate terms of foreign exchange swaps for 
monetary policy purposes are specified in Table 2.  
5. As regards their operational features, foreign exchange swap s for 
monetary policy purposes:  
(a) may be conducted either as liquidity-providing or as 
liquidity-absorbing operations;  
(b) have a frequency and maturity that is not standardised;  
(c) are executed by means of quick tender procedures or bilater al 
procedures, unless the Eurosystem decides to conduct the specif ic 
operation by other means (standard tender procedure), in the li ght of 
specific monetary policy considerations or in order to react to  
market conditions;  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 27  
(d) are executed in a decentralised manner by the NCBs, without  
prejudice to Article 45(3).  
▼M6 
6. Counterparties participating in foreign exchange swaps for 
monetary policy purposes shall be subject to the eligibility cr iteria as 
laid down in Part Three, depending on the applicable procedure for the 
relevant operation.  
▼B 
Table 2  
The exchange rate terms of foreign exchange swaps for monetary 
policy purposes  
S = spot (on the transaction date of the foreign exchange swap)  of 
the exchange rate between the euro (EUR) and a foreign 
currency ABC  
S ¼ x Ü ABC  
1 Ü EUR  
FM = forward exchange rate between the euro and a foreign curre ncy 
ABC on the repurchase date of the swap (M)  
F M ¼ y Ü ABC  
1 Ü EUR  
ΔΜ = forward points between the euro and ABC at the repurchase date 
of the swap (M) 
Δ M ¼ F M Ä S 
N(.) = spot amount of currency; N(.)  M is the forward amount of 
currency:  
N ðABCÞ ¼ N ðEURÞ Ü S o r N ðEURÞ ¼ N ðABCÞ 
S 
N ðABCÞ M ¼ N ðEURÞ M Ü F M or N ðEURÞ M ¼ N ðABCÞ M 
F M 
Article 12  
Collection of fixed-term deposits  
1. The Eurosystem may invite counterparties to place fixed-term  
deposits with their home NCBs.  
2. The deposits accepted from counterparties shall be for a fix ed term 
and a fixed rate of interest shall be applied.  
3. The interest rates applied to fixed-term deposits may be: (a ) 
positive; (b) set at zero per cent; (c) negative.  
4. The interest rate applied to the fixed-term deposit shall be  a simple 
interest rate based on the actual/360 day-count convention. The  interest 
shall be paid at maturity of the deposit. In cases of a negativ e interest 
rate, its application to fixed-term deposits shall entail a pay ment obli­
gation of the deposit holder to the home NCB, including the rig ht of 
that NCB to debit the account of the counterparty accordingly. The 
NCBs shall not provide any collateral in exchange for the fixed -term 
deposits.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 28  
5. Fixed-term deposits shall be held in accounts with the home NCB, 
even where such operations are to be executed in a centralised manner 
by the ECB under Article 45(3).  
6. As regards their operational features, the collection of fix ed-term 
deposits:  
(a) is conducted in order to absorb liquidity;  
(b) may be conducted on the basis of a pre-announced schedule o f 
operations with pre-defined frequency and maturity or may be 
conducted ad hoc to react to liquidity condition developments, 
e.g. the collection of fixed-term deposits may be conducted on 
the last day of a reserve maintenance period to counter liquidi ty 
imbalances which may have accumulated since the allotment of th e 
last main refinancing operation;  
(c) is executed by means of quick tender procedures, unless it is 
decided by the ECB to conduct the specific operation by other 
means (bilateral procedure or standard tender procedure), in th e 
light of specific monetary policy considerations or in order to  
react to market conditions;  
(d) is executed in a decentralised manner by the NCBs, without 
prejudice to Article 45(3).  
▼M6 
7. Counterparties participating in the collection of fixed term  deposits 
shall be subject to the eligibility criteria as laid down in Pa rt Three, 
depending on the applicable procedure for the relevant operatio n. 
▼B 
Article 13  
Issuance of ECB debt certificates  
1. ECB debt certificates constitute a debt obligation of the EC B in 
relation to the certificate holder.  
2. ECB debt certificates shall be issued and held in book-entry  form 
in securities depositories in Member States whose currency is t he euro.  
3. The ECB shall not impose any restrictions on the transferabi lity of 
ECB debt certificates.  
4. The ECB may issue ECB debt certificates at:  
(a) a discounted issue amount that is below the nominal amount;  o r 
(b) an amount above the nominal amount,  
which are to be redeemed at maturity at a nominal amount.  
The difference between the issue and the nominal (redemption) a mount 
shall equal the interest accrued on the issue amount, at the ag reed 
interest rate, over the maturity of the certificate. The intere st rate 
applied shall be a simple interest rate based on the actual/360  
day-count convention. The calculation of the issue amount shall  be 
made in accordance with Table 3.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 29  
Table 3  
Issuance of ECB debt certificates  
The issue amount is:  P T ¼ N Ü 1 
1 þ r I Ü D 
36,000  where:  
N = nominal amount of the ECB debt certificate  
r I = interest rate (in %)  
D = maturity of the ECB debt certificate (in days)  
P T = issue amount of the ECB debt certificate  
5. As regards the operational features of ECB debt certificates : 
(a) they are issued as a liquidity-absorbing open market operat ion; 
(b) they may be issued on a regular or a non-regular basis;  
(c) they have a maturity that is less than 12 months;  
(d) they are issued by means of standard tender procedures;  
(e) they are tendered and settled in a decentralised manner by the 
NCBs.  
▼M6 
6. Counterparties participating in the standard tender procedur e for 
the issuance of ECB debt certificates shall be subject to the e ligibility 
criteria as laid down in Part Three.  
▼B 
Article 14  
Outright transactions  
1. An outright transaction shall involve a full transfer of own ership 
from the seller to the buyer with no connected reverse transfer  of 
ownership.  
2. In the execution of outright transactions and the calculatio n of 
prices, the Eurosystem shall act in accordance with the most wi dely 
accepted market convention for the debt instruments used in the  
transaction.  
3. As regards their operational features, outright transactions : 
(a) may be conducted as liquidity-providing operations (outrigh t 
purchases) or liquidity-absorbing operations (outright sales);  
(b) have a frequency that is not standardised;  
(c) are executed by means of bilateral procedures, unless the E CB 
decides to conduct the specific operation by quick or standard 
tender procedures;  
(d) are executed in a decentralised manner by the NCBs, without  
prejudice to Article 45(3);  
(e) are based only on eligible marketable assets as specified i n Part 
Four.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 30  
4. Counterparties participating in outright transactions shall be 
subject to the eligibility criteria as laid down in Part Three.  
▼B 
Article 15  
Obligations of collateralisation and settlement in reverse 
transactions and foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy 
purposes  
1. With regard to liquidity-providing reverse transactions and 
liquidity-providing foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy 
purposes, counterparties shall:  
(a) transfer a sufficient amount of eligible assets in the case  of reverse 
transactions or the corresponding foreign currency amount in th e 
case of foreign exchange swaps to settle on the settlement day;  
▼M7 
(b) ensure adequate collateralisation of the operation until it s maturity; 
the value of the assets mobilised as collateral shall cover at all times 
the total outstanding amount of the liquidity-providing operati on 
including the accrued interest during the term of the operation . If 
interest accrues at a positive rate, the applicable amount shou ld be 
added on a daily basis to the total outstanding amount of the 
liquidity-providing operation and if it accrues at a negative r ate, 
the applicable amount should be subtracted on a daily basis fro m 
the total outstanding amount of the liquidity-providing operati on; 
▼B 
(c) when applicable as regards point (b), provide adequate coll aterali­
sation by way of corresponding margin calls by means of suffici ent 
eligible assets or cash.  
2. With regard to liquidity-absorbing reverse transactions and 
liquidity-absorbing foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy 
purposes, counterparties shall:  
(a) transfer a sufficient amount of cash to settle the amounts they have 
been allotted in the relevant liquidity absorbing operation;  
(b) ensure adequate collateralisation of the operation until it s maturity;  
(c) when applicable as regards point (b), provide adequate coll aterali­
sation by way of corresponding margin calls by means of suffici ent 
eligible assets or cash.  
3. The failure to meet the requirements referred to in paragrap hs 1 
and 2 shall be sanctioned, as applicable, under Articles 154 to  157.  
Article 16  
Obligations for settlement for outright purchases and sales, the 
collection of fixed-term deposits and the issuance of ECB debt 
certificates  
1. In open market operations executed by means of outright 
purchases and sales, collection of fixed term deposits and issu ance of 
ECB debt certificates, counterparties shall transfer a sufficie nt amount of 
eligible assets or cash to settle the amount agreed in the tran saction.  
2. The failure to meet the requirement as referred to in paragr aph 1 
shall be sanctioned, as applicable, under Articles 154 to 157.  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 31  
TITLE II  
STANDING FACILITIES  
Article 17  
Standing facilities  
1. The NCBs shall grant access to the standing facilities offer ed by 
the Eurosystem at their counterparties' initiative.  
2. Standing facilities shall consist of the following categorie s: 
(a) the marginal lending facility;  
(b) the deposit facility.  
3. The terms and conditions of the standing facilities shall be  
identical in all Member States whose currency is the euro.  
4. The NCBs shall only grant access to the standing facilities in 
accordance with the ECB's objectives and general monetary polic y 
considerations.  
5. The ECB may adapt the conditions of the standing facilities or 
suspend them at any time.  
6. The ECB's Governing Council shall decide on the interest rat es for 
the standing facilities on a regular basis. The revised interes t rates shall 
become effective from the beginning of the new reserve maintena nce 
period, as defined in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003  
(ECB/2003/9). The ECB publishes a calendar of the reserve main­
tenance periods at least three months before the start of each calendar 
year.  
7. Notwithstanding paragraph 6, the ECB's Governing Council may  
change the interest rate for the standing facilities at any poi nt in time. 
Such decision shall become effective at the earliest from the f ollowing 
Eurosystem business day.  
CHAPTER 1  
Marginal lending facility  
Article 18  
Characteristics of the marginal lending facility  
1. Counterparties may use the marginal lending facility to obta in 
overnight liquidity from the Eurosystem through a reverse trans action 
with their home NCB at a pre-specified interest rate using elig ible assets 
as collateral.  
2. The NCBs shall provide liquidity under the marginal lending 
facility by means of repurchase agreements or collateralised lo ans 
under the NCBs' applicable contractual or regulatory arrangemen ts. 
3. There shall be no limit on the amount of liquidity that may be 
provided under the marginal lending facility, subject to the re quirement 
to provide adequate collateral under paragraph 4.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 32  
4. Counterparties are required to present sufficient eligible a ssets as 
collateral prior to using the marginal lending facility. These assets 
should be either pre-deposited with the relevant NCB or deliver ed 
with the request for access to the marginal lending facility.  
Article 19  
Access conditions for the marginal lending facility  
1. Institutions fulfilling the eligibility criteria under Artic le 55 and 
which have access to an account with the NCB where the transact ion 
can be settled, notably in TARGET2, may access the marginal len ding 
facility.  
2. Access to the marginal lending facility shall be granted onl y on 
days when TARGET2 is operational. On days when the SSSs are not  
operational, access to the marginal lending facility shall be g ranted on 
the basis of eligible assets which have already been pre-deposi ted with 
the NCBs.  
3. If an NCB or any of its branches are not open for the purpos e of 
conducting monetary policy operations on certain Eurosystem bus iness 
days due to national or regional bank holidays, the home NCB sh all 
inform its counterparties in advance of the arrangements to be made for 
access to the marginal lending facility on that bank holiday.  
4. Access to the marginal lending facility can be granted eithe r based 
on a specific request of the counterparty or automatically, as specified in 
paragraph 5 and 6 respectively.  
▼M7 
5. A counterparty may send a request to its home NCB for access  to 
the marginal lending facility. Provided that the request is rec eived by 
the home NCB at the latest 15 minutes following the TARGET2 clo sing 
time, the NCB shall process the request on the same day in TARG ET2. 
The deadline for requesting access to the marginal lending faci lity shall 
be postponed by an additional 15 minutes on the last Eurosystem  
business day of a reserve maintenance period. Under exceptional  
circumstances, the Eurosystem may decide to apply later deadlin es. The 
request for access to the marginal lending facility shall speci fy the 
amount of credit required. The counterparty shall deliver suffi cient 
eligible assets as collateral for the transaction, unless such assets have 
already been pre-deposited by the counterparty with the home NC B 
pursuant to Article 18(4).  
▼B 
6. At the end of each business day, a negative balance on a cou nter­
party's settlement account with its home NCB after finalisation  of the 
end-of-day control procedures shall automatically be considered  as a 
request for recourse to the marginal lending facility. In order  to meet 
the requirement in Article 18(4), counterparties shall have pre -deposited 
sufficient eligible assets as collateral for the transaction wi th the home 
NCB prior to such an automatic request arising. Failure to comp ly with 
this access condition shall be subject to sanctions in accordan ce with 
Articles 154 to 157.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 33  
Article 20  
Maturity and interest rate of the marginal lending facility  
1. The maturity of credit extended under the marginal lending f acility 
shall be overnight. For counterparties participating directly i n 
TARGET2, the credit shall be repaid on the next day on which: ( a) 
TARGET2; and (b) the relevant SSSs are operational, at the time  at 
which those systems open.  
2. The interest rate remunerating the marginal lending facility  shall 
be announced in advance by the Eurosystem and shall be calculat ed as a 
simple interest rate based on the actual/360 day-count conventi on. The 
interest rate applied to the marginal lending facility is refer red to as the 
marginal lending facility rate.  
3. Interest under the marginal lending facility shall be payabl e 
together with repayment of the credit.  
CHAPTER 2  
Deposit facility  
Article 21  
Characteristics of the deposit facility  
1. Counterparties may use the deposit facility to make overnigh t 
deposits with the Eurosystem through the home NCB, to which a p re- 
specified interest rate shall be applied.  
2. The interest rate applied to the deposit facility may be: (a ) 
positive; (b) set at zero per cent; (c) negative.  
3. The NCBs shall not give any collateral in exchange for the 
deposits.  
4. There shall be no limit on the amount a counterparty may dep osit 
under the deposit facility.  
Article 22  
Access conditions to the deposit facility  
1. Institutions fulfilling the eligibility criteria under Artic le 55 and 
which have access to an account with the NCB where the transact ion 
can be settled, notably in TARGET2, may access the deposit faci lity. 
Access to the deposit facility shall be granted only on days wh en 
TARGET2 is operational.  
▼M7 
2. To be granted access to the deposit facility, the counterpar ty shall 
send a request to its home NCB. Provided that the request is re ceived 
by the home NCB at the latest 15 minutes following the TARGET2 
closing time, the home NCB shall process the request on the sam e day 
in TARGET2. The deadline for requesting access to the deposit f acility  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 34  
shall be postponed by an additional 15 minutes on the last Euro system 
business day of a reserve maintenance period. Under exceptional  
circumstances, the Eurosystem may decide to apply later deadlin es. The 
request shall specify the amount to be deposited under the faci lity. 
▼B 
3. Due to the existence of different account structures across the 
NCBs, the NCBs, subject to the ECB's prior approval, may apply 
access conditions which are different from those referred to in  this 
Article. The NCBs shall provide information to the counterparti es on 
any such deviations from the access conditions described in thi s Article.  
Article 23  
Maturity and interest rate of the deposit facility  
1. The maturity of deposits under the deposit facility shall be  
overnight. For counterparties participating directly in TARGET2 , 
deposits held under the deposit facility shall mature on the ne xt day 
on which TARGET2 is operational, at the time at which this syst em 
opens.  
2. The interest rate that applies to the deposit shall be annou nced in 
advance by the Eurosystem and shall be calculated as a simple i nterest 
rate based on the actual/360 day-count convention.  
3. Interest on the deposits shall be payable on maturity of the  
deposit. In cases of negative interest rates, the application o f the 
interest rate to the deposit facility shall entail a payment ob ligation of 
the deposit holder to the home NCB, including the right of that  NCB to 
debit the account of the counterparty accordingly.  
TITLE III  
PROCEDURES FOR EUROSYSTEM MONETARY POLICY 
OPERATIONS  
CHAPTER 1  
Tender and bilateral procedures for Eurosystem open market 
operations  
Article 24  
Types of procedures for open market operations  
Open market operations shall be executed through tender procedu res or 
bilateral procedures.  
S e c t i o n 1  
T e n d e r P r o c e d u r e s  
Article 25  
Overview of tender procedures  
1. Tender procedures shall be performed in six operational step s, as 
specified in Table 4.  ▼M7
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 35  
Table 4  
Operational steps for tender procedures  
Step 1 Tender announcement 
(a) ECB public announcement 
(b) NCBs' public announcement and direct announcement to 
individual counterparties (if deemed necessary)  
Step 2 Counterparties' preparation and submission of bids  
Step 3 Compilation of bids by the Eurosystem  
Step 4 Tender allotment and announcement of tender results 
(a) ECB tender allotment decision 
(b) ECB public announcement of the allotment results  
Step 5 Certification of individual allotment results  
Step 6 Settlement of the transactions  
▼B 
2. Tender procedures shall be conducted in the form of standard  
tender procedures or quick tender procedures. The operational f eatures 
of standard and quick tender procedures are identical, except f or the 
time frame (Tables 5 and 6) and the range of counterparties.  
▼M6 
Table 5  
Indicative time frame for the operational steps in standard tender procedures (times are stated in 
Central European Time  ( 1 ))
 
( 1 ) Central European Time (CET) takes account of the change to Ce ntral 
European Summer Time.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 36  
Table 6  
Indicative time frame for the operational steps in quick tender procedures (times are stated in 
CET  ( 1 ))
 
( 1 ) Central European Time (CET) takes account of the change to Ce ntral 
European Summer Time.  
▼B 
3. The Eurosystem may conduct either fixed-rate or variable rat e 
tender procedures.  
Article 26  
Standard tender procedures  
1. The Eurosystem shall use standard tender procedures for the 
execution of: (a) MROs; (b) LTROs; (c) specific structural oper ations, 
i.e. structural reverse operations and the issuance of ECB debt  
certificates.  
2. The Eurosystem may also use standard tender procedures to 
conduct fine-tuning operations and structural operations execut ed by 
means of outright transactions in the light of specific monetar y policy 
considerations or in order to react to market conditions.  
3. For standard tender procedures, as a rule: (a) a maximum of 
24 hours shall elapse from the announcement of the tender proce dure 
to the certification of the allotment result; and (b) the time between the 
submission deadline and the announcement of the allotment resul t is 
approximately two hours.  
4. The ECB may decide to adjust the time frame in individual 
operations, if deemed appropriate.  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 37  
Article 27  
Quick tender procedures  
1. The Eurosystem normally uses quick tender procedures for the  
execution of fine-tuning operations, but may also use quick ten der 
procedures for structural operations executed by means of outri ght trans­
actions in the light of specific monetary policy considerations  or in 
order to react to market conditions.  
2. Quick tender procedures are executed within 105 minutes of t he 
announcement of the tender procedure, with certification taking  place 
immediately after the public announcement of the allotment resu lt. 
3. The ECB may decide to adjust the time frame in individual 
operations, if deemed appropriate.  
4. The Eurosystem may select, according to the criteria and 
procedures specified in Article 57, a limited number of counter parties 
to participate in quick tender procedures.  
Article 28  
Execution of standard tender procedures for MROs and regular 
LTROs, based on the tender calendar  
1. The tender procedures for MROs and regular LTROs shall be 
executed in accordance with the indicative calendar for the Eur osystem's 
regular tender operations.  
2. The indicative calendar for the Eurosystem's regular tender 
operations is published on the website of the ECB and NCBs at l east 
three months before the start of the calendar year for which it  is valid.  
3. The indicative trade days for MROs and regular LTROs are 
specified in Table 7.  
Table 7  
Normal trade days for MROs and regular LTROs  
Category of open market operations Normal trade day (T)  
MROs Each Tuesday (*)  
Regular LTROs The last Wednesday of each calendar 
month (**)  
(*) Special scheduling can take place due to holidays. 
(**) Due to the holiday period, the December operation is norma lly brought forward by one 
week, i.e. to the preceding Wednesday of the month.  
Article 29  
Execution of tender procedures for fine-tuning and structural 
operations without a tender operation calendar  
1. Fine-tuning operations are not executed according to any 
pre-specified calendar. The ECB may decide to conduct fine-tuni ng 
operations on any Eurosystem business day. Only NCBs in relatio n to 
which the trade day, the settlement day and the reimbursement d ay are 
NCB business days participate in such operations.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 38  
2. Structural operations executed by means of standard tender 
procedures are not performed according to any pre-specified cal endar. 
They are normally conducted and settled on days which are NCB 
business days in all Member States whose currency is the euro.  
S e c t i o n 2  
O p e r a t i o n a l s t e p s f o r t e n d e r p r o c e d u r e s  
S u b s e c t i o n 1  
A n n o u n c e m e n t o f t e n d e r p r o c e d u r e s  
Article 30  
Announcement of standard and quick tender procedures 
▼M4 
1. Standard tender procedures shall be publicly announced by th e 
ECB in advance. In addition, the NCBs may announce standard 
tender procedures publicly and directly to counterparties, if d eemed 
necessary.  
2. Quick tender procedures may be publicly announced by the ECB  
in advance. In quick tender procedures that are publicly announ ced in 
advance, the NCB may contact the selected counterparties direct ly if 
deemed necessary. In quick tender procedures that are not annou nced 
publicly in advance, the selected counterparties shall be conta cted 
directly by the NCBs.  
▼B 
3. The tender announcement represents an invitation to counterp arties 
to submit bids, which are legally binding. The announcement doe s not 
represent an offer by the ECB or the NCBs.  
4. The information to be included in the public announcement of  a  
tender procedure is laid down in Annex II.  
5. The ECB may take any action it deems appropriate to correct any 
error in the announcement of tender procedures, including cance lling or 
interrupting a tender procedure under execution.  
S u b s e c t i o n 2  
P r e p a r a t i o n a n d s u b m i s s i o n o f b i d s b y c o u n t e r p a r t i e s  
Article 31  
Form and place of submission of bids  
1. The bids must be submitted to a counterparty's home NCB. The  
bids of an institution may only be submitted to the home NCB by  one 
establishment in each Member State whose currency is the euro w here 
the institution is established, i.e. either by the head office or by a 
designated branch.  
2. Counterparties shall submit bids in a format that follows th e 
templates provided by the NCB for the relevant operation.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 39  
Article 32  
Submission of bids  
1. In fixed-rate tender procedures, counterparties shall state in their 
bids the amount that they are willing to transact with the NCBs . 
2. In fixed-rate foreign exchange swap tender procedures, the 
counterparties shall state the amount of currency kept fixed th at they 
intend to sell and buy back, or buy and sell back, at that rate . 
3. In variable rate tender procedures, counterparties may submi t bids 
for up to 10 different interest rates, prices or swap points. U nder excep­
tional circumstances, the Eurosystem may impose a limit on the number 
of bids that may be submitted by each counterparty. In each bid , 
counterparties shall state the amount that they are willing to transact 
and the relevant interest rate or price or swap point. A bid fo r an interest 
rate or swap point shall be expressed as multiples of 0,01 perc entage 
points. A bid for a price shall be expressed as multiples of 0, 001 
percentage points.  
4. For variable rate foreign exchange swap tender procedures, t he 
counterparties shall state the amount of the currency to be kep t fixed 
and the swap point quotation at which they intend to enter into  the 
operation.  
5. For variable rate foreign exchange swap tender procedures, t he 
swap points shall be quoted in accordance with standard market 
conventions and bids shall be expressed as multiples of 0,01 sw ap 
points.  
6. With regard to the issuance of ECB debt certificates, the EC B may 
decide that bids shall be expressed in the form of a price rath er than an 
interest rate. In such cases, prices shall be quoted as a perce ntage of the 
nominal amount, with three decimal places.  
Article 33  
Minimum and maximum bid amounts  
1. For MROs, the minimum bid amount shall be EUR 1 000 000. 
Bids exceeding this amount shall be expressed as multiples of E UR 
100 000. The minimum bid amount shall apply to each individual 
interest rate level.  
2. For LTROs, each NCB shall set a minimum bid amount in the 
range from EUR 10 000 to EUR 1 000 000. Bids exceeding the 
minimum bid amount shall be expressed as multiples of EUR 10 00 0. 
The minimum bid amount shall be applied to each individual inte rest 
rate level.  
3. For fine-tuning and structural operations, the minimum bid a mount 
shall be EUR 1 000 000. Bids exceeding this amount shall be exp ressed 
as multiples of EUR 100 000. The minimum bid amount shall apply  to 
each individual interest rate, price or swap point, depending o n the 
specific type of transaction.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 40  
4. The ECB may impose a maximum bid amount, which is the 
largest acceptable bid from an individual counterparty, to prev ent 
disproportionately large bids. If imposed, the ECB shall includ e 
details of such a maximum bid amount in the public tender 
announcement.  
Article 34  
Minimum and maximum bid rate  
1. In liquidity-providing variable rate tender procedures, the ECB 
may impose a minimum bid rate, which is a lower limit to the 
interest rate at which counterparties may submit bids.  
2. In liquidity-absorbing variable rate tender procedures, the ECB 
may impose a maximum bid rate, which is an upper limit to the 
interest rate at which counterparties may submit bids.  
Article 35  
Deadline for submission of bids  
1. Counterparties may revoke their bids at any time up to the 
deadline for the submission of bids.  
2. Bids submitted after the deadline shall not be considered an d shall 
be treated as ineligible.  
3. The home NCB shall determine if a counterparty has complied 
with the deadline for the submission of bids.  
Article 36  
Rejection of bids  
1. An NCB shall reject:  
(a) all of a counterparty's bids, if the aggregate amount bid e xceeds any 
maximum bid limit established by the ECB;  
(b) any bid of a counterparty, if the bid is below the minimum bid 
amount;  
(c) any bid of a counterparty, if the bid is below the minimum accepted 
interest rate, price, or swap point or above the maximum accept ed 
interest rate, price or swap point.  
2. An NCB may reject bids that are incomplete or do not follow the 
appropriate template.  
3. If the home NCB decides to reject a bid, it shall inform the  
counterparty of such decision prior to the tender allotment.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 41  
S u b s e c t i o n 3  
T e n d e r a l l o t m e n t  
Article 37  
Allotment in liquidity-providing and liquidity-absorbing fixed-rate 
tender procedures  
1. In a fixed-rate tender procedure, the bids of counterparties  shall be 
allotted in the following manner:  
(a) The bids shall be added together.  
(b) If the aggregate amount bid exceeds the total amount of liq uidity to 
be allotted, the submitted bids shall be satisfied pro rata, ba sed on 
the ratio of the amount to be allotted to the aggregate amount bid, in 
accordance with Table 1 of Annex III.  
(c) The amount allotted to each counterparty shall be rounded t o the 
nearest euro.  
2. The ECB may decide to allot:  
(a) a minimum allotment amount, which is a lower limit on the a mount 
that may be allotted to each bidder; or  
(b) a minimum allotment ratio, which is a lower limit, expresse d in 
percentage terms, on the ratio of bids at the marginal interest  rate 
that may be allotted to each bidder.  
Article 38  
Allotment in liquidity-providing variable rate tender procedures in 
euro  
1. In a liquidity-providing variable rate tender procedure in e uro, the 
bids of counterparties shall be allotted in the following manne r: 
(a) Bids shall be listed in descending order of offered interes t rates or 
ascending order of offered prices.  
(b) Bids with the highest interest rate (lowest price) levels s hall be 
satisfied first and subsequently bids with successively lower 
interest rates (higher price) shall be accepted, until the tota l 
liquidity to be allotted is exhausted.  
(c) If at the marginal interest rate (highest accepted price), the aggregate 
amount bid exceeds the remaining amount to be allotted, the 
remaining amount shall be allocated pro rata among the bids 
based on the ratio of the remaining amount to be allotted to th e 
total amount bid at the marginal interest rate (highest accepte d 
price), in accordance with Table 2 of Annex III.  
(d) The amount allotted to each counterparty shall be rounded t o the 
nearest euro.  
2. The ECB may decide to allot a minimum allotment amount to 
each successful bidder.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 42  
Article 39  
Allotment in liquidity-absorbing variable rate tender procedures in 
euro  
1. In a liquidity-absorbing variable rate tender procedure in e uro, 
used for the issuance of ECB debt certificates and the collecti on of 
fixed term deposits, the bids of counterparties shall be allott ed in the 
following manner:  
(a) Bids shall be listed in ascending order of offered interest  rates or 
descending order of offered prices.  
(b) Bids with the lowest interest rate (highest price) levels s hall be 
satisfied first and subsequently bids with successively higher 
interest rates (lower price bids) shall be accepted until the t otal 
liquidity to be absorbed is exhausted.  
(c) If at the marginal interest rate (lowest accepted price), t he aggregate 
bid amount exceeds the remaining amount to be allotted, the 
remaining amount shall be allocated pro rata among the bids, 
based on the ratio of the remaining amount to be allotted to th e 
total bid amount at the marginal interest rate (lowest accepted  
price), in accordance with Table 2 of Annex III.  
(d) The amount allotted to each counterparty shall be rounded t o the 
nearest euro. With regard to the issuance of ECB debt certifica tes, 
the allotted nominal amount shall be rounded to the nearest 
multiple of EUR 100 000.  
2. The ECB may decide to allot a minimum allotment amount to 
each successful bidder.  
Article 40  
Allotment in liquidity-providing variable rate foreign exchange 
swap tender procedures  
1. In a liquidity-providing variable rate foreign exchange swap  tender 
procedure, the bids of counterparties shall be allotted in the following 
manner:  
(a) Bids shall be listed in ascending order of swap point quota tions by 
taking into account the sign of the quotation.  
(b) The sign of quotation depends on the sign of the interest r ate 
differential between the foreign currency and the euro. For the  
maturity of the swap:  
(i) if the foreign currency interest rate is higher than the co rre­
sponding interest rate for the euro, the swap point quotation 
is positive, i.e. the euro is quoted at a premium to the foreig n 
currency; and  
(ii) if the foreign currency interest rate is lower than the co rre­
sponding interest rate for the euro, the swap point quotation 
is negative, i.e. the euro is quoted at a discount to the forei gn 
currency.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 43  
(c) The bids with the lowest swap point quotations shall be sat isfied 
first and subsequently successively higher swap point quotation s 
shall be accepted until the total amount of the fixed currency to 
be allotted is exhausted.  
(d) If, at the highest swap point quotation accepted, i.e. the marginal 
swap point quotation, the aggregate amount bid exceeds the 
remaining amount to be allotted, the remaining amount shall be 
allocated pro rata among the bids, based on the ratio of the 
remaining amount to be allotted to the total amount bid at the 
marginal swap point quotation, in accordance with Table 3 of 
Annex III.  
(e) The amount allotted to each counterparty shall be rounded t o the 
nearest euro.  
2. The ECB may decide to allot a minimum allotment amount to 
each successful bidder.  
Article 41  
Allotment in liquidity-absorbing variable rate foreign exchange 
swap tender procedures  
1. In a liquidity-absorbing variable rate foreign exchange swap  tender 
procedure, the bids of counterparties shall be allotted in the following 
manner:  
(a) Bids shall be listed in descending order of offered swap 
point quotations by taking into account the sign of the quotati on. 
(b) The sign of the quotation depends on the sign of the intere st rate 
differential between the foreign currency and the euro. For the  
maturity of the swap:  
(i) if the foreign currency interest rate is higher than the co rre­
sponding interest rate for the euro, the swap point quotation 
is positive, i.e. the euro is quoted at a premium to the foreig n 
currency; and  
(ii) if the foreign currency interest rate is lower than the co rre­
sponding interest rate for the euro, the swap point quotation 
is negative, i.e. the euro is quoted at a discount to the forei gn 
currency.  
(c) Bids with the highest swap point quotations shall be satisf ied first 
and subsequently successively lower swap point quotations shall  be 
accepted until:  
(i) the total amount of the fixed currency to be absorbed is 
exhausted; and  
(ii) at the lowest swap point quotation accepted, i.e. the marg inal 
swap point quotation, the aggregate amount bid exceeds the 
remaining amount to be allotted.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 44  
(d) The remaining amount shall be allocated pro rata among the bids, 
based on the ratio of the remaining amount to be allotted to th e total 
amount bid at the marginal swap point quotation, in accordance 
with Table 3 of Annex III. The amount allotted to each counterp arty 
shall be rounded to the nearest euro.  
2. The ECB may decide to allot a minimum allotment amount to 
each successful bidder.  
Article 42  
Type of auction for variable rate tender procedures  
For variable rate tender procedures, the Eurosystem may apply e ither a 
single rate auction (Dutch auction) or multiple rate auction (A merican 
auction).  
S u b s e c t i o n 4  
A n n o u n c e m e n t o f t e n d e r r e s u l t s  
Article 43  
Announcement of tender results 
▼M4 
1. The ECB shall publicly announce its tender allotment decisio n 
with respect to the tender results. In addition, the NCBs may 
announce the ECB's tender allotment decision publicly and direc tly to 
counterparties if they deem it necessary.  
▼B 
2. The information to be included in the public announcement wi th 
respect to the tender results is laid down in Annex IV.  
3. If the allotment decision contains erroneous information wit h 
respect to any of the information contained in the public tende r result 
announcement referred to in paragraph 1, the ECB may take any a ction 
it deems appropriate to correct such erroneous information.  
4. After the public announcement of the ECB's tender allotment 
decision on the tender results as referred to in paragraph 1, t he NCBs 
shall directly certify the individual allotment results to coun terparties, 
whereby each counterparty shall receive an individual and certa in 
confirmation of its success in the tender procedure and the exa ct 
amount allotted to it.  
S e c t i o n 3  
B i l a t e r a l p r o c e d u r e s f o r E u r o s y s t e m o p e n m a r k e t 
o p e r a t i o n s  
Article 44  
Overview of bilateral procedures  
1. The Eurosystem may execute any of the following open market 
operations by means of bilateral procedures:  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 45  
(a) fine-tuning operations (reverse transactions, foreign excha nge swaps 
or the collection of fixed-term deposits); or  
(b) structural operations (outright transactions).  
2. Bilateral procedures, depending on the specific transaction,  may be 
executed by means of direct contact with counterparties, as lai d down in 
Article 45, or through stock exchanges and market agents, as la id down 
in Article 46.  
Article 45  
Bilateral procedures executed by means of direct contact with 
counterparties  
1. Bilateral procedures for fine-tuning operations and structur al 
operations conducted by means of outright transactions may be 
executed by means of direct contact with counterparties.  
2. The NCBs shall directly contact one or more institutions sel ected 
in accordance with the eligibility criteria laid down in Articl e 57. The 
NCBs shall follow the ECB's instructions in deciding whether to  enter 
into a transaction with those institutions.  
3. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the ECB's Governing Counci l 
may decide that, under exceptional circumstances, the ECB or on e or 
more NCBs, acting as the ECB's operating arm, shall conduct 
fine-tuning operations or structural operations conducted by me ans of 
outright transactions executed through bilateral procedures. In  such an 
event, the procedures for those operations shall be adapted acc ordingly. 
The ECB shall decide whether to enter into a transaction with t he 
contacted institutions.  
Article 46  
Bilateral procedures executed by means of stock exchanges and 
market agents  
1. Without prejudice to Article 45, bilateral procedures for st ructural 
operations conducted by means of outright transactions may be e xecuted 
through stock exchanges and market agents.  
2. The range of counterparties shall not be restricted, as prov ided for 
in Article 57.  
3. The procedures shall be adapted to the market conventions fo r the 
debt instruments transacted.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 46  
Article 47  
Announcement of operations executed by means of bilateral 
procedures  
1. Fine-tuning operations or structural operations conducted by  
means of outright transactions executed by means of bilateral 
procedures are not announced publicly in advance, unless the EC B 
decides otherwise.  
2. The ECB may decide not to announce the results of such bilat eral 
procedures publicly.  
Article 48  
Operating days for bilateral procedures  
1. The ECB may decide to conduct bilateral procedures for 
fine-tuning operations on any Eurosystem business day. Only NCB s 
in relation to which the trade day, the settlement day and the reim­
bursement day are NCB business days may participate in such 
operations.  
2. Bilateral procedures for structural operations conducted by means 
of outright transactions are normally executed and settled on d ays which 
are NCB business days in all Member States whose currency is th e 
euro.  
CHAPTER 2  
Settlement procedures for Eurosystem monetary policy operations  
Article 49  
Overview of settlement procedures  
1. Payment orders relating to the participation in open market 
operations or use of the standing facilities shall be settled o n the 
counterparties' accounts with an NCB or on the accounts of a se ttlement 
bank participating in TARGET2.  
2. Payment orders relating to the participation in open market 
liquidity-providing operations or use of the marginal lending f acility 
shall only be settled at the moment of or after the final trans fer of 
the eligible assets as collateral to the operation. For this pu rpose, 
counterparties shall:  
(a) pre-deposit the eligible assets at an NCB; or  
(b) settle the eligible assets with an NCB on a delivery-versus -payment 
basis.  
Article 50  
Settlement of open market operations  
1. The Eurosystem shall endeavour to settle transactions relate d to its 
open market operations at the same time in all Member States wh ose 
currency is the euro with all counterparties that have provided  sufficient  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 47  
eligible assets as collateral. However, owing to operational co nstraints 
and technical features (e.g. of SSSs), the timing within the da y of the 
settlement of open market operations may differ across the Memb er 
States whose currency is the euro.  
2. The indicative settlement dates are summarised in Table 8.  
Table 8  
Indicative settlement dates for Eurosystem open market operations  (*) 
Monetary policy instrument Settlement date for open market 
operations based on 
standard tender procedures Settlement date for open market 
operations based on quick tender 
procedures or bilateral procedures  
Reverse transactions T + 1 T  
Outright transactions According to market convention for the el igible assets  
Issuance of ECB debt 
certificates T + 2 —  
Foreign exchange swaps T, T + 1 or T + 2  
Collection of fixed-term 
deposits T 
(*) The settlement date refers to Eurosystem business days. T r efers to the trade day.  
Article 51  
Settlement of open market operations executed by means of 
standard tender procedures  
1. The Eurosystem shall endeavour to settle open market operati ons 
executed by means of standard tender procedures, on the first d ay 
following the trade day on which TARGET2 and all relevant SSSs 
are open.  
2. The settlement dates for MROs and regular LTROs are specifie d 
in advance in the indicative calendar for the Eurosystem's regu lar tender 
operations. If the normal settlement date coincides with a bank  holiday, 
the ECB may decide to apply a different settlement date, with t he option 
of same-day settlement. The Eurosystem shall endeavour to ensur e that 
the time of settlement of MROs and regular LTROs coincides with  the 
time of reimbursement of a previous operation of corresponding 
maturity.  
3. The issuance of ECB debt certificates shall be settled on th e 
second day following the trade day on which TARGET2 and all 
relevant SSSs are open.  
Article 52  
Settlement of open market operations conducted by means of quick 
tender procedures or bilateral procedures  
1. The Eurosystem shall endeavour to settle open market operati ons 
executed by means of quick tender procedures and bilateral proc edures 
on the trade day. Other settlement dates may be applied, in par ticular for 
outright transactions and foreign exchange swaps.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 48  
2. Fine-tuning operations and structural operations conducted b y 
means of outright transactions executed by means of bilateral 
procedures shall be settled in a decentralised manner through t he NCBs.  
Article 53  
Further provisions relating to settlement and end-of-day procedures  
1. Without prejudice to the requirements laid down in this Chap ter, 
additional provisions relating to settlement may be laid down i n the 
contractual or regulatory arrangements applied by the NCBs, or the 
ECB, for the specific monetary policy instrument.  
2. The end-of-day procedures are specified in the documentation  
relating to the TARGET2 framework.  
Article 54  
Reserve holdings and excess reserves  
1. Pursuant to Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 
(ECB/2003/9), a counterparty's settlement account with an NCB m ay 
be used as a reserve account. Reserve holdings on settlement ac counts 
may be used for intraday settlement purposes. The daily reserve  holding 
of a counterparty shall be calculated as the end-of-day balance  on its 
reserve account. For the purposes of this Article, ‘reserve acc ount’ shall 
have the same meaning as that in Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 
(ECB/2003/9).  
▼M9 
2. Reserve holdings that comply with minimum reserve requiremen ts 
pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 2531/98 and Regulation (EC) 
No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9) shall be remunerated in accordance wi th 
Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9).  
3. Reserve holdings that exceed the minimum reserves referred t o in 
paragraph 2 shall be remunerated in accordance with Decision (E U) 
2019/1743 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2019/31) (  1 ). 
▼B 
PART THREE  
ELIGIBLE COUNTERPARTIES 
▼M6 
Article 55  
Eligibility criteria for participation in Eurosystem monetary policy 
operations  
With regard to Eurosystem monetary policy operations, subject t o 
Article 57, the Eurosystem shall only allow participation by in stitutions 
that fulfil the following criteria:  
(a) they shall be subject to the Eurosystem's minimum reserve s ystem 
pursuant to Article 19.1 of the Statute of the ESCB and shall n ot 
have been granted an exemption from their obligations under the  
Eurosystem's minimum reserve system pursuant to Regulation (EC)  
No 2531/98 and Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9);  ▼B 
( 1 ) Decision (EU) 2019/1743 of the European Central Bank of 15 Oc tober 2019 
on the remuneration of holdings of excess reserves and of certa in deposits 
(ECB/2019/31) (OJ L 267, 21.10.2019, p. 12).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 49  
(b) they shall be one of the following:  
(i) subject to at least one form of harmonised Union/EEA super­
vision by competent authorities in accordance with Directive 
2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;  
(ii) publicly owned credit institutions, within the meaning of 
Article 123(2) of the Treaty, subject to supervision of a 
standard comparable to supervision by competent authorities 
under Directive 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) 
No 575/2013;  
(iii) institutions subject to non-harmonised supervision by 
competent authorities of a standard comparable to harmonised 
Union/EEA supervision by competent authorities under 
Directive 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, 
e.g. branches established in Member States whose currency is 
the euro of institutions incorporated outside the EEA. For the 
purpose of assessing an institution's eligibility to participat e in 
Eurosystem monetary policy operations, as a rule, 
non-harmonised supervision shall be considered to be of a 
standard comparable to harmonised Union/EEA supervision 
by competent authorities under Directive 2013/36/EU and 
Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, if the relevant Basel III 
standards adopted by the Basel Committee on Banking Super­
vision are considered to have been implemented in the super­
visory regime of a given jurisdiction;  
(c) they must be financially sound within the meaning of Articl e 55a;  
(d) they shall fulfil all operational requirements specified in  the 
contractual or regulatory arrangements applied by the home NCB 
or ECB with respect to the specific instrument or operation.  
▼M2 
Article 55a  
Assessment of the financial soundness of institutions  
1. In its assessment of the financial soundness of individual i nsti­
tutions for the purposes of this Article, the Eurosystem may ta ke into 
account the following prudential information:  
(a) quarterly information on capital, leverage and liquidity ra tios 
reported under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 on an individual 
and consolidated basis, in accordance with the supervisory 
requirements; or  
(b) where applicable, prudential information of a standard comp arable 
to information under point (a).  
2. If such prudential information is not made available to an i nsti­
tution's home NCB and the ECB by the institution's supervisor, either 
the home NCB or the ECB may require the institution to make suc h 
information available. When such information is provided direct ly by an 
institution, the institution shall also submit an assessment of  the 
information carried out by the relevant supervisor. An addition al certifi­
cation from an external auditor may also be required.  
▼M4 
3. In the case of branches, the information reported under para graph 
1 shall relate to the institution to which the branch belongs.  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 50  
4. As regards the assessment of the financial soundness of inst i­
tutions that have been subject to in-kind recapitalisation with  public 
debt instruments, the Eurosystem may take into account the meth ods 
used for and the role played by such in-kind recapitalisations,  including 
the type and liquidity of such instruments and the market acces s of the 
issuer of such instruments, in ensuring the fulfilment of the c apital ratios 
reported under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.  
▼M5 
5. A wind-down entity shall not be eligible to access Eurosyste m 
monetary policy operations unless it has been accepted as an el igible 
counterparty to participate in Eurosystem monetary policy opera tions by 
22 March 2017. In that case it shall remain eligible until 31 D ecember 
2021, with the limitation that its access to Eurosystem credit operations, 
as defined in point (31) of Article 2, shall be capped at the a verage level 
of its recourse to Eurosystem credit operations during the 12-m onth 
period preceding 22 March 2017 with the possibility to compute and 
apply such cap jointly for a number of wind-down entities belon ging to 
the same group, where relevant. Thereafter, such a wind-down en tity 
shall no longer be eligible to access Eurosystem monetary polic y 
operations.  
▼B 
Article 56  
Access to open market operations executed by means of standard 
tender procedures and to standing facilities  
1. Institutions fulfilling the eligibility criteria under Artic le 55 shall 
have access to any of the following Eurosystem monetary policy 
operations:  
(a) standing facilities;  
(b) open market operations executed by means of standard tender  
procedures.  
2. Access to the standing facilities or open market operations 
executed by means of standard tender procedures shall only be 
granted to institutions fulfilling the eligibility criteria und er Article 55 
through their home NCB.  
3. Where an institution fulfilling the eligibility criteria und er 
Article 55 has establishments, e.g. head office or branches, in  more 
than one Member State whose currency is the euro, each establis hment 
fulfilling the eligibility criteria under Article 55 may access  the standing 
facilities or the open market operations executed by means of s tandard 
tender procedures through its home NCB.  
4. Bids for open market operations executed by means of standar d 
tender procedures and for recourse to the standing facilities s hall be 
submitted by only one establishment in each Member State whose 
currency is the euro, i.e. either by the head office or by a de signated 
branch.  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 51  
Article 57  
Selection of counterparties for access to open market operations 
executed by means of quick tender procedures or bilateral 
procedures  
1. For open market operations executed by means of quick tender  
procedures or bilateral procedures, counterparties shall be sel ected in 
accordance with paragraphs 2 to 4.  
2. For structural operations conducted by means of outright tra ns­
actions that are executed by means of bilateral procedures, the re shall 
be no restriction on the range of counterparties. For structura l operations 
conducted by means of outright transactions, which are executed  by 
means of quick tender procedures, the eligibility criteria laid  down in 
Article 57(3)(b) shall apply.  
3. For fine-tuning operations that are executed by means of qui ck 
tender procedures or bilateral procedures, counterparties shall  be 
selected as follows:  
(a) For fine-tuning operations that are conducted by means of f oreign 
exchange swaps for monetary policy purposes and executed by 
means of quick tender or bilateral procedures, the range of 
counterparties shall be identical to the range of entities that  are 
selected for Eurosystem foreign exchange intervention operation s 
and are established in the Member States whose currency is the 
euro. Counterparties for foreign exchange swaps for monetary 
policy purposes by means of quick tender or bilateral procedure s 
do not need to fulfil the criteria laid down in Article 55. The  
selection criteria for counterparties participating in Eurosyst em 
foreign exchange intervention operations are based on the princ iples 
of prudence and efficiency, as laid down in Annex V. The NCBs 
may apply limit-based systems in order to control credit exposu res 
vis-à-vis individual counterparties participating in foreign ex change 
swaps for monetary policy purposes.  
(b) For fine-tuning operations conducted by means of reverse tr ans­
actions or through the collection of fixed-term deposits and 
executed by means of quick tender procedures or bilateral 
procedures, each NCB shall select, for a specific transaction, a set 
of counterparties from among the institutions that fulfil the e ligi­
bility criteria laid down in Article 55 and are established in its 
Member State whose currency is the euro. The selection shall be  
primarily based on the relevant institution's activity in the m oney 
market. Additional selection criteria may be applied by the NCB , 
such as the efficiency of the trading desk and the bidding pote ntial.  
4. If the ECB's Governing Council, pursuant to Article 45(3), d ecides 
that the ECB shall conduct, by itself or by means of one or mor e NCBs 
fine-tuning operations executed by means of bilateral procedure s, the 
ECB shall select its counterparties in accordance with a rotati on scheme 
among the counterparties that are eligible to participate in qu ick tender 
procedures and bilateral procedures.  
5. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 to 4, open market operatio ns 
executed by means of quick tender procedures or bilateral proce dures 
may also be conducted with a broader range of counterparties th an those 
indicated in paragraphs 2 to 4, if the ECB's Governing Council so 
decides.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 52  
PART FOUR  
ELIGIBLE ASSETS  
TITLE I  
GENERAL PRINCIPLES  
Article 58  
Eligible assets and accepted collateralisation techniques to be used 
for Eurosystem credit operations  
1. The Eurosystem shall apply a single framework for eligible a ssets 
common to all Eurosystem credit operations as laid down in this  
Guideline.  
2. In order to participate in Eurosystem credit operations, 
counterparties shall provide the Eurosystem with assets that ar e 
eligible as collateral for such operations. Given that Eurosyst em credit 
operations include intraday credit, collateral provided by coun terparties 
in respect of intraday credit shall also comply with the eligib ility criteria 
laid down in this Guideline, as outlined in Guideline ECB/2012/ 27. 
3. Counterparties shall provide eligible assets by:  
(a) the transfer of ownership, which takes the legal form of a 
repurchase agreement; or  
(b) the creation of a security interest, i.e. a pledge, assignm ent or a 
charge granted over the relevant assets, which takes the legal 
form of a collateralised loan,  
in either case pursuant to the national contractual or regulato ry 
arrangements established and documented by the home NCB.  
4. Where counterparties provide eligible assets as collateral, the home 
NCB may require either earmarking or pooling of eligible assets , 
depending on which type of collateral management system it uses . 
5. No distinction shall be made between marketable and 
non-marketable assets with regard to the quality of the assets and 
their eligibility for the various types of Eurosystem credit op erations.  
6. Without prejudice to the obligation in paragraph 2 that 
counterparties provide the Eurosystem with assets that are elig ible as 
collateral, the Eurosystem may, upon request, provide counterpa rties 
with advice regarding the eligibility of marketable assets if t hey have 
already been issued or regarding the eligibility of non-marketa ble assets 
when they have already been requested for submission. The Euros ystem 
shall not provide any advice in advance of these events.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 53  
Article 59  
General aspects of the Eurosystem credit assessment framework for 
eligible assets  
1. As one of the criteria for eligibility, assets shall meet th e high 
credit standards specified in the Eurosystem credit assessment 
framework (ECAF).  
2. The ECAF shall lay down the procedures, rules and techniques  to 
ensure that the Eurosystem's requirement for high credit standa rds for 
eligible assets is maintained and that eligible assets comply w ith the 
credit quality requirements defined by the Eurosystem.  
3. For the purposes of the ECAF, the Eurosystem shall define cr edit 
quality requirements in the form of credit quality steps by est ablishing 
threshold values for the probability of default (PD) over a one -year 
horizon, as follows.  
(a) The Eurosystem considers, subject to regular review, a maxi mum 
probability of default over a one-year horizon of 0,10 % as 
equivalent to the credit quality requirement of credit quality step 
2 and a maximum probability of default over a one-year horizon of 
0,40 % as equivalent to the credit quality requirement of credi t 
quality step 3.  
(b) All eligible assets for Eurosystem credit operations shall comply, as 
a minimum, with a credit quality requirement corresponding to 
credit quality step 3. Additional credit quality requirements f or 
specific assets shall be applied by the Eurosystem in accordanc e 
with Titles II and III of Part Four.  
▼M7 
4. The Eurosystem shall publish information on credit quality s teps 
on the ECB's website in the form of the Eurosystem's harmonised  rating 
scale, including the mapping of credit assessments, provided by  the 
accepted external credit assessment institutions (ECAIs), to cr edit 
quality steps.  
5. In the assessment of the credit quality requirements, the Eu ro­
system takes into account credit assessment information from cr edit 
assessment systems belonging to one of the three sources in acc ordance 
with Title V of Part Four.  
▼B 
6. As part of its assessment of the credit standard of a specif ic asset, 
the Eurosystem may take into account institutional criteria and  features 
ensuring similar protection for the asset holder, such as guara ntees. The 
Eurosystem reserves the right to determine whether an issue, is suer, 
debtor or guarantor fulfils the Eurosystem's credit quality req uirements 
on the basis of any information that the Eurosystem may conside r 
relevant for ensuring adequate risk protection of the Eurosyste m. 
7. The ECAF follows the definition of ‘default’ laid down in 
Directive 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 54  
TITLE II  
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND CREDIT QUALITY REQUIREMENTS 
FOR MARKETABLE ASSETS  
CHAPTER 1  
Eligibility criteria for marketable assets  
Article 60  
Eligibility criteria relating to all types of marketable assets  
In order to be eligible as collateral for Eurosystem credit ope rations, 
marketable assets shall be debt instruments fulfilling the elig ibility 
criteria laid down in Section 1, except in the case of certain specific 
types of marketable assets, as laid down in Section 2.  
Article 61  
List of eligible marketable assets and reporting rules 
▼M6 
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 oper­
ational. Marketable assets included on the list of eligible mar ketable 
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 debt instruments with same-day value settlemen t, 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.  ►M9 Such assets shall only be eligible until 
the date on which the Eurosystem Collateral Management System s tarts 
to operate (‘go-live date’). ◄  
▼B 
2. As a rule, the NCB reporting a specific marketable asset to the 
ECB is the NCB of the country in which the marketable asset is 
admitted to trading.  
S e c t i o n 1  
G e n e r a l e l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r m a r k e t a b l e a s s e t s  
Article 62  
Principal amount of marketable assets  
1. In order to be eligible, until their final redemption, debt 
instruments shall have:  
(a) a fixed and unconditional principal amount; or  
(b) an unconditional principal amount that is linked, on a flat  basis, to 
only one euro area inflation index at a single point in time, 
containing no other complex structures.  
2. Debt instruments with a principal amount linked to only one euro 
area inflation index at a single point in time shall also be pe rmissible, 
given that the coupon structure is as defined in Article 63(1)( b)(i) fourth 
indent and linked to the same euro area inflation index.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 55  
3. Assets with warrants or similar rights attached shall not be  
eligible.  
▼M1 
Article 63  
Acceptable coupon structures for marketable assets 
▼M4 
1. ►M9 In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall have one of 
the following coupon structures until final redemption: ◄  
(a) fixed, zero or multi-step coupons with a pre-defined coupon  
schedule and pre-defined coupon values;  
(b) floating coupons that have the following structure: coupon rate = 
(reference rate * l) ± x, with f ≤ coupon rate ≤ c, where:  
▼M9 
(i) the reference rate is only one of the following at a single  
point in time:  
— a euro money market rate, e.g. the euro short-term rate 
(€STR) (including compounded or averaged daily €STR), 
Euribor, LIBOR or similar indices; for the first or/and the 
last coupon the reference rate can be a linear interpolation 
between two tenors of the same euro money market rate e.g. 
a linear interpolation between two different tenors of 
Euribor,  
— a constant maturity swap rate, e.g. CMS, EIISDA, EUSA,  
— the yield of one or an index of several euro area government 
bonds that have a maturity of one year or less,  
— a euro area inflation index;  
▼M4 
(ii) f (floor), c (ceiling), l (leveraging/deleveraging factor)  and x 
(margin) are, if present, numbers that are either pre-defined a t 
issuance, or may change over time only according to a path 
predefined at issuance, where l is greater than zero throughout  
the entire lifetime of the asset. For floating coupons with an 
inflation index reference rate, l shall be equal to one ; or  
▼M9 
(c) multi-step or floating coupons with steps linked to SPTs, p rovided 
the issuer’s compliance with SPTs is subject to verification by  an 
independent third party in accordance with the terms and condit ions 
of the debt instrument.  
▼M1 
2. Any coupon structure that does not comply with paragraph 1 s hall 
not be eligible, including instances where only part of the rem uneration 
structure, such as a premium, is non-compliant.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 56  
3. For the purpose of this Article, if the coupon is either of a fixed 
multi-step type or of a floating multi-step type, the assessmen t of the 
relevant coupon structure shall be based on the entire lifetime  of the 
asset with both a forward- and backward-looking perspective.  
4. Acceptable coupon structures shall have no issuer optionalit ies, i.e. 
during the entire lifetime of the asset, based on a forward- an d 
backward-looking perspective, changes in the coupon structure t hat 
are contingent on an issuer's decision shall not be acceptable.  
▼B 
Article 64  
Non-subordination with respect to marketable assets  
Eligible debt instruments shall not give rise to rights to the principal 
and/or the interest that are subordinated to the rights of hold ers of other 
debt instruments of the same issuer.  
▼M9 
Article 64a  
Marketable assets other than ABSs and covered bonds  
1. In order to be eligible, marketable assets other than ABSs, legis­
lative covered bonds and  multi cédulas  shall be unsecured obligations of 
both the issuer and guarantor. For marketable assets with more than one 
issuer or with more than one guarantor, the requirement in this  
paragraph shall apply to each issuer and each guarantor.  
2. Marketable assets which are secured and were eligible before  
1 January 2021 but do not comply with the eligibility requireme nts as 
set out in this Article shall remain eligible until 1 January 2 026, 
provided that they fulfil all other eligibility criteria for ma rketable 
assets. By derogation from the first sentence of this paragraph , 
covered bonds which are neither legislative covered bonds nor  multi 
cédulas , shall become ineligible from 1 January 2021.  
▼B 
Article 65  
Currency of denomination of marketable assets  
In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall be denominated in euro or 
in one of the former currencies of the Member States whose curr ency is 
the euro.  
Article 66  
Place of issue of marketable assets 
▼M6 
1. Subject to paragraph 2, in order to be eligible, debt instru ments 
shall be issued in the EEA with a central bank or with an eligi ble SSS.  ▼M1
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 57  
2. In respect of debt instruments issued or guaranteed by a non - 
financial corporation for which no credit assessment has been 
provided by an accepted ECAI system for the issue, issuer or gu arantor, 
the place of issue must be within the euro area.  
▼M6 
3. International debt instruments issued through the ICSDs shal l 
comply with the following criteria, as applicable.  
(a) International debt instruments issued in global bearer form  shall be 
issued in the form of new global notes (NGNs) and shall be 
deposited with a common safekeeper which is an ICSD or a CSD 
that operates an eligible SSS. This requirement shall not apply  to 
international debt instruments issued in global bearer form iss ued in 
the form of classical global notes prior to 1 January 2007 and 
fungible tap issuances of such notes issued under the same ISIN  
irrespective of the date of the tap-issuance.  
(b) International debt instruments issued in global registered form shall 
be issued under the new safekeeping structure for international  debt 
instruments. By way of derogation, this shall not apply to inte r­
national debt instruments issued in global registered form prio r to 
1 October 2010.  
(c) International debt instruments in individual note form shal l not be 
eligible unless they were issued in individual note form prior to 
1 October 2010.  
▼B 
Article 67  
Settlement procedures for marketable assets 
▼M6 
1. In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall be transfera ble in 
book-entry form and shall be held and settled in Member States whose 
currency is the euro through an account with an NCB or with an eligible 
SSS, so that the perfection and realisation of collateral is su bject to the 
law of a Member State whose currency is the euro.  
1a. In addition, where the use of such debt instruments involve s 
tri-party collateral management services, on a domestic and/or 
cross-border basis, those services shall be provided by a tri-p arty 
agent that has been positively assessed pursuant to the ‘Eurosy stem 
standards for the use of triparty agents (TPAs) in Eurosystem c redit 
operations’, which are published on the ECB's website.  
2. If the CSD where the asset is issued and the CSD where the a sset 
is held are not identical, the SSSs operated by these two CSDs must be 
connected by an eligible link in accordance with Article 150.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 58  
Article 68  
Acceptable markets for marketable assets  
1. In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall be those whi ch are 
admitted to trading on a regulated market as defined in Directi ve 
2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (  1 ), or 
admitted to trading on certain acceptable non-regulated markets . 
2. The ECB shall publish the list of acceptable non-regulated m arkets 
on its website and shall update it at least once a year.  
3. The assessment of non-regulated markets by the Eurosystem sh all 
be based on the following principles of safety, transparency an d accessi­
bility.  
(a) Safety refers to certainty with regard to transactions, in particular 
certainty in relation to the validity and enforceability of tra nsactions.  
(b) Transparency refers to unimpeded access to information on t he 
market's rules of procedure and operation, the financial featur es of 
the assets, the price formation mechanism, and the relevant pri ces 
and quantities, e.g. quotes, interest rates, trading volumes, 
outstanding amounts.  
(c) Accessibility refers to the ability of the Eurosystem to ta ke part in 
and access the market. A market is considered accessible if its  rules 
of procedure and operation allow the Eurosystem to obtain 
information and conduct transactions when needed for collateral  
management purposes.  
4. The selection process for non-regulated markets shall be def ined 
exclusively in terms of the performance of the Eurosystem colla teral 
management function and should not be regarded as an assessment  by 
the Eurosystem of the intrinsic quality of any market.  
Article 69  
Type of issuer or guarantor for marketable assets 
▼M6 
1. In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall be issued or  guaran­
teed by central banks of Member States, public sector entities,  agencies, 
credit institutions, financial corporations other than credit i nstitutions, 
non-financial corporations, multilateral development banks or i nter­
national organisations. For marketable assets with more than on e 
issuer, this requirement shall apply to each issuer.  
▼M7 __________  ▼B 
( 1 ) Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Co uncil of 
15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Di rective 
2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (OJ L 173, 12.6.2014, p. 34 9).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 59  
3. Debt instruments issued or guaranteed by investment funds sh all 
be ineligible.  
▼B 
Article 70  
Place of establishment of the issuer or guarantor 
▼M6 
1. In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall be issued by  an 
issuer established in the EEA or in a non-EEA G10 country, subj ect 
to the exceptions in paragraphs 3 to 6 of this Article and in p aragraph 4 
of Article 81a. For marketable assets with more than one issuer , this 
requirement shall apply to each issuer.  
▼B 
2. In order to be eligible, guarantors of debt instruments shal l be 
established in the EEA, unless a guarantee is not needed to est ablish 
the credit quality requirements for specific debt instruments, subject to 
the exceptions laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4. The possibility  to use 
an ECAI guarantor rating to establish the relevant credit quali ty 
requirements for specific debt instruments is laid down in Arti cle 84.  
3. For debt instruments issued or guaranteed by non-financial c orpo­
rations for which no credit assessment from an accepted ECAI sy stem 
exists for the issue, the issuer or the guarantor, the issuer o r guarantor 
shall be established in a Member State whose currency is the eu ro. 
▼M7 
3a. For debt instruments issued or guaranteed by agencies, the issuer 
or guarantor shall be established in a Member State whose curre ncy is 
the euro.  
▼B 
4. For debt instruments issued or guaranteed by multilateral de velop­
ment banks or international organisations, the criterion in res pect of 
place of establishment shall not apply and they shall be eligib le irre­
spective of their place of establishment.  
5. For asset-backed securities, the issuer must be established in the 
EEA in accordance with Article 74.  
6. Debt instruments issued by issuers established in non-EEA G1 0 
countries shall only be considered eligible if the Eurosystem h as ascer­
tained to its satisfaction that its rights would be protected i n an appro­
priate manner under the laws of the relevant non-EEA G10 countr y. For 
this purpose, a legal assessment shall be submitted to the rele vant NCB, 
in a form and substance acceptable to the Eurosystem, before th e 
relevant debt instruments may be considered eligible.  
Article 71  
Credit quality requirements for marketable assets  
In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall meet the credit  quality 
requirements specified in Chapter 2, except where otherwise sta ted. ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 60  
S e c t i o n 2  
S p e c i f i c e l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r c e r t a i n t y p e s o f 
m a r k e t a b l e a s s e t s  
S u b s e c t i o n 1  
S p e c i f i c e l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r a s s e t - b a c k e d s e c u r i t i e s  
Article 72  
Eligibility criteria for asset-backed securities  
In order to be eligible for Eurosystem credit operations, asset -backed 
securities shall comply with the general eligibility criteria r elating to all 
types of marketable assets laid down in Section 1, with the exc eption of 
the requirements laid down in Article 62 relating to the princi pal 
amount, and in addition, the specific eligibility criteria laid  down in 
this subsection.  
Article 73  
Homogeneity and composition of the cash-flow generating assets 
▼M7 
1. In order for ABSs to be eligible, all cash-flow generating a ssets 
backing the ABSs shall be homogenous, i.e. it shall be possible  to 
report them according to one of the types of loan-level templat es 
referred to in Annex VIII, which shall relate to one of the fol lowing:  
(a) residential mortgages;  
(b) loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);  
(c) auto loans;  
(d) consumer finance loans;  
(e) leasing receivables;  
(f) credit card receivables.  
▼B 
2. The Eurosystem may consider an ABS not to be homogenous 
upon assessment of the data submitted by a counterparty.  
3. ABSs shall not contain any cash-flow generating assets origi nated 
directly by the SPV issuing the ABSs.  
4. The cash-flow generating assets shall not consist, in whole or in 
part, actually or potentially, of tranches of other ABSs. This criterion 
shall not exclude ABSs where the issuance structure includes tw o SPVs 
and the ‘true sale’ criterion is met in respect of those SPVs s o that the 
debt instruments issued by the second SPV are directly or indir ectly 
backed by the original pool of assets and all cash flows from t he 
cash-flow generating assets are transferred from the first to t he second 
SPV.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 61  
5. The cash-flow generating assets shall not consist, in whole or in 
part, actually or potentially, of credit-linked notes, swaps or  other deri­
vatives instruments, synthetic securities or similar claims. Th is 
restriction shall not encompass swaps used in ABS transactions 
strictly for hedging purposes.  
▼M6 __________  
▼M4 __________  
▼B 
Article 74  
Geographical restrictions concerning asset-backed securities and 
cash-flow generating assets  
1. The issuer of ABSs shall be an SPV established in the EEA.  
2. The cash-flow generating assets shall be originated by an or ig­
inator incorporated in the EEA and sold to the SPV by the origi nator or 
by an intermediary incorporated in the EEA.  
▼M7 
3. For the purpose of paragraph 2, a mortgage trustee or receiv ables 
trustee shall be considered to be an intermediary.  
4. The obligors and the creditors of the cash-flow generating a ssets 
shall be incorporated, or, if they are natural persons, shall b e resident in 
the EEA. Obligors who are natural persons must have been reside nt in 
the EEA at the time the cash-flow generating assets were origin ated. 
Any related security shall be located in the EEA and the law go verning 
the cash-flow generating assets shall be the law of an EEA coun try. 
▼B 
Article 75  
Acquisition of cash-flow generating assets by the SPV  
1. The acquisition of the cash-flow generating assets by the SP V 
shall be governed by the law of a Member State.  
2. The cash-flow generating assets shall have been acquired by the 
SPV from the originator or from an intermediary as laid down in  
Article 74(2) in a manner which the Eurosystem considers to be a 
‘true sale’ that is enforceable against any third party, and wh ich is 
beyond the reach of the originator and its creditors or the int ermediary 
and its creditors, including in the event of the originator's o r the inter­
mediary's insolvency.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 62  
Article 76  
Assessment of clawback rules for asset-backed securities  
1. ABSs shall only be considered eligible if the Eurosystem has  
ascertained that its rights would be protected in an appropriat e 
manner against clawback rules considered relevant by the Eurosy stem 
under the law of the relevant EEA country. For this purpose, be fore the 
ABSs may be considered eligible, the Eurosystem may require:  
(a) an independent legal assessment in a form and substance acc eptable 
to the Eurosystem that sets out the applicable clawback rules i n the 
relevant country; and/or  
(b) other documents, such as a solvency certificate from the tr ansferor 
for the suspect period, which is a certain period of time durin g 
which the sale of cash-flow generating assets backing the ABSs 
may be invalidated by a liquidator.  
2. Clawback rules, which the Eurosystem considers to be severe and 
therefore not acceptable, shall include:  
(a) rules under which the sale of cash-flow generating assets b acking 
the ABSs can be invalidated by a liquidator solely on the basis  that 
the sale was concluded within the suspect period, as referred t o in 
paragraph 1(b), before the declaration of insolvency of the sel ler; or  
(b) rules where such invalidation can only be prevented by the 
transferee if they can prove that they were not aware of the 
insolvency of the seller at the time of the sale.  
For the purposes of this criterion, the seller may be the origi nator or 
intermediary, as applicable.  
Article 77  
Non-subordination of tranches for asset-backed securities  
1. Only tranches or sub-tranches of ABSs that are not subordina ted 
to other tranches of the same issue over the lifetime of the AB S shall be 
considered eligible.  
2. A tranche or sub-tranche shall be considered to be 
non-subordinated to other tranches or sub-tranches of the same issue 
if, in accordance with the post-enforcement priority of payment s, and if 
applicable, the post-acceleration priority of payments as set o ut in the 
prospectus, no other tranche or sub-tranche shall be given prio rity over 
that tranche or sub-tranche in respect of receiving payment, i. e. principal 
and interest, and thereby such tranche or sub-tranche shall be last in 
incurring losses among the different tranches or sub-tranches.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 63  
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 docu men­
tation shall not consist, in whole or in part, actually or pote ntially, of 
tranches of other ABSs, credit-linked notes, swaps or other der ivative 
instruments, synthetic securities or similar claims.  
▼B 
Article 78  
Availability of loan level data for asset-backed securities 
▼M9 
1. Comprehensive and standardised loan-level data on the pool o f 
cash-flow generating assets backing the ABSs shall be made avai lable 
in accordance with the procedures set out in Annex VIII.  
__________  
▼B 
Article 79  
Data requests for asset-backed securities  
The Eurosystem shall reserve the right to request from any thir d party it 
considers relevant, including but not restricted to, the issuer , the orig­
inator and/or the arranger, any clarification and/or legal conf irmation 
that it considers necessary to assess the eligibility of ABSs a nd with 
regard to the provision of loan-level data. If a third party fa ils to comply 
with a particular request, the Eurosystem may decide not to acc ept the 
ABSs as collateral or may decide to suspend the eligibility of such 
collateral.  
S u b s e c t i o n 2  
S p e c i f i c e l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r c o v e r e d b o n d s b a c k e d 
b y a s s e t - b a c k e d s e c u r i t i e s  
▼M9 
Article 80  
Eligibility criteria for covered bonds backed by asset-backed 
securities  
1. Without prejudice to the eligibility of legislative covered bonds 
pursuant to Article 64a, in order for EEA legislative covered b onds 
backed by ABSs to be eligible, the cover pool of such bonds (fo r the 
purposes of paragraphs 1 to 4, ‘the cover pool’) shall only con tain 
ABSs that comply with all of the following.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 64  
(a) The cash-flow generating assets backing the ABSs meet the c riteria 
laid down in Article 129(1)(d) to (f) of Regulation (EU) 
No 575/2013.  
(b) The cash-flow generating assets were originated by an entit y closely 
linked to the issuer, as described in Article 138.  
(c) They are used as a technical tool to transfer mortgages or guaran­
teed real estate loans from the originating entity into the cov er pool.  
2. Subject to paragraph 4, the NCBs shall use the following mea sures 
to verify that the cover pool does not contain ABSs that do not  comply 
with paragraph 1.  
(a) On a quarterly basis, the NCBs shall request a self-certifi cation and 
undertaking of the issuer confirming that the cover pool does n ot 
contain ABSs that do not comply with paragraph 1. The NCB’s 
request shall specify that the self-certification must be signe d by the 
issuer’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial 
Officer (CFO) or a manager of similar seniority, or by an autho rised 
signatory on their behalf.  
(b) On an annual basis, NCBs shall request an  ex post  confirmation by 
external auditors or cover pool monitors from the issuer, confi rming 
that the cover pool does not contain ABSs that do not comply wi th 
paragraph 1 for the monitoring period.  
3. If the issuer fails to comply with a particular request or i f the 
Eurosystem deems the content of a confirmation incorrect or ins ufficient 
to the extent that it is not possible to verify that the cover pool complies 
with the criteria in paragraph 1, the Eurosystem shall decide n ot to 
accept the EEA legislative covered bonds as eligible collateral  or to 
suspend their eligibility.  
4. Where the applicable legislation or prospectus exclude the 
inclusion of ABSs that do not comply with paragraph 1 as cover pool 
assets, no verification pursuant to paragraph 2 shall be requir ed. 
5. For the purposes of paragraph 1(b), the close links shall be  
determined at the time that the senior units of the ABSs are tr ansferred 
into the cover pool of the EEA legislative covered bond.  
6. The cover pool of non-EEA G10 legislative covered bonds shal l 
not contain ABSs.  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 65  
S u b s e c t i o n 3  
S p e c i f i c e l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r d e b t c e r t i f i c a t e s i s s u e d 
b y t h e E u r o s y s t e m  
Article 81  
Eligibility criteria for debt certificates issued by the Eurosystem  
1. Debt certificates issued by the ECB and debt certificates is sued by 
the NCBs prior to the date of adoption of the euro in their res pective 
Member State whose currency is the euro shall be eligible as co llateral 
for Eurosystem credit operations.  
2. Debt certificates issued by the Eurosystem shall not be subj ect to 
the criteria laid down in this Chapter.  
▼M4 
S u b s e c t i o n 4  
S p e c i f i c e l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r c e r t a i n u n s e c u r e d d e b t 
i n s t r u m e n t s  
▼M6 
Article 81a  
Eligibility criteria for certain unsecured debt instruments issued by 
credit institutions or investment firms, or by their closely linked 
entities  
1. By derogation from Article 64 and provided that they fulfil all 
other eligibility criteria, the following subordinated unsecure d debt 
instruments issued by credit institutions or investment firms, or by 
their closely linked entities as referred to in Article 141(3),  shall be 
eligible until maturity, provided that they are issued before 3 1 December 
2018 and their subordination results neither from contractual s ubordi­
nation as defined in paragraph 2 nor from structural subordinat ion 
pursuant to paragraph 3:  
▼M7 
— debt instruments issued by agencies,  
▼M6 
— debt instruments guaranteed by a Union public sector entity w hich 
has the right to levy taxes by way of a guarantee that complies  with 
the features laid down in Article 114(1) to (4) and Article 115 . 
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, contractual subordination m eans 
subordination based on the terms and conditions of an unsecured  debt 
instrument, irrespective of whether such subordination is statu torily 
recognised.  
3. Unsecured debt instruments issued by holding companies, 
including any intermediate holding companies, subject to nation al legis­
lation implementing Directive 2014/59/EU or to similar recovery  and 
resolution frameworks, shall be ineligible.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 66  
4. For unsecured debt instruments issued by credit institutions  or 
investment firms, or by their closely linked entities as referr ed to in 
Article 141(3), other than unsecured debt instruments issued by  multi­
lateral development banks or international organisations as ref erred to in 
Article 70(4), the issuer shall be established in the Union.  
▼M7 __________  
▼B 
CHAPTER 2  
Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for marketable assets  
Article 82  
Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for marketable assets  
1. Further to the general rules set out in Article 59 and to th e specific 
rules set out in Article 84, marketable assets shall comply wit h the 
following credit quality requirements in order to be eligible a s collateral 
for Eurosystem credit operations:  
(a) With the exception of ABSs, all marketable assets shall hav e a 
credit assessment provided by at least one accepted ECAI system , 
expressed in the form of a public credit rating, in compliance with, 
as a minimum, credit quality step 3 in the Eurosystem's harmoni sed 
rating scale.  
(b) ABSs shall have credit assessments that are provided by at least two 
different accepted ECAI systems expressed in the form of two 
public credit ratings, one provided by each of these ECAI 
systems, in compliance with, as a minimum, credit quality step 2 
in the Eurosystem's harmonised rating scale.  
2. The Eurosystem may request any clarification that it conside rs 
necessary as regards the public credit rating referred to in pa ragraph 1.  
Article 83  
Types of ECAI credit assessments used for credit quality 
assessments of marketable assets  
The following types of ECAI credit assessments from accepted EC AIs 
shall be used in determining compliance with the credit quality  
requirements applicable to marketable assets.  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 67  
(a) An ECAI issue rating: this rating refers to an ECAI credit 
assessment assigned to either an issue or, in the absence of an  
issue rating from the same ECAI, the programme or issuance 
series under which an asset is issued. An ECAI assessment for a  
programme or issuance series shall only be relevant if it appli es to 
the particular asset in question and is explicitly and unambigu ously 
matched with the asset's ISIN code by the ECAI, and a different  
issue rating from the same ECAI does not exist. For ECAI issue 
ratings, the Eurosystem shall make no distinction in respect of  the 
original maturity of the asset.  
▼B 
(b) An ECAI issuer rating: this rating refers to an ECAI credit  
assessment assigned to an issuer. For ECAI issuer ratings, the Euro­
system shall make a distinction in respect of the original matu rity of 
the asset as regards the acceptable ECAI credit assessment. The  
distinction shall be made between:  
(i) short-term assets, i.e. those assets with an original matur ity of up 
to and including 390 days; and  
(ii) long-term assets, i.e. those assets with an original matur ity of 
more than 390 days. For short-term assets, ECAI short-term and 
long-term issuer ratings shall be acceptable. For long-term 
assets, only ECAI long-term issuer ratings shall be acceptable.  
(c) An ECAI guarantor rating: this rating refers to an ECAI cre dit 
assessment assigned to a guarantor, if the guarantee meets the 
requirements of Title IV. For ECAI guarantor ratings, the Euro­
system shall make no distinction in respect of the original 
maturity of the asset. Only ECAI long-term guarantor ratings 
shall be acceptable.  
Article 84  
Priority of ECAI credit assessments in respect of marketable assets  
For marketable assets, ECAI credit assessments which determine the 
compliance of the asset with the credit quality requirements sh all be 
taken into account by the Eurosystem in accordance with the fol lowing 
rules:  
(a) For marketable assets other than marketable assets issued b y central 
governments, regional governments, local governments, agencies,  
multilateral development banks or international organisations a nd 
ABSs, the following rules shall apply.  
(i) The Eurosystem shall consider ECAI issue ratings in priorit y to 
ECAI issuer or ECAI guarantor ratings. Without prejudice to 
the application of this priority rule, in accordance with 
Article 82(1)(a), at least one ECAI credit assessment must 
comply with the Eurosystem's applicable credit quality 
requirements.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 68  
(ii) If multiple ECAI issue ratings are available for the same issue, 
then the first-best of those ECAI issue ratings shall be taken 
into account by the Eurosystem. If the first-best ECAI issue 
rating does not comply with the Eurosystem's credit quality 
threshold for marketable assets, the asset shall not be 
eligible, even if a guarantee that is acceptable under Title IV  
exists.  
▼M6 
(iii) In the absence of any ECAI issue rating or, in the case o f 
covered bonds, in the absence of an issue rating fulfilling the  
requirements of Annex IXb, an ECAI issuer or ECAI guarantor 
rating may be considered by the Eurosystem. If multiple ECAI 
issuer and/or ECAI guarantor ratings are available for the same  
issue, then the first-best of those ratings shall be taken into  
account by the Eurosystem.  
▼B 
(b) For marketable assets issued by central governments, region al 
governments, local governments, agencies, multilateral developm ent 
banks or international organisations, the following rules shall  apply.  
(i) In accordance with Article 82(1)(a), at least one ECAI cred it 
assessment must comply with the Eurosystem's applicable 
credit quality requirements. The Eurosystem shall only 
consider ECAI issuer or ECAI guarantor ratings.  
(ii) If multiple ECAI issuer and ECAI guarantor ratings are 
available, the first-best of those ratings shall be taken into 
account by the Eurosystem.  
(iii) Covered bonds issued by agencies shall not be assessed in  
accordance with the rules in this point and shall instead be 
assessed in accordance with point (a).  
(c) For ABSs, the following rules shall apply.  
(i) In accordance with Article 82(1)(b), at least two ECAI cred it 
assessments shall comply with the Eurosystem's applicable 
credit quality requirements. The Eurosystem shall only 
consider ECAI issue ratings.  
(ii) If more than two ECAI issue ratings are available, the fir st- and 
second-best of such ECAI issue ratings shall be taken into 
account by the Eurosystem.  
Article 85  
Multi-issuer securities  
For marketable assets with more than one issuer (multi-issuer 
securities), the applicable ECAI issuer rating shall be determi ned on 
the basis of each issuer's potential liability as follows:  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 69  
(a) If each issuer is jointly and severally liable for the obli gations of all 
other issuers under the issue or, if applicable, for the progra mme, or 
issuance series, the ECAI issuer rating to be considered shall be the 
highest rating among the first-best ECAI issuer ratings of all the 
relevant issuers; or  
(b) If any issuer is not jointly and severally liable for the o bligations of 
all other issuers under the issue or, if applicable, for the pr ogramme, 
or issuance series, the ECAI issuer rating to be considered sha ll be 
the lowest rating among the first-best ECAI issuer ratings of a ll the 
relevant issuers.  
Article 86  
Non-euro ratings  
For the purpose of ECAI issuer ratings, a foreign currency rati ng shall 
be acceptable. If the asset is denominated in the domestic curr ency of 
the issuer, the local currency rating shall also be acceptable.  
Article 87  
Credit quality assessment criteria for marketable assets in the 
absence of a credit assessment provided by an accepted ECAI  
1. In the absence of an appropriate credit assessment provided by an 
accepted ECAI for the issue, issuer or guarantor, as would be a pplicable 
pursuant to Article 84(a) or (b), an implicit credit assessment  of 
marketable assets (with the exception of ABSs) shall be derived  by 
the Eurosystem in accordance with the rules laid down in paragr aphs 
2 and 3. This implicit credit assessment is required to comply with the 
Eurosystem's credit quality requirements.  
▼M6 
2. If the debt instruments are issued or guaranteed by a region al 
government or a local authority or a ‘public sector entity’ as defined 
in point 8 of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (here inafter a 
‘CRR public sector entity’) established in a Member State whose  
currency is the euro, the credit assessment shall be performed by the 
Eurosystem in accordance with the following rules.  
(a) If the issuers or guarantors are regional governments, loca l auth­
orities or CRR public sector entities, which are treated for ca pital 
requirements purposes pursuant to Articles 115(2) or 116(4) of 
Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 equally to the central government 
in whose jurisdiction they are established, the debt instrument s 
issued or guaranteed by these entities shall be allocated the c redit 
quality step corresponding to the best credit rating provided b y an 
accepted ECAI to the central government in whose jurisdiction 
these entities are established.  
(b) If the issuers or guarantors are regional governments, loca l auth­
orities and CRR public sector entities which are not referred t o in 
point (a) the debt instruments issued or guaranteed by these en tities 
shall be allocated the credit step corresponding to one credit quality 
step below the best credit rating provided by an accepted ECAI to 
the central government in which jurisdiction these entities are  
established.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 70  
(c) If the issuers or guarantors are ‘public sector entities’ a s defined in 
point (75) of Article 2 and are not referred to in points (a) a nd (b), 
no implicit credit assessment is derived and the debt instrumen ts 
issued or guaranteed by these entities shall be treated equally  to 
debt instruments issued or guaranteed by private sector entitie s, i.e. 
as not having an appropriate credit assessment.  
3. Subject to the provisions of Article 61(1), if the debt inst ruments 
are issued or guaranteed by non-financial corporations establis hed in a 
Member State whose currency is the euro, the credit quality ass essment 
shall be performed by the Eurosystem based on the credit qualit y 
assessment rules applicable to the credit quality assessment of  credit 
claims in Chapter 2 of Title III.  
▼M6 
Table 9  
Implicit credit quality assessments for issuers or guarantors without an ECAI 
credit quality assessment  
Allocation of issuers or guarantors under 
Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR (*)) ECAF derivation of the implicit credit quality 
assessment of the issuer or guarantor 
belonging to the corresponding class  
Class 1 Regional governments, local auth­
orities and CRR public sector entities 
(CRR PSEs) that are treated by the 
competent authorities in the same 
manner as the central government for 
capital requirements purposes pursuant 
to Articles 115(2) and 116(4) of 
Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 Allocated the ECAI credit quality 
assessment of the central government 
in whose jurisdiction the entity is estab­
lished  
Class 2 Other regional governments, local 
authorities and CRR PSEs Allocated a credit quality assessment 
one credit quality step (*) below the 
ECAI credit quality assessment of the 
central government in whose juris­
diction the entity is established  
Class 3 Public sector entities as defined in 
point (75) of Article 2 that are not 
CRR PSEs  ►M9 Treated like private sector 
issuers or debtors, i.e. their marketable 
assets are not eligible ◄  
(*) Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, also referred to as the CRR fo r the purposes of this table. 
(**) Information on the credit quality steps is published on th e ECB's website.  
▼B 
Article 88  
Additional credit quality requirements for asset-backed securities  
1. For ABSs, the credit quality assessment shall be based on a public 
issue rating that is explained in a publicly available credit r ating report, 
i.e. a new issue report. The publicly available credit rating r eport shall 
include, inter alia, a comprehensive analysis of structural and  legal 
aspects, a detailed collateral pool assessment, an analysis of the trans­
action participants, as well as an analysis of any other releva nt details of 
a transaction.  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 71  
2. Further to the requirement in paragraph 1, regular surveilla nce 
reports published by the accepted ECAIs are required for asset- backed 
securities. The publication of these reports shall take place n o later than 
four weeks after the coupon payment date of the ABSs. The refer ence 
date of these reports shall be the most recent coupon payment d ate 
except for ABSs paying the coupon on a monthly basis, in which 
case the surveillance report shall be published at least quarte rly. The 
surveillance reports shall contain, as a minimum, the key trans action 
data, e.g. composition of the collateral pool, transaction part icipants, 
capital structure, as well as performance data.  
TITLE III  
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND CREDIT QUALITY REQUIREMENTS 
FOR NON-MARKETABLE ASSETS  
CHAPTER 1  
Eligibility criteria for non-marketable assets  
S e c t i o n 1  
E l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r c r e d i t c l a i m s  
Article 89  
Eligible type of asset  
1. The eligible type of asset shall be a credit claim that is a  debt 
obligation of a debtor vis-à-vis a counterparty.  
2. Types of credit claims that have a ‘reducing balance’, i.e. where 
the principal and interest are paid off according to a pre-agre ed 
schedule, as well as drawn credit lines, shall be eligible type s of 
credit claim.  
3. Current account overdrafts, letters of credit and undrawn cr edit 
lines, e.g. undrawn facilities of revolving credit claims, whic h 
authorise the use of credit but are not credit claims per se, s hall not 
be eligible types of credit claim.  
4. A syndicated loan share shall be an eligible type of credit claim. 
For the purposes of this Section, a syndicated loan share means  a credit 
claim resulting from the participation of a lender in a loan pr ovided by a 
group of lenders in a lending syndicate.  
5. A credit claim granted in a context other than a mere lendin g 
relationship may constitute an eligible type of asset. A claim inherent 
to certain leasing or factoring structures may qualify as an el igible type 
of asset, if it constitutes a credit claim. Claims purchased un der a 
factoring only qualify as an eligible type of asset to the exte nt they 
actually constitute credit claims as opposed to other claims, s uch as 
purchase price claims.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 72  
Article 90  
Principal amount and coupons of credit claims 
▼M9 
In order to be eligible, credit claims shall comply with the fo llowing 
requirements from the moment they are mobilised until their fin al 
redemption or demobilisation:  
(a) they have a fixed, unconditional principal amount; and  
▼M7 
(b) ►M9 an interest rate that shall be one of the following: ◄  
(i) a ‘zero coupon’;  
(ii) fixed;  
(iii) floating, i.e. linked to a reference interest rate and wi th the 
following structure: coupon rate = reference rate ± x, with f ≤  
coupon rate ≤ c, where:  
— the reference rate is only one of the following at a single 
point in time:  
▼M9 
— a euro money market rate, e.g. €STR (including 
compounded or averaged daily €STR), Euribor, 
LIBOR or similar indices;  
▼M7 
— a constant maturity swap rate, e.g. CMS, EIISDA, 
EUSA;  
— the yield of one or an index of several euro area 
government bonds;  
— f (floor), c (ceiling), if they are present, and x (margin) a re 
numbers that are either pre-defined at origination or may 
change over the life of the credit claim; f and/or c may 
also be introduced after origination of the credit claim; and  
(c) their most recent cash flow was not negative. If a negative  cash 
flow occurs, the credit claim is ineligible as at that moment. It may 
become eligible again after a cash flow that is not negative, 
provided it meets all other relevant requirements.  ▼M7
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 73  
Article 91  
Non-subordination  
Credit claims may not afford rights to the principal and/or the  interest 
that are subordinated to: (a) the rights of holders of other un secured debt 
obligations of the debtor including other shares or sub-shares in the 
same syndicated loan; and (b) the rights of holders of debt ins truments 
of the same issuer.  
Article 92  
Credit quality requirements for credit claims  
The credit quality of credit claims is assessed on the basis of  the credit 
quality of the debtor or guarantor. The relevant debtor or guar antor shall 
comply with the Eurosystem's credit quality requirements as spe cified in 
the ECAF rules for credit claims laid down in Chapter 2 of Titl e III of 
Part Four.  
▼M8 
Article 93  
Minimum size of credit claims  
For domestic use, credit claims shall, at the time of their sub mission as 
collateral by the counterparty, meet a minimum size threshold o f EUR 
0, or any higher amount that may be laid down by the home NCB. For 
cross-border use, a minimum size threshold of EUR 500 000 shall  
apply.  
▼B 
Article 94  
Currency of denomination of credit claims  
Credit claims shall be denominated in euro or in one of the for mer 
currencies of the Member States whose currency is the euro.  
Article 95  
Type of debtor or guarantor 
▼M7 
1. The debtors and guarantors of eligible credit claims shall b e 
non-financial corporations, public sector entities (excluding p ublic 
financial corporations), multilateral development banks or inte rnational 
organisations.  
▼B 
2. If a credit claim has more than one debtor, each debtor shal l be 
individually and severally liable for the full repayment of the  entire 
credit claim.  
Article 96  
Location of the debtor or guarantor  
1. The debtor in respect of a credit claim shall be established  in a 
Member State whose currency is the euro.  
2. The guarantor in respect of a credit claim shall also be est ablished 
in a Member State whose currency is the euro, unless a guarante e is not  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 74  
needed to establish the credit quality requirements for non-mar ketable 
assets because there is an adequate credit assessment of the de btor. 
▼M2 
3. For debtors or guarantors that are multilateral development banks 
or international organisations, the rules in paragraphs 1 and 2 , 
respectively, shall not apply and they shall be eligible irresp ective of 
their place of establishment.  
▼B 
Article 97  
Governing laws  
The credit claim agreement and the agreement between the counte rparty 
and the home NCB mobilising the credit claim as collateral shal l both 
be governed by the law of a Member State whose currency is the euro. 
Furthermore, there shall be no more than two governing laws in total 
that apply to the:  
(a) counterparty;  
(b) creditor;  
(c) debtor;  
(d) guarantor (if relevant);  
(e) credit claim agreement;  
(f) the agreement between the counterparty and the home NCB mob i­
lising the credit claim as collateral.  
Article 98  
Handling procedures  
Credit claims shall be handled in accordance with the Eurosyste m 
procedures laid down in the relevant national documentation of the 
NCBs.  
▼M2 
Article 99  
Additional legal requirements for credit claims  
1. In order to ensure that a valid security is created over cre dit claims 
and that the credit claim can be swiftly realised in the event of a 
counterparty default, additional legal requirements shall be me t. These 
legal requirements relate to:  
(a) verification of the existence of credit claims;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 75  
(b) validity of the agreement for the mobilisation of credit cl aims;  
(c) full effect of the mobilisation vis-à-vis third parties;  
(d) an absence of restrictions concerning the mobilisation and real­
isation of credit claims;  
(e) an absence of restrictions concerning banking secrecy and 
confidentiality.  
2. The content of these legal requirements is set out in Articl es 100 
to 105. Further details of the specific features of the nationa l juris­
dictions are provided in the relevant national documentation of  the 
NCBs.  
▼M9 
Article 100  
Verifications of the procedures and systems used to submit credit 
claims  
NCBs, or supervisors or external auditors, shall conduct a veri fication of 
the appropriateness of the procedures and systems used by the 
counterparty to submit the information on credit claims to the Euro­
system prior to the first mobilisation of credit claims by the 
counterparty. The verification of the procedures and systems sh all 
subsequently be conducted at least once every five years. In th e event 
of significant changes to such procedures or systems, a new ver ification 
may be conducted.  
▼B 
Article 101  
Verification of existence of credit claims  
1. The NCBs shall, as a minimum, take all of the following step s to 
verify the existence of credit claims mobilised as collateral:  
(a) They shall obtain a written confirmation from counterpartie s, at 
least each quarter, by which counterparties shall confirm:  
(i) the existence of the credit claims (this confirmation could  be 
replaced with cross-checks of information held in central 
credit registers, where these exist);  
(ii) the compliance of credit claims with the eligibility crite ria 
applied by the Eurosystem;  
(iii) that such credit claim is not used simultaneously as coll ateral 
to the benefit of any third party and that the counterparty sha ll 
not mobilise such credit claim as collateral to any third party ; 
(iv) that the counterparty will undertake to communicate to the  
relevant NCB no later than within the course of the next 
business day, any event that materially affects the contractual  
relationship between the counterparty and the NCB, in 
particular early, partial or total repayments, downgrades and 
material changes in the conditions of the credit claim.  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 76  
(aa) They shall require counterparties to submit in relation to  credit 
claims mobilised as collateral from May 2021, where applicable,  
the relevant analytical credit database (AnaCredit) identifiers  (i.e. 
the ‘Observed Agent’ identifier, the ‘Contract’ identifier and the 
‘Instrument’ identifier), as submitted under the statistical re porting 
requirements in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/867 of the  
European Central Bank (ECB/2016/13) (  1 ). 
▼B 
(b) They, or relevant central credit registers, banking supervi sion 
competent authorities or external auditors, shall perform rando m 
checks in respect of the quality and accuracy of the written co nfir­
mation of counterparties, by means of delivery of physical docu ­
mentation or through on-site visits. The information checked in  
relation to each credit claim shall cover as a minimum the char ac­
teristics that determine the existence and the eligibility of c redit 
claims. For counterparties with ECAF-approved internal 
ratings-based (IRB) systems, additional checks on the credit 
quality assessment of credit claims shall be carried out involv ing 
checks of PDs with respect to debtors of credit claims that are  used 
as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations.  
2. For the checks that are undertaken in accordance with Articl e 100 
or paragraphs 1(a) and (b) of this Article by NCBs, supervisors , external 
auditors or central credit registers, those undertaking the che cks shall be 
authorised to carry out these investigations, if necessary cont ractually or 
in accordance with the applicable national requirements.  
Article 102  
Validity of the agreement for the mobilisation of credit claims  
The agreement for the mobilisation of the credit claim as colla teral shall 
be valid between the counterparty and the relevant NCB under th e 
applicable national law.  ►M9 All the necessary legal formalities to 
ensure the validity of the agreement and to ensure the mobilisa tion of 
a credit claim as collateral shall be fulfilled by the counterp arty and/or 
the transferee, as appropriate. ◄  
Article 103  
Full effect of the mobilisation vis-à-vis third parties  
1. The agreement for the mobilisation of the credit claim as co llateral 
shall be valid vis-à-vis third parties under the applicable nat ional law. 
All legal formalities necessary to ensure valid mobilisation sh all be 
fulfilled by the counterparty and/or the transferee, as appropr iate. 
2. As regards notification of the debtor, the following shall a pply, 
depending on the applicable national law.  ▼M9 
( 1 ) Regulation (EU) 2016/867 of the European Central Bank of 18 M ay 2016 on 
the collection of granular credit and credit risk data (ECB/201 6/13) (OJ L 144, 
1.6.2016, p. 44).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 77  
(a) If debtor notification or public registration of the mobili sation of a 
credit claim as collateral is necessary to ensure full effectiv eness of 
the mobilisation vis-à-vis third parties, and in particular to ensure 
the priority of the home NCB's security interest vis-à-vis othe r 
creditors, these notification or registration requirements shal l be 
completed in advance or at the time of the credit claim's actua l 
mobilisation as collateral.  
(b) If  ex ante  notification of the debtor or public registration of the 
mobilisation of a credit claim as collateral is not required in  
accordance with point (a), as specified in the applicable natio nal 
documentation,  ex post  notification of the debtor is required.  Ex 
post notification means that the debtor shall be notified by the 
counterparty or the home NCB, as specified by the national docu ­
mentation, about the credit claim being mobilised as collateral  by 
the counterparty to the benefit of the NCB immediately followin g 
an event of default or similar credit event as further specifie d in the 
applicable national documentation.  
(c) The NCBs may decide to require  ex ante  notification or public 
registration in advance or at the time of mobilisation, even if  
these formalities are not necessary for the purposes set out in  
point (a).  
(d) For credit claims that are bearer instruments, the home NCB  may 
require that such bearer instruments are physically transferred  to it 
or to a third party in advance, or at the time of actual mobili sation 
as collateral. The notification requirements set out in points (a) and 
(b) shall not apply to credit claims that are bearer instrument s. 
3. The above are minimum requirements. NCBs may decide to 
require  ex ante  notification or registration in addition to the situations 
above, including in the case of bearer instruments.  
Article 104  
Absence of restrictions concerning mobilisation and realisation of 
credit claims  
1. Credit claims shall be fully transferable and capable of bei ng 
mobilised without restriction for the benefit of the Eurosystem . The 
credit claim agreement or other contractual arrangements betwee n the 
counterparty and the debtor shall not contain any restrictive p rovisions 
on mobilisation as collateral, unless national legislation prov ides that 
such contractual restrictions are without prejudice to the Euro system 
with respect to the mobilisation of collateral.  
2. The credit claim agreement or other contractual arrangements  
between the counterparty and the debtor shall not contain any r estrictive 
provisions regarding the realisation of the credit claim used a s collateral 
for Eurosystem credit operations, including any form, time or o ther 
requirement with regard to realisation.  
3. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2, the provisions restricti ng the 
assignment of syndicated loan shares to banks, financial instit utions and 
entities which are regularly engaged in or established for the purpose of 
creating, purchasing or investing in loans, securities or other  financial 
assets shall not be considered as a restriction on the realisat ion of the 
credit claim.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 78  
3a. From 1 January 2018, NCBs shall employ a mechanism to ensur e 
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.  
▼B 
4. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2, a facility agent for the  
collection and distribution of payments and administration of t he loan 
shall not be considered as a restriction on the mobilisation an d real­
isation of a syndicated loan share, provided that: (a) the faci lity agent is 
a credit institution located in the Union; and (b) the service relationship 
between the relevant syndicate member and the facility agent ca n be 
transferred alongside or as part of the syndicated loan share.  
Article 105  
Absence of restrictions concerning banking secrecy and 
confidentiality  
The counterparty and the debtor shall have agreed contractually  that the 
debtor unconditionally consents to disclosure by the counterpar ty to the 
Eurosystem of details in respect of the credit claim and on the  debtor 
that are required by the home NCB for the purpose of ensuring t hat a 
valid security is created over credit claims and that the credi t claims can 
be swiftly realised in the event of a counterparty default. Thi s 
requirement shall not be necessary if unrestricted provision of  such 
information is ensured under the applicable national law, as sp ecified 
in the applicable national documentation of the home NCB.  
S e c t i o n 2  
E l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r f i x e d - t e r m d e p o s i t s  
Article 106  
Eligibility criteria for fixed-term deposits  
Fixed-term deposits, as described in Article 12, that are held by a 
counterparty shall be eligible assets as collateral for Eurosys tem credit 
operations.  
S e c t i o n 3  
E l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r R M B D s  
Article 107  
Eligibility criteria for RMBDs  
1. An RMBD shall be a promissory note or a bill of exchange tha t is 
secured by a pool of residential mortgages but falls short of f ull secu­
ritisation. Substitution of assets in the underlying pool shall  be possible 
and a mechanism shall be in place to ensure that the home NCB e njoys 
priority over creditors other than those exempted for public po licy 
reasons.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 79  
2. RMBDs shall have a fixed, unconditional principal amount and  an 
interest rate that cannot result in a negative cash flow.  
3. RMBDs shall comply with the Eurosystem's credit quality 
requirements specified in the ECAF rules for RMBDs as laid down  in 
Chapter 2 of Title III of this Part Four.  
4. RMBDs shall be issued by credit institutions that are 
counterparties which are established in a Member State whose 
currency is the euro.  
5. RMBDs shall be denominated in euro or in one of the former 
currencies of Member States whose currency is the euro.  
6. An issuer of RMBDs shall self-certify, as a minimum on a 
monthly basis, that the residential mortgages that form the cov er pool 
comply with the eligibility criteria specified in the national arrangements 
established by the home NCB and on which the credit assessment is 
based.  
7. The mobilisation, use and handling procedures in respect of 
RMBDs shall be subject to the Eurosystem procedures as defined in 
the national documentation of the home NCB.  
▼M2 
S e c t i o n 4  
E l i g i b i l i t y c r i t e r i a f o r D E C C s  
Article 107a  
Eligible type of asset  
1. The eligible type of asset shall be debt instruments within the 
definition of DECCs given in Article 2(70a).  
▼M7 
2. DECCs shall have a fixed, unconditional principal amount and  a  
coupon structure that complies with the criteria set forth in A rticle 63. 
The cover pool shall only contain credit claims for which eithe r: 
(a) a specific ECB DECC loan-level data reporting template; or  
(b) an ABS loan-level data reporting template in accordance wit h 
Article 73;  
is available.  
▼M2 
3. The underlying credit claims shall be those granted to debto rs 
established in a Member State whose currency is the euro. The o rig­
inator shall be a Eurosystem counterparty established in a Memb er State 
whose currency is the euro and the issuer shall have acquired t he credit 
claim from the originator.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 80  
▼C1 
4. The DECC issuer shall be a special purpose entity establishe d in a 
Member State whose currency is the euro. Parties to the transac tion, 
other than the issuer, the debtors of the underlying credit cla ims, and the 
originator, shall be established in the EEA.  
▼M2 
5. The DECCs shall be denominated in euro or in one of the form er 
currencies of the Member States whose currency is the euro.  
6. After having carried out a positive assessment, the Eurosyst em 
shall approve the DECC structure as being eligible as Eurosyste m 
collateral.  
7. The governing law applicable to the DECC, the originator, th e 
debtors and, where relevant, the guarantors of the underlying c redit 
claims, the underlying credit claim agreements and any agreemen ts 
ensuring the direct or indirect transfer of the underlying cred it claims 
from the originator to the issuer shall be the law of the juris diction 
where the issuer is established.  
8. DECCs shall comply with the requirements on the place of iss ue 
and settlement procedures as laid down in Articles 66 and 67.  
Article 107b  
Non-subordination with respect to DECCs  
DECCs shall not give rise to rights to the principal and/or the  interest 
that are subordinated to the rights of holders of other debt in struments 
of the same issuer.  
Article 107c  
Credit quality requirements  
DECCs shall comply with the Eurosystem's credit quality require ments 
as laid down in Section 3 of Chapter 2 of Title III of this Par t Four.  
Article 107d  
Acquisition of the underlying credit claims by the issuer  
The pool of underlying credit claims shall have been acquired b y the 
issuer from the originator in a manner which the Eurosystem con siders 
to be a ‘true sale’ or equivalent to a ‘true sale’ that is enfo rceable 
against any third party, and which is beyond the reach of the o riginator 
and its creditors, including in the event of the originator's i nsolvency.  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 81  
Article 107e  
Transparency requirements for DECCs  
1. DECCs shall fulfil transparency requirements at the level of  the 
DECCs' structure and at the level of the underlying individual credit 
claims.  
2. At the level of the DECCs' structure, detailed information o n the 
DECCs' key transaction data, such as identification of the part ies to the 
transaction, a summary of the DECCs' key structural features, a  
summary description of collateral and the DECCs' terms and cond itions 
shall be made publicly available. The Eurosystem may, in the co urse of 
its assessment, require any transaction documentation and legal  opinions 
deemed necessary from any third party it considers relevant, in cluding, 
but not restricted to, the issuer and/or the originator.  
▼M7 
3. At the level of the underlying individual credit claims, com pre­
hensive and standardised loan-level data on the pool of underly ing 
credit claims shall be made available in accordance with the pr ocedures 
and subject to the same checks applicable to cash-flow generati ng assets 
backing ABSs as set out in Annex VIII, except with respect to t he 
reporting frequency, the applicable loan-level data reporting t emplate 
and the submission by the relevant parties of loan-level data t o 
a loan-level data repository. In order for DECCs to be eligible , all 
underlying credit claims shall be homogenous, i.e. it must be p ossible 
to report them using a single ECB DECC loan-level data reportin g 
template. The Eurosystem may determine that a DECC is not homo­
genous after evaluating the relevant data.  
▼M2 
4. Loan-level data shall be reported on at least a monthly basi s, no 
later than one month following the cut-off date. The cut-off da te for 
which loan-level data shall be reported is the last calendar da y of the 
month. If loan-level data are not reported or updated within on e month 
following the cut-off date, then the DECC shall cease to be eli gible.  
▼M7 
5. Data quality requirements applied for ABSs shall apply to DE CCs, 
including the specific ECB DECC loan-level data reporting templ ate. 
The loan-level data shall be submitted in the specific ECB DECC  
loan-level data reporting template, as published on the ECB's w ebsite, 
to: 
(a) an ESMA securitisation repository; or  
(b) a Eurosystem designated repository.  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 82  
5a. Submissions of loan-level data on DECCs to ESMA securiti­
sation repositories in accordance with paragraph 5(a) shall com mence 
at the beginning of the calendar month immediately following th e date 
which is three months from the ESMA reporting activation date.  
Submissions of loan-level data on DECCs to Eurosystem designate d 
repositories in accordance with paragraph 5(b) shall be permitt ed until 
the end of the calendar month in which the date three years and  three 
months from the ESMA reporting activation date falls.  
The ESMA reporting activation date shall be published by the EC B on 
its website.  
▼M2 
6. In its eligibility assessment, the Eurosystem shall take int o 
account: (a) any failure to deliver mandatory data; and (b) how  often 
individual loan-level data fields do not contain meaningful dat a. 
Article 107f  
Types of eligible underlying credit claims  
1. Each underlying credit claim shall comply with the eligibili ty 
criteria for credit claims provided for in Section 1, Chapter 1  of Title 
III of Part Four, subject to the modifications set out in this Article.  
2. To ensure that a valid security is created over the underlyi ng credit 
claims, enabling the issuer and the holders of the DECCs to swi ftly 
realise those claims in the event of the originator's default, the following 
additional legal requirements as specified in paragraphs 3 to 9  shall be 
met: 
(a) verification of the existence of the underlying credit clai ms; 
(b) validity of the agreement for the mobilisation of underlyin g credit 
claims;  
(c) full effect of the mobilisation vis-à-vis third parties;  
(d) an absence of restrictions on the transfer of the underlyin g credit 
claims;  
(e) an absence of restrictions on the realisation of the underl ying credit 
claims;  
(f) an absence of restrictions related to banking secrecy and 
confidentiality.  
Further details of the specific features of the national jurisd ictions 
shall be provided in the relevant national documentation of the  
NCBs.  
3. The NCB of the country where the originator is established, or 
supervisors or external auditors, shall conduct a one-off verif ication of 
the appropriateness of the procedures used by the originator to  submit 
the information on the underlying credit claims to the Eurosyst em. ▼M7
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 83  
4. The NCB of the country where the originator is established s hall, 
as a minimum, take all of the following steps to verify the exi stence of 
the underlying credit claims:  
(a) It shall obtain written confirmation from the originator, a t least on a 
quarterly basis, by which the originators shall confirm:  
(i) the existence of the underlying credit claims: this confirm ation 
could be replaced with cross-checks of information held in 
central credit registers, where these exist;  
(ii) compliance of the underlying credit claims with the eligib ility 
criteria applied by the Eurosystem;  
(iii) that the underlying credit claims are not used simultaneo usly as 
collateral to the benefit of any third party and that the orig­
inator will not mobilise such underlying credit claims as 
collateral to the Eurosystem or any third party;  
(iv) that the originator will undertake to communicate to the 
relevant NCB no later than within the course of the next 
business day, any event that materially affects the collateral 
value of the underlying credit claims, in particular early, 
partial or total repayments, downgrades and material changes 
in the conditions of the underlying credit claims.  
(b) The NCB of the country where the originator is located or t he 
relevant central credit registers, banking supervision competen t 
authorities or external auditors, shall perform random checks i n 
respect of the quality and accuracy of the written confirmation  of 
originators, by means of delivery of physical documentation or 
through on-site visits. The information checked in relation to each 
underlying credit claim shall cover as a minimum the characteri stics 
that determine the existence and the eligibility of underlying credit 
claims. For originators with ECAF-approved internal 
ratings-based (IRB) systems, additional checks on the credit 
quality assessment of underlying credit claims shall be carried  out 
involving checks of PDs with respect to debtors of credit claim s 
backing DECCs that are used as collateral in Eurosystem credit 
operations.  
(c) For the checks that are undertaken in accordance with 
Article 107f(3), (4)(a) or (4)(b) by NCB of the country where t he 
originator is located, supervisors, external auditors or centra l credit 
registers, those undertaking the checks shall be authorised to carry 
out these investigations, if necessary contractually or in acco rdance 
with the applicable national requirements.  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 84  
5. The agreement for the transfer of the underlying credit clai ms to 
the issuer or for their mobilisation by way of transfer, assign ment or 
pledge shall be valid between the issuer and the originator and /or the 
transferee/assignee/pledgee, as appropriate, under the applicab le national 
law. All the necessary legal formalities to ensure the validity  of the 
agreement and to ensure the valid indirect or direct transfer o f the 
underlying credit claims as collateral shall be fulfilled by th e originator 
and/or the transferee, as appropriate. As regards notification of the 
debtor, the following shall apply, depending on the applicable 
national law.  
(a) At times it may be necessary to have debtor notification or  public 
registration of: (i) the transfer (direct or indirect) of the u nderlying 
credit claims to the issuer; or (ii) when counterparties mobili se 
DECCs as collateral to the home NCB to ensure full effectivenes s 
of such a transfer or mobilisation vis-à-vis third parties; and  in 
particular (iii) to ensure the priority of the issuer's securit y interest 
(with respect to the underlying credit claims) and/or the home 
NCB's security interest (with respect to the DECCs as collatera l) 
vis-à-vis other creditors. In such cases, these notification or  regis­
tration requirements shall be completed: (i) in advance or at t he time 
of the underlying credit claims' actual transfer (direct or ind irect) to 
the issuer; or (ii) at the time that counterparties mobilise th e DECCs 
as collateral to the home NCB.  
(b) If  exante  notification of the debtor or public registration is not 
required in accordance with point (a), as specified in the appl icable 
national documentation,  ex post  notification of the debtor is 
required.  Ex post  notification means that the debtor shall be 
notified, as specified by national documentation, about the 
underlying credit claims being transferred or mobilised immedia tely 
following an event of default or similar credit event as furthe r 
specified in the applicable national documentation.  
(c) Points (a) and (b) are minimum requirements. The Eurosystem  may 
decide to require  ex ante  notification or registration in addition to 
the situations above, including in the case of bearer instrumen ts. 
6. The underlying credit claims shall be fully transferable and  
capable of being transferred to the issuer without restriction.  The 
underlying credit claims agreements or other contractual arrang ements 
between the originator and the debtor shall not contain any res trictive 
provisions on transfer of collateral. The underlying credit cla ims 
agreements or other contractual arrangements between the origin ator 
and the debtor shall not contain any restrictive provisions reg arding 
the realisation of the underlying credit claims, including any restrictions 
regarding form, time or other requirement with regard to realis ation, so 
the Eurosystem shall be able to realise the DECCs' collateral.  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 85  
7. Notwithstanding paragraph 6, the provisions restricting the 
assignment of syndicated loan shares to banks, financial instit utions 
and entities which are regularly engaged in or established for the 
purpose of creating, purchasing or investing in loans, securiti es or 
other financial assets shall not be considered as a restriction  on the 
realisation of the underlying credit claims.  
8. Notwithstanding the paragraphs 6 and 7, a facility agent for  the 
collection and distribution of payments and administration of t he loan 
shall not be considered as a restriction on the transfer and re alisation of 
a syndicated loan share, provided that:  
(a) the facility agent is a credit institution located in a Mem ber State; 
and 
(b) the service relationship between the relevant syndicate mem ber and 
the facility agent can be transferred alongside or as part of t he 
syndicated loan share.  
9. The originator and the debtor shall have agreed contractuall y that 
the debtor unconditionally consents to disclosure by the origin ator, 
issuer and any counterparty mobilising the DECC to the Eurosyst em 
of details in respect of that underlying credit claim and on th e debtor 
that are required by the relevant NCB for the purpose of ensuri ng that a 
valid security is created over the underlying credit claims and  that the 
underlying credit claims can be swiftly realised in the event t he orig­
inator/issuer defaults.  
▼B 
CHAPTER 2  
Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for non-marketable assets  
Article 108  
Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for non-marketable assets  
In order for non-marketable assets to be eligible, the followin g Euro­
system credit quality requirements shall apply.  
(a) For credit claims, the credit quality of credit claims shal l be 
assessed on the basis of the credit quality of the debtor or gu arantor, 
which shall comply, as a minimum, with credit quality step 3, a s 
specified in the Eurosystem's harmonised rating scale.  
(b) For RMBDs, a credit quality assessment shall comply, as a 
minimum, with credit quality step 2, as specified in the Euro­
system's harmonised rating scale.  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 86  
S e c t i o n 1  
E u r o s y s t e m ' s c r e d i t q u a l i t y r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r 
c r e d i t c l a i m s  
Article 109  
General rules for the credit quality assessment of credit claims  
1. The Eurosystem shall assess the credit quality of credit cla ims on 
the basis of the credit quality of the debtors or guarantors pr ovided by the 
credit assessment system or source selected by the counterparty  in 
accordance with Article 110.  
2. Counterparties shall within the course of the next business day 
inform the relevant NCB of any credit event, including a delay in 
payments by the debtors of the credit claims mobilised as colla teral, 
that is known to the counterparty and, if requested by the rele vant NCB, 
withdraw or replace the assets.  
3. Counterparties shall be responsible for ensuring that they u se the 
most recent credit quality assessment available from their sele cted credit 
assessment system or source for the debtors or guarantors of cr edit 
claims mobilised as collateral.  
Article 110  
Selection of the credit assessment system or source  
1. Counterparties mobilising credit claims as collateral shall select 
one credit assessment system from one of the four credit assess ment 
sources accepted by the Eurosystem in accordance with the gener al 
acceptance criteria in Title V of Part Four. Where the ECAI sou rce is 
selected by counterparties, any ECAI system may be used.  
2. Further to paragraph 1, NCBs may allow counterparties to use  
more than one credit assessment system or source upon submissio n of 
a reasoned request to the home NCB supported by an adequate bus iness 
case based on the lack of sufficient coverage of the ‘main’ cre dit 
assessment source or system.  
3. In cases where counterparties are allowed to use more than o ne 
credit assessment system or credit assessment source, the ‘main ’ system 
or source is expected to be the one providing the credit qualit y 
assessment of the largest number of debtors from the credit cla ims 
mobilised as collateral. If a credit assessment for a debtor or  
guarantor is available from this main system or source, only th is 
credit assessment shall determine the eligibility and valuation  haircuts 
applicable to the debtor or guarantor.  
4. Counterparties shall use the selected credit assessment syst ems or 
sources for a minimum period of 12 months.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 87  
5. After the period specified in paragraph 4, counterparties ma y 
submit an explicit reasoned request to the home NCB to change t he 
selected credit assessment system or source.  
6. In certain circumstances and particularly when a counterpart y 
phases-in its IRB system or begins using credit claims as colla teral, 
upon submission of a reasoned request, an NCB may exceptionally  
grant a derogation to a counterparty with respect to the 12-mon th 
minimum period restriction specified in paragraph 4 and allow t he 
counterparty to change its selected credit assessment system or  source 
within that period.  
7. If the counterparty has chosen the ECAI credit assessment so urce, 
it may use an ECAI debtor or ECAI guarantor rating. If multiple  ECAI 
debtor and/or ECAI guarantor ratings are available for the same  credit 
claim, then the best available ECAI credit assessment of those may be 
used.  
Article 111  
Credit assessment of credit claims with public sector entities, or 
non-financial corporations, as debtors or guarantors  
1. The Eurosystem shall assess the credit quality of credit cla ims 
with public sector entities acting as debtors or guarantors in accordance 
with the following rules, applied in the following order.  
(a) If a credit assessment from the system or source selected b y the 
counterparty exists, the Eurosystem shall use it to establish w hether 
the public sector entity acting as debtor or guarantor meets th e 
Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for non-marketable ass ets 
laid down in Article 108.  
(b) In the absence of a credit assessment under point (a), the Euro­
system shall use an ECAI credit assessment provided by an 
accepted ECAI system for the public sector entity acting as 
debtor or guarantor.  
(c) If a credit assessment is unavailable pursuant to points (a ) or (b), the 
procedure laid down in Article 87 for marketable assets shall a pply 
to the relevant public sector entity as debtor or guarantor.  
2. The Eurosystem shall assess the credit quality of credit cla ims 
with non-financial corporations as debtors or guarantors as fol lows: 
the credit assessment provided by the credit assessment system or 
source selected by the counterparty shall meet the Eurosystem's  credit 
quality requirements for non-marketable assets laid down in Art icle 108.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 88  
S e c t i o n 2  
E u r o s y s t e m ' s c r e d i t q u a l i t y r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r 
R M B D s  
Article 112  
Establishment of Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for 
RMBDs  
For the purpose of meeting the credit quality requirements laid  down in 
Article 108, the home NCB shall assess the credit quality of RM BDs on 
the basis of a jurisdiction-specific credit quality assessment framework 
laid down in the applicable national documentation.  
▼M2 
S e c t i o n 3  
T h e E u r o s y s t e m ' s c r e d i t q u a l i t y r e q u i r e m e n t s 
f o r D E C C s  
Article 112a  
The Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for DECCs  
1. DECCs shall not be required to be assessed by one of the fou r 
credit assessment sources accepted by the Eurosystem in accorda nce 
with the general acceptance criteria in Title V of Part Four.  
2. Each underlying credit claim in the cover pool of DECCs shal l 
have a credit assessment provided by one of the four credit ass essment 
sources accepted by the Eurosystem in accordance with the gener al 
acceptance criteria in Title V of Part Four. In addition, the c redit 
assessment system or source used shall be the same system or so urce 
selected by the originator in accordance with Article 110. The rules on 
the Eurosystem's credit quality requirements for the underlying  credit 
claims laid down in Section 1 shall be applicable.  
3. The credit quality of each underlying credit claim in the co ver 
pool of DECCs shall be assessed on the basis of the credit qual ity of the 
debtor or guarantor, which shall comply, as a minimum, with cre dit 
quality step 3, as specified in the Eurosystem's harmonised rat ing scale.  
▼B 
TITLE IV  
GUARANTEES FOR MARKETABLE AND NON-MARKETABLE 
ASSETS  
Article 113  
Applicable requirements for guarantees  
1. The Eurosystem's credit quality requirements may be establis hed 
on the basis of credit assessments provided in respect of guara ntors in 
accordance with Articles 82 to 84 in respect of marketable asse ts and 
Article 108 in respect of credit claims.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 89  
2. Guarantees provided by guarantors that are required to estab lish 
the Eurosystem's credit quality requirements shall comply with this 
Title.  
3. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the relevant guarantor shal l be 
separately assessed on the basis of its credit assessment and s hall meet 
the Eurosystem's credit quality requirements.  
Article 114  
Features of the guarantee  
1. In accordance with the terms of the guarantee, the guarantor  shall 
provide an unconditional and irrevocable first-demand guarantee  in 
respect of the obligations of the issuer or debtor in relation to the 
payment of the principal, interest and any other amounts due un der 
the marketable asset or credit claim to the holders or creditor  thereof, 
until the marketable asset or credit claim is discharged in ful l. In this 
regard, a guarantee shall not be required to be specific to the  marketable 
asset or credit claim but may apply to the issuer or debtor onl y, 
provided that the relevant marketable asset or credit claim is covered 
by the guarantee.  
2. The guarantee shall be payable on first demand independently  of 
the guaranteed marketable asset or credit claim. Guarantees giv en by 
public sector entities with the right to levy taxes shall eithe r be payable 
on first demand or otherwise provide for prompt and punctual pa yment 
following any default.  
3. The guarantee shall be legally valid, binding and enforceabl e 
against the guarantor.  
4. The guarantee shall be governed by the law of a Member State . 
▼M7 
5. If the guarantor is not a public sector entity with the righ t to levy 
taxes, a legal confirmation concerning the legal validity, bind ing effect 
and enforceability of the guarantee shall be submitted to the r elevant 
NCB in a form and substance acceptable to the Eurosystem before  the 
marketable assets or credit claim supported by the guarantee ca n be 
considered eligible. The legal confirmation shall be prepared b y 
persons who are independent of the counterparty, the issuer/deb tor 
and the guarantor, and legally qualified to issue such confirma tion 
under the applicable law, e.g. lawyers practising in a law firm , or 
working in a recognised academic institution or public body. Th e 
legal confirmation shall also state that the guarantee is not a  personal 
one and is only enforceable by the holders of the marketable as sets or 
the creditor of the credit claim. If the guarantor is establish ed in a 
jurisdiction other than the one of the law governing the guaran tee, the 
legal confirmation shall also confirm that the guarantee is val id and 
enforceable under the law of the jurisdiction in which the guar antor is 
established. For marketable assets, the legal confirmation shal l be 
submitted by the counterparty for review to the NCB that is rep orting 
the relevant asset supported by a guarantee for inclusion in th e list of 
eligible assets. For credit claims, the legal confirmation shal l be 
submitted by the counterparty seeking to mobilise the credit cl aim for 
review to the NCB in the jurisdiction of the law governing the credit  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 90  
claim. The requirement of enforceability is subject to any inso lvency or 
bankruptcy laws, general principles of equity and other similar  laws and 
principles applicable to the guarantor and generally affecting creditors' 
rights against the guarantor.  
▼B 
Article 115  
Non-subordination of the obligations of the guarantor  
The obligations of the guarantor under the guarantee shall at l east rank 
equally,  pari passu , and rateably, pro rata, with all other unsecured 
obligations of the guarantor.  
Article 116  
Credit quality requirements for guarantors  
The guarantor shall comply with the Eurosystem's credit quality  
requirements specified under the ECAF rules for guarantors of 
marketable assets laid down in Articles 82 to 84 or with the ru les for 
guarantors of credit claims laid down in Article 108.  
Article 117  
Type of guarantor  
The guarantor shall be:  
(a) for marketable assets in accordance with Article 69: a cent ral bank 
of a Member State, a public sector entity, an agency, a credit 
institution, a financial corporation other than a credit instit ution, 
a non-financial corporation, a multilateral development bank or  an 
international organisation; or  
(b) for credit claims in accordance with Article 95: a non-fina ncial 
corporation, a public sector entity, a multilateral development  
bank or an international organisation.  
Article 118  
Place of establishment of guarantor  
1. The guarantor shall be established:  
(a) in the case of marketable assets in accordance with Article  70, in 
the EEA, unless a guarantee is not needed to establish the cred it 
quality requirements for a specific debt instrument. The possib ility ▼M7
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 91  
to use an ECAI guarantor rating to establish the relevant credi t 
quality requirements for marketable assets is addressed in 
Article 84.  
(b) for debt instruments guaranteed by non-financial corporatio ns for 
which no credit assessment has been provided by an accepted 
ECAI for the issue, the issuer or the guarantor, in accordance 
with Article 70, the guarantor shall be established in a Member  
State whose currency is the euro;  
(c) in the case of credit claims in accordance with Article 96,  in a 
Member State whose currency is the euro, unless a guarantee is 
not needed to establish the credit quality requirements for 
non-marketable assets. The option to use a credit assessment in  
respect of a guarantor to establish the relevant credit quality  
requirements for credit claims is addressed in Article 108.  
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, in accordance with Articles 70 and 
96, multilateral development banks and international organisati ons shall 
be eligible guarantors irrespective of their place of establish ment.  
TITLE V  
EUROSYSTEM CREDIT ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR ELIGIBLE 
ASSETS  
Article 119  
Accepted credit assessment sources and systems 
▼M7 
1. The credit assessment information on which the Eurosystem ba ses 
the eligibility assessment of assets eligible as collateral for  Eurosystem 
credit operations shall be provided by credit assessment system s 
belonging to one of the three following sources:  
(a) ECAIs;  
(b) NCBs' in-house credit assessment systems (ICASs);  
(c) counterparties' internal rating-based (IRB) systems.  
2. Under each credit assessment source listed in paragraph 1 th ere 
may be a set of credit assessment systems. Credit assessment sy stems 
shall comply with the acceptance criteria laid down in this Tit le. A list 
of the accepted credit assessment systems, i.e. the list of acc epted 
ECAIs and ICASs, is published on the ECB's website.  
▼B 
3. All accepted credit assessment systems shall be subject to t he 
ECAF performance monitoring process as laid down in Article 126 . 
4. By publishing information on the accepted credit assessment 
systems in conjunction with its Eurosystem credit operations, t he Euro­
system shall not assume any responsibility for its evaluation o f accepted 
credit assessment systems.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 92  
5. In the event of an infringement of the ECAF rules and proced ures, 
the relevant credit assessment system may be excluded from the 
ECAF-accepted systems.  
Article 120  
General acceptance criteria for external credit assessment 
institutions as credit assessment systems 
▼M4 
1. For the purposes of the ECAF, the general acceptance criteri a for 
ECAIs shall be the following:  
(a) ECAIs shall be registered by the European Securities and Ma rkets 
Authority in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009.  
(b) ECAIs shall fulfil operational criteria and provide relevan t coverage 
so as to ensure the efficient implementation of the ECAF. In 
particular, the use of an ECAI credit assessment is subject to the 
availability to the Eurosystem of information on these assessme nts, 
as well as information for the comparison and the assignment, i .e. 
mapping of the assessments to the Eurosystem's credit quality s teps 
and for the purposes of the performance monitoring process unde r 
Article 126.  
▼M9 
2. Following the application process outlined in Annex IXc, the  
Eurosystem reserves the right to decide whether to initiate an ECAF 
acceptance procedure upon request from a credit rating agency ( CRA). 
In making its decision, the Eurosystem shall take into account,  among 
other things, whether the CRA provides relevant coverage for th e 
efficient implementation of the ECAF in accordance with the 
requirements set out in Annex IXa.  
2a. Following the initiation of an ECAF acceptance procedure, t he 
Eurosystem shall investigate all additional information deemed relevant 
to ensure the efficient implementation of the ECAF, including t he 
ECAI’s capacity (i) to fulfil the criteria and rules of the ECA F 
performance monitoring process in accordance with the requireme nts 
set out in Annex IX and the specific criteria in Annex IXb (if relevant); 
and (ii) to comply with the acceptance criteria set out in Anne x IXc. 
The Eurosystem reserves the right to decide whether to accept a n ECAI 
for the purposes of the ECAF on the basis of the information pr ovided 
and its own due diligence assessment.  
▼B 
3. Together with the submitted data for ECAF performance moni­
toring in accordance with Article 126, the ECAI shall submit a signed 
certification from the CEO of the ECAI, or authorised signatory  with 
responsibility for the audit or compliance function within the ECAI, 
confirming the accuracy and validity of the submitted performan ce 
monitoring information.  
Article 121  
General acceptance criteria and operational procedures for the 
NCBs' in-house credit assessment systems  
1. NCBs may decide to use their own ICAS for the purpose of cre dit 
assessment. The decision of an NCB to use its own ICAS shall be  
subject to a validation procedure by the Eurosystem.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 93  
2. A credit assessment by means of ICAS may be performed in 
advance, or on a counterparty's specific request upon submissio n of 
an asset to the NCB using ICAS (the ‘ICAS NCB’).  
3. With regard to paragraph 2, upon submission of an asset to t he 
ICAS NCB in respect of which the eligibility of a debtor or gua rantor 
shall be assessed, the ICAS NCB informs the counterparty either  of its 
eligibility status or of the lead time necessary to establish a  credit 
assessment. If an ICAS is limited in scope and only assesses sp ecific 
types of debtors or guarantors, or if the ICAS NCB is unable to  receive 
the information and data necessary for its credit assessment, t he ICAS 
NCB will inform the counterparty thereof without delay. In both  cases, 
the relevant debtor or guarantor is considered ineligible, unle ss the 
assets are compliant with credit quality requirements in accord ance 
with an alternative credit assessment source or credit assessme nt 
system which the counterparty is allowedto use according to Art icle 110. 
In the event that mobilised assets become ineligible due to the  deterio­
ration of the creditworthiness of the debtor or the guarantor, the asset 
shall be removed at the earliest possible date. Since there is neither a 
contractual relationship between the non-financial corporations  and the 
ICAS NCB, nor any legal obligation for these corporations to pr ovide 
non-public information to the ICAS NCB, the information is prov ided 
on a voluntary basis.  
4. In countries in which RMBDs are mobilised as collateral for Euro­
system credit operations, the home NCB shall implement a credit  
assessment framework for this type of asset in accordance with the 
ECAF. Such frameworks shall be subject to a validation procedur e by 
the Eurosystem and to a yearly performance monitoring process, as 
further specified in Article 126.  
Article 122  
General acceptance criteria for internal ratings-based systems  
1. To obtain ECAF approval of an IRB system, a counterparty sha ll 
file a request with the home NCB.  
2. The requirement in paragraph 1 shall apply to all counterpar ties 
intending to use an IRB system regardless of their status, i.e.  parent, 
subsidiary or branch, and regardless of whether the endorsement  of the 
IRB system comes from the competent authority in the same count ry, 
for a parent company and possibly for subsidiaries, or from a c ompetent 
authority in the home country of the parent, for branches and p ossibly 
for subsidiaries.  
3. A request filed by a counterparty in accordance with paragra ph 1 
shall include the following information and documents which, if  
necessary, shall be translated into a working language of the h ome 
NCB:  
(a) a copy of the decision of the competent authority authorisi ng the 
counterparty to use its IRB system for capital requirements pur poses 
on a consolidated or non-consolidated basis, together with any 
specific conditions for such use;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 94  
(b) an up-to-date assessment by the competent authority reflect ing the 
currently available information on all issues affecting the use  of the 
IRB for collateral purposes and all issues relating to the data  used 
for the ECAF performance monitoring process;  
▼B 
(c) information on any changes to the counterparty's IRB system  
recommended or required by the competent authority, together 
with the deadline by which such changes must be implemented;  
(d) information on its approach to assigning probabilities of d efault to 
debtors, as well as data on the rating grades and associated on e-year 
probabilities of default used to determine eligible rating grad es; 
(e) a copy of the latest Pillar 3 (market discipline) informati on that the 
counterparty is required to publish on a regular basis in accor dance 
with the requirements on market discipline under the Basel III 
Framework, Directive 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) 
No 575/2013;  
(f) the name and the address of the competent authority and the  
external auditor;  
(g) information on the historical record of the counterparty's IRB 
system's observed default rates per rating grades covering the five 
calendar years preceding the relevant request. If the competent  
authority granted the IRB system's authorisation for capital 
requirements purposes during these calendar years, the informat ion 
shall cover the time since the IRB system's authorisation for c apital 
requirements purposes. The historical annual data on the observ ed 
default rates and potential additional information shall comply  with 
the provisions for performance monitoring in Article 126 as if the 
IRB system had been subject to these provisions over this time 
period;  
(h) information required for performance monitoring outlined in  
Article 126 as requested from already ECAF-approved IRB 
systems for the ongoing calendar year at the time of the filing  of 
the request.  
4. A counterparty shall not be required to file the information  under 
points (a) to (c) when such information is transmitted directly  by the 
competent authority to the home NCB upon the NCB's request.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 95  
5. The request made by the counterparty under paragraph 1 shall  be 
signed by the counterparty's CEO, CFO or a manager of similar 
seniority, or by an authorised signatory on behalf of one of th em. 
Article 123  
Reporting obligations of counterparties using an internal 
ratings-based system  
1. Counterparties shall communicate information to the home NCB  
on Article 122(3)(b) to (f) on an annual basis, or as and when required 
by the home NCB, unless such information is transmitted directl y by the 
competent authority to the home NCB upon the NCB's request.  
2. The annual communication referred to in paragraph 1 shall be  
signed by the counterparty's CEO, CFO or a manager of similar 
seniority, or by an authorised signatory on behalf of one of th em. 
The competent authority and, where applicable, the external aud itor of 
the counterparty shall receive a copy of this letter from the E urosystem.  
3. As part of the regular monitoring on IRB systems, the NCB sh all 
perform on- and off-site inspections on the statistical informa tion 
provided by counterparties for the purpose of the annual perfor mance 
monitoring process. The objective of such controls shall be to verify 
that static pools are correct, accurate and complete.  
4. Counterparties shall fulfil any further operational criteria  specified 
in the relevant contractual or regulatory arrangements applied by the 
home NCB, including provisions in relation to:  
(a) ad hoc checks on the procedures in place for communicating a 
credit claim's features to the home NCB;  
(b) annual checks by the home NCB (or, where relevant, the comp etent 
authority or external auditor) to establish the accuracy and va lidity 
of static pools as referred to in Annex IX;  
(c) the provision, no later than within the course of the next business 
day, of information in respect of eligibility changes and the 
immediate withdrawal of relevant credit claims, if necessary;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 96  
(d) notifications to the home NCB of facts or circumstances tha t could 
materially influence the continued use of the IRB system for EC AF 
purposes or the way in which the IRB system leads to the estab­
lishment of eligible collateral, including in particular materi al 
changes to a counterparty's IRB system which may impact on the 
manner in which the IRB system's rating grades or probabilities  of 
default correspond with the Eurosystem harmonised rating scale.  
▼M7 __________  
__________  
▼B 
Article 126  
ECAF performance monitoring process  
1. On an annual basis, all accepted credit assessment systems s hall be 
subject to the ECAF performance monitoring process, in accordan ce 
with Annex IX, for the purpose of ensuring that the mapping of the 
credit assessment information provided by the credit assessment  system 
to the Eurosystem's harmonised rating scale remains appropriate  and 
that the results from credit assessments are comparable across systems 
and sources.  
2. The Eurosystem reserves the right to request any additional 
information required to conduct the performance monitoring proc ess. 
3. The performance monitoring process may result in a correctio n of 
the manner in which the credit assessment information provided by the 
credit assessment system corresponds to the Eurosystem's harmon ised 
rating scale.  
4. The Eurosystem may decide to suspend or exclude a credit 
assessment system on the basis of the outcome of the performanc e 
monitoring process.  
5. In the event of an infringement of a rule related to the ECA F 
performance monitoring process, the relevant credit assessment system 
may be excluded from the list of ECAF-accepted systems.  
TITLE VI  
RISK CONTROL AND VALUATION FRAMEWORK OF MARKETABLE 
AND NON-MARKETABLE ASSETS  
Article 127  
Purpose of the risk control and valuation framework  
1. Eligible assets mobilised as collateral for Eurosystem credi t 
operations shall be subject to the risk control measures laid d own in 
Article 128(1), which aim to protecting the Eurosystem against the risk 
of financial loss in the event of a counterparty's default.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 97  
2. The Eurosystem may at any time apply additional risk control  
measures, as laid down in Article 128(2), if required to ensure  
adequate risk protection of the Eurosystem in line with Article  18.1 
of the Statute of the ESCB. Additional risk control measures ma y 
also be applied at the level of individual counterparties, if r equired to 
ensure such protection.  
3. All risk control measures applied by the Eurosystem shall en sure 
consistent, transparent and non-discriminatory conditions for a ny type of 
mobilised eligible asset across the Member States whose currenc y is the 
euro.  
▼M3 
Article 128  
Risk control measures  
1. The Eurosystem shall apply the following risk control measur es 
for eligible assets:  
(a) valuation haircuts as laid down in Guideline (EU) 2016/65 o f the 
European Central Bank (ECB/2015/35) (  1 ); 
(b) variation margins (marking-to-market):  
the Eurosystem requires the haircut-adjusted market value of th e 
eligible assets used in its liquidity-providing reverse transac tions 
to be maintained over time. If the value of the eligible assets , 
which are measured on a daily basis, falls below a certain leve l, 
the home NCB shall require the counterparty to supply additiona l 
assets or cash by way of a margin call. Similarly, if the value  of the 
eligible assets exceeds a certain level following their revalua tion, 
the NCB may return the excess assets or cash;  
(c) limits in relation to the use of unsecured debt instruments  issued by 
a credit institution or by any other entity with which that cre dit 
institution has close links as described in Article 138;  
(d) valuation markdowns as laid down in Guideline (EU) 2016/65 
(ECB/2015/35).  
2. The Eurosystem may apply the following additional risk contr ol 
measures:  
(a) initial margins, meaning that counterparties provide eligib le assets 
with a value at least equal to the liquidity provided by the Eu ro­
system plus the value of the relevant initial margin;  ▼B 
( 1 ) Guideline (EU) 2016/65 of the European Central Bank of 18 Nov ember 2015 
on the valuation haircuts applied in the implementation of the Eurosystem 
monetary policy framework (ECB/2015/35) (OJ L 14, 21.1.2016, p.  30).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 98  
(b) limits in relation to issuers, debtors or guarantors: the E urosystem 
may apply additional limits, other than those applied to the us e of 
unsecured debt instruments referred to in paragraph (1)(c), to the 
exposure vis-à-vis issuers, debtors or guarantors;  
(c) supplementary haircuts;  
(d) additional guarantees from guarantors meeting the Eurosyste m's 
credit quality requirements in order to accept certain assets;  
(e) the exclusion of certain assets from use as collateral in E urosystem 
credit operations.  
▼B 
CHAPTER 1  
Risk control measures for marketable assets  
▼M3 __________  
▼B 
CHAPTER 2  
Risk control measures for non-marketable assets  
▼M3 __________  
▼B 
CHAPTER 3  
Valuation rules for marketable and non-marketable assets  
Article 134  
Valuation rules for marketable assets  
For the purposes of determining the value of assets used as col lateral in 
open market operations conducted by means of reverse transactio ns, the 
NCBs shall apply the following rules.  
(a) For each eligible marketable asset, the Eurosystem shall de fine the 
most representative price to be used for the calculation of the  
market value.  
(b) A marketable asset's value shall be calculated on the basis  of the 
most representative price on the business day preceding its val uation 
date. In the absence of a representative price for a particular  asset 
the Eurosystem shall define a theoretical price.  
(c) The market or theoretical value of a marketable asset shall  be 
calculated including accrued interest.  ▼M3
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 99  
(d) Depending on differences in national legal systems and oper ational 
practices, the treatment of income flows, e.g. coupon payments that 
are related to an asset and are received during the life of a E uro­
system credit operation, may differ between NCBs. If the income  
flow is transferred to the counterparty, the home NCB shall ens ure 
that the relevant operations will still be fully covered by a s ufficient 
amount of eligible assets before the transfer of the income tak es 
place. Each NCB shall aim to ensure that the economic effect of  the 
treatment of income flows is equivalent to a situation in which  the 
income is transferred to the counterparty on the payment day.  
▼M7 
Article 135  
Valuation rules for non-marketable assets  
Non-marketable assets shall be assigned a value by the Eurosyst em 
corresponding to the outstanding amount of such non-marketable assets.  
▼B 
Article 136  
Margin calls  
1. Assets mobilised as collateral for Eurosystem credit operati ons 
shall be subject to daily valuation by NCBs, in accordance with  the 
valuation rules laid down in Articles 134 and 135. If tri-party  services 
are used, the daily valuation process shall be delegated to the  relevant 
TPA and shall be based on information sent by the relevant NCB to the 
TPA.  
2. If, after valuation and haircuts, the mobilised assets do no t match 
the requirements as calculated on that day, margin calls shall be 
performed. If the value of the eligible assets mobilised as col lateral 
by a counterparty, following their revaluation, exceeds the amo unt 
owed by the counterparty plus the variation margin, the NCB may  
return the excess assets or any cash that the counterparty has 
provided for a margin call.  
3. In order to reduce the frequency of margin calls, an NCB may  
apply a threshold of 0,5 % of the amount of liquidity provided.  
Depending on the applicable national law, if the value of the 
mobilised assets as collateral falls below the lower threshold,  NCBs 
may require margin calls to be effected either through the supp ly of 
additional assets or by means of cash payments by the counterpa rty. 
Conversely, if the value of the assets used as collateral excee ds the 
upper threshold, the NCB may return the excess assets (or cash 
submitted to meet a margin call) to the counterparty.  
4. The deposit facility rate shall also apply to cash margins.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 100  
TITLE VII  
ACCEPTANCE OF NON EURO-DENOMINATED COLLATERAL IN 
CONTINGENCIES  
Article 137  
Acceptance of non-euro-denominated collateral in contingencies  
1. The ECB's Governing Council may decide to accept certain 
marketable assets issued by non-euro area G10 central governmen ts in 
their national currency as collateral. Upon such a decision by the ECB's 
Governing Council, counterparties shall be informed about the 
applicable:  
(a) eligibility criteria;  
(b) procedures for selection and mobilisation;  
(c) sources and principles of valuation;  
(d) risk control measures;  
(e) settlement procedures.  
▼M4 
2. The general eligibility criteria for marketable assets laid down in 
Title II of Part Four shall apply, except that marketable asset s: 
(a) may be issued, held and settled outside the EEA;  
(b) may be denominated in currencies other than the euro; and  
(c) shall not have a coupon value that results in a negative ca sh flow.  
▼B 
3. Counterparties that are branches of credit institutions inco rporated 
outside the EEA or Switzerland shall not be entitled to mobilis e as 
collateral the marketable assets laid down in this Article.  
TITLE VIII  
RULES FOR THE USE OF ELIGIBLE ASSETS  
Article 138  
Close links between counterparties and the issuer, debtor or 
guarantor of eligible assets  
1. Irrespective of the fact that an asset is eligible, a counte rparty shall 
not submit or use as collateral assets issued, owed or guarante ed by 
itself or by any other entity with which it has close links.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 101  
2. ‘Close links’ means any of the following situations in which  the 
counterparty and the other entity referred to in paragraph 1 ar e linked:  
(a) the counterparty owns directly, or indirectly through one o r more 
other undertakings, 20 % or more of the capital of that other e ntity;  
(b) that other entity owns directly, or indirectly through one or more 
other undertakings, 20 % or more of the capital of the counterp arty; 
(c) a third party owns, either directly or indirectly through o ne or more 
undertakings, 20 % or more of the capital of the counterparty a nd 
20 % or more of the capital of the other entity.  
For the purposes of assessing the existence of close links in t he case of 
multi-cédulas, the Eurosystem shall apply a ‘look-through appro ach’, 
i.e. it shall consider close links between each of the underlyi ng 
cédulas issuers and the counterparty.  
3. Paragraph 1 shall not apply with respect to any of the follo wing:  
▼M9 
(a) close links, as defined under paragraph 2, created as a res ult of the 
existence of an EEA public sector entity that has the right to levy 
taxes and is either (i) an entity that owns directly, or indire ctly 
through one or more undertakings, 20 % or more of the capital o f 
the counterparty, or (ii) a third party that owns, either direc tly or 
indirectly through one or more undertakings, 20 % or more of th e 
capital of the counterparty and 20 % or more of the capital of the 
other entity, provided that no other close links exist between the 
counterparty and the other entity except the close links result ing 
from one or more EEA public sector entities that have the right  to 
levy taxes;  
(b) EEA-legislative covered bonds that:  
(i) meet the requirements set out in Article 129(1) to (3) and (6) 
of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;  
(ii) do not contain in their cover pool unsecured debt instrume nts 
issued by the counterparty or any other entity closely linked t o 
that counterparty, as defined in paragraph 2, and fully guaran­
teed by one or several EEA public sector entities which have 
the right to levy taxes; and  
(iii) have an ECAI issue rating as defined in point (a) of Arti cle 83 
which fulfils the requirements of Annex IXb;  
(c) non-marketable RMBDs and DECCs;  
▼M6 
(d) multi -cédulas  issued before 1 May 2015 where the underlying  
cédulas  comply with the criteria set out in Article 129(1) to (3) 
and (6) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 102  
4. If compliance with paragraph 3(b)(ii) needs to be verified, that is, 
for EEA legislative covered bonds, where the applicable legisla tion or 
prospectus do not exclude debt instruments referred to in parag raph 
3(b)(ii) as cover pool assets and where the counterparty or an entity 
closely linked to the counterparty has issued such debt instrum ents, 
NCBs may take all or some of the following measures to conduct ad 
hoc checks of compliance with paragraph 3(b)(ii).  
(a) NCBs may obtain regular surveillance reports providing an 
overview of assets in the cover pool of EEA legislative covered  
bonds;  
(b) If surveillance reports do not provide sufficient informati on for 
verification purposes, NCBs may obtain a self-certification and  
undertaking of the counterparty mobilising an EEA legislative 
covered bond by which the counterparty shall confirm that the 
cover pool of EEA legislative covered bonds does not include, i n 
breach of paragraph 3(b)(ii), unsecured bank bonds which are is sued 
by that counterparty or any other entity closely linked to that  
counterparty, and are fully guaranteed by one or several EEA 
public entities which have the right to levy taxes. The 
counterparty’s self-certification must be signed by the counter party’s 
CEO, CFO or a manager of similar seniority, or by an authorised  
signatory on their behalf.  
(c) On an annual basis, NCBs may obtain from the counterparty m obi­
lising an EEA-legislative covered bond an  ex post  confirmation by 
external auditors or cover pool monitors that the cover pool of  EEA 
legislative covered bonds does not include, in breach of paragr aph 
3(b)(ii), unsecured bank bonds which are issued by that 
counterparty or any other entity closely linked to that counter party, 
and are fully guaranteed by one or several EEA public sector 
entities which have the right to levy taxes.  
(d) If the counterparty does not provide the self-certification  or confir­
mation referred to in points (b) and (c) upon request from the NCB, 
the EEA legislative covered bond shall not be mobilised as 
collateral by that counterparty.  
▼M2 
Article 138a  
Use of debt instruments in connection with in-kind recapitalisation 
with public debt instruments  
Public debt instruments used in an in-kind recapitalisation of a 
counterparty may only be used as collateral by that counterpart y or 
by any other counterparty which has ‘close links’, as defined i n 
Article 138(2), to that counterparty if the Eurosystem consider s that 
the level of market access of their issuer is adequate, also ta king into 
account the role played by such instruments in the recapitalisa tion. ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 103  
Article 139  
Use of guaranteed unsecured debt instruments issued by a 
counterparty or its closely linked entity 
▼M9 __________  
2. In exceptional cases, the ECB’s Governing Council may decide  on 
temporary derogations from Article 138(1), by allowing a counte rparty 
to use unsecured debt instruments issued by that counterparty o r any 
other entity closely linked to that counterparty, and fully gua ranteed by 
one or several EEA public sector entities which have the right to levy 
taxes, for a maximum of three years. A request for a derogation  shall be 
accompanied by a funding plan by the requesting counterparty th at 
indicates the manner in which the mobilisation of the respectiv e 
assets will be phased out within three years following the gran ting of 
the derogation. Such a derogation shall only be provided where the 
nature of the guarantee provided by one or several EEA central 
governments, regional governments, local authorities or other p ublic 
sector entities which have the right to levy taxes complies wit h the 
requirements for guarantees laid down in Article 114.  
__________  
▼B 
Article 140  
Close links with respect to asset-backed securities and currency 
hedges  
A counterparty may not mobilise as collateral any asset-backed securit­
ies if the counterparty, or any entity with which it has close links, as 
laid down in Article 138, provides a currency hedge to the asse t-backed 
securities by entering into a currency hedge transaction with t he issuer 
as a hedge counterparty.  
▼M6 
Article 141  
Limits with respect to unsecured debt instruments issued by credit 
institutions and their closely linked entities  
1. A counterparty shall not submit or use as collateral unsecur ed debt 
instruments issued by a credit institution or by any other enti ty with 
which that credit institution has close links, to the extent th at the value 
of such collateral issued by that credit institution or other e ntity with 
which it has close links taken together exceeds  ►M8 10 % ◄ of the 
total value of the assets used as collateral by that counterpar ty after the 
applicable haircut. This threshold shall not apply in the follo wing cases:  
(a) if the value of such assets does not exceed EUR 50 million after 
any applicable haircut;  
(b) if such assets are guaranteed by a public sector entity whi ch has the 
right to levy taxes by way of a guarantee that complies with th e 
features laid down in Article 114; or  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 104  
(c) if such assets are issued by an agency, a multilateral deve lopment 
bank or an international organisation.  
▼M6 
2. If a close link is established or a merger takes place betwe en two 
or more issuers of unsecured debt instruments, the threshold in  
paragraph 1 shall apply from six months after the date on which  the 
close link is established or the merger becomes effective.  
3. For the purposes of this Article, ‘close links’ between an i ssuing 
entity and another entity has the same meaning as ‘close links’  between 
a counterparty and another entity, as referred to in Article 13 8. 
▼B 
Article 142  
Liquidity support in respect of asset-backed securities  
1. With effect from 1 November 2015, a counterparty may not 
mobilise as collateral any asset-backed securities if the count erparty or 
any entity with which it has close links provides liquidity sup port as 
specified below. The Eurosystem takes into account two forms of  
liquidity support for asset-backed securities: cash reserves an d 
liquidity facilities.  
2. For liquidity support in the form of cash reserves, a counte rparty 
shall not be permitted to mobilise as collateral any asset-back ed secu­
rities if the following three conditions are met simultaneously : 
(a) the counterparty has close links with the issuer account ba nk in the 
asset-backed securities transaction;  
(b) the current amount of the reserve fund of the asset-backed securities 
transaction is greater than 5 % of the initial outstanding amou nt of 
all senior and subordinated tranches of the asset-backed securi ties 
transaction;  
(c) the current amount of the reserve fund of the asset-backed securities 
transaction is greater than 25 % of the current outstanding amo unt 
of the subordinated tranches of the asset-backed securities 
transaction.  
3. For liquidity support in the form of liquidity facilities, a  
counterparty shall not be permitted to mobilise as collateral a ny 
asset-backed securities if the following two conditions are met  simul­
taneously:  
(a) the counterparty has close links with a liquidity facility provider; 
and 
(b) the current amount of the liquidity facility of the asset-b acked sec­
urities transaction is greater than 20 % of the initial outstan ding 
amount of all senior and subordinated tranches of the 
asset-backed securities transaction.  
4. Close links in respect of this Article shall have the same m eaning 
as laid down in Article 138(2).  
▼M4 __________  ▼M7
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 105  
Article 144  
Non-acceptance of eligible assets for operational reasons  
Irrespective of the fact that an asset is eligible, an NCB may,  for 
operational reasons, request the counterparty to remove such as set 
before the occurrence of a cash flow, including payment of prin cipal 
or coupons, as further defined in the relevant national documen tation.  
▼M4 
Article 144a  
Eligible assets with negative cash flows  
1. NCBs shall provide that a counterparty shall remain liable f or 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, dischar ge the 
relevant payment. NCBs shall provide that a counterparty shall refund 
the Eurosystem, immediately upon request from the Eurosystem, o f any 
amount of negative cash flows paid by the Eurosystem as a resul t of the 
counterparty's failure. If a counterparty fails to make a timel y payment 
pursuant to paragraph 1, the Eurosystem shall have the right to  debit 
immediately and without prior notification an amount equal to t he 
amount the Eurosystem has to pay on behalf of such counterparty  
either from:  
(a) the relevant counterparty's payment module (PM) account in 
TARGET2, as provided for in Article 36(6) of Annex II to 
Guideline ECB/2012/27; or  
(b) with the prior authorisation of a settlement bank, the TARG ET2 PM 
account of a settlement bank, used for the relevant counterpart y's 
Eurosystem credit operations; or  
(c) any other account that can be used for Eurosystem monetary policy 
operations and that the relevant counterparty has with the NCB,  
3. Any amount paid by the Eurosystem under paragraph 2 that is not 
refunded by a counterparty immediately upon request and that ca nnot be 
debited by the Eurosystem from any relevant account as provided  for 
under paragraph 2, shall be considered as a credit from the Eur osystem, 
for which a sanction is applicable in accordance with Article 1 54. ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 106  
Article 145  
Notification, valuation and removal of assets that are ineligible or 
contravene the rules for the use of eligible assets  
1. If a counterparty has submitted or used assets that it is no t or is no 
longer permitted to use as collateral, including due to the ide ntity of the 
issuer, debtor or guarantor, or the existence of close links, i t shall 
immediately notify the home NCB thereof.  
2. The assets referred to in paragraph 1 shall be valued at zer o on the 
next valuation date at the latest and a margin call may be trig gered.  
3. A counterparty that has submitted or used any assets referre d to in 
paragraph 1 shall remove such assets on the earliest possible d ate. 
4. A counterparty shall provide the Eurosystem with accurate an d 
up-to-date information affecting the value of collateral.  
Article 146  
Sanctions for non-compliance with the rules for the use of eligible 
assets  
Non-compliance with the rules laid down in this Title shall be subject to 
sanctions, as applicable, in accordance with Articles 154 to 15 7. 
Sanctions shall be applicable, regardless of whether a counterp arty is 
actively participating in monetary policy operations.  
Article 147  
Information sharing within the Eurosystem  
For monetary policy implementation purposes, in particular to m onitor 
compliance with the rules for the use of eligible assets, the E urosystem 
shall share information on capital holdings provided by the com petent 
authority for such purposes. The information shall be subject t o the 
same secrecy standards as those applied by the competent author ity. 
TITLE IX  
CROSS-BORDER USE OF ELIGIBLE ASSETS  
▼M3 
Article 148  
General principles  
1. Counterparties may use eligible assets on a cross-border bas is 
throughout the euro area for all types of Eurosystem credit ope rations.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 107  
2. Counterparties may mobilise eligible assets other than fixed -term 
deposits, for cross-border use in accordance with the following : 
(a) marketable assets shall be mobilised via one of the followi ng: (i) 
eligible links; (ii) applicable CCBM procedures; (iii) eligible  links 
in combination with the CCBM procedures;  
(b) DECCs and RMBDs shall be mobilised in accordance with 
applicable CCBM procedures; and  
(c) credit claims shall be mobilised either (i) via applicable CCBM 
procedures or (ii) in accordance with domestic procedures, as l aid 
down in the relevant national documentation of the home NCB.  
▼M3 
3. Marketable assets may be used through an NCB account in an 
SSS located in a country other than that of the NCB in question  if the 
Eurosystem has approved the use of such an account.  
4. De Nederlandsche Bank shall be authorised to use its account  with 
Euroclear Bank to settle collateral transactions in Eurobonds i ssued in 
that ICSD. The Central Bank of Ireland shall be authorised to o pen a 
similar account with Euroclear Bank. This account can be used f or all 
eligible assets held in Euroclear Bank, i.e. including eligible  assets 
transferred to Euroclear Bank through eligible links.  
▼M6 
5. Counterparties shall execute the transfer of eligible assets  via their 
securities settlement accounts with an eligible SSS.  
6. A counterparty that does not have a safe custody account wit h an 
NCB or a securities settlement account with an eligible SSS may  settle 
transactions through the securities settlement account or the s afe custody 
account of a correspondent credit institution.  
▼B 
Article 149  
CCBM  
1. Under the CCBM, the cross-border relationship is between the  
NCBs. The NCBs acts as custodians (hereinafter the ‘corresponde nts’) 
for each other and for the ECB in respect of marketable assets accepted 
in their local depository, TPA or settlement system. Specific p rocedures 
apply under the CCBM for credit claims and RMBDs. Details on th e 
CCBM and the applicable procedures are set out in Annex VI and in the 
brochure entitled ‘Correspondent central banking model (CCBM) 
procedure for Eurosystem counterparties’, which is published on  the 
ECB's website.  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 108  
2. Assets deposited with a correspondent central bank shall onl y be 
used to collateralise Eurosystem credit operations.  
▼M6 
Article 150  
Eligible links between SSSs  
1. In addition to the CCBM, counterparties may use eligible lin ks for 
the cross-border transfer of marketable assets. The ECB shall p ublish 
the list of eligible links on its website.  
2. Assets held through an eligible link may be used for Eurosys tem 
credit operations, as well as for any other purpose selected by  the 
counterparty.  
3. The rules on the use of eligible links are set out in Annex VI. 
Article 151  
CCBM in combination with eligible links  
1. Counterparties may use eligible links in combination with th e 
CCBM to mobilise eligible marketable assets on a cross-border b asis. 
2. When using eligible links between SSSs in combination with t he 
CCBM, counterparties shall hold the assets issued in the issuer  SSS in 
an account with an investor SSS directly or via a custodian  
3. Assets mobilised under paragraph 2 may be issued in a non-eu ro 
area EEA SSS that the Eurosystem has assessed as compliant with  the 
eligibility criteria laid down in Annex VIa, provided that ther e is an 
eligible link between the issuer SSS and the investor SSS.  
4. The rules on the use of the CCBM in combination with eligibl e 
links are set out in Annex VI.  
▼B 
Article 152  
CCBM and tri-party collateral management services  
1. Cross-border tri-party collateral management services shall allow a 
counterparty to increase or decrease the amount of collateral w hich it 
mobilises with its home NCB, through recourse to collateral hel d with a 
TPA.  
▼M6 
2. The CCBM (including the CCBM in combination with eligible 
links) may be used as a basis for the cross-border use of tri-p arty 
collateral management services. Cross-border use of tri-party c ollateral  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 109  
management services shall involve an NCB, where tri-party colla teral 
management services are offered for cross-border Eurosystem use , 
acting as a correspondent for NCBs whose counterparties have 
requested to use such tri-party collateral management services on 
a cross-border basis for the purposes of Eurosystem credit oper ations.  
In order to provide its tri-party collateral management service s for 
cross-border use by the Eurosystem in accordance with the first  
subparagraph, the relevant TPA shall comply with the set of add itional 
functional requirements laid down by the Eurosystem, as referre d to in 
the ‘Correspondent central banking model (CCBM) – Procedures fo r 
Eurosystem counterparties’ (Section 2.1.3, second paragraph).  
▼B 
3. A table detailing the use of CCBM with tri-party collateral 
management services is laid down in Annex VI.  
PART FIVE  
SANCTIONS IN THE EVENT OF A FAILURE TO COMPLY 
WITH COUNTERPARTY OBLIGATIONS  
Article 153  
Sanctions for non-compliance as regards minimum reserves  
1. The ECB shall impose sanctions pursuant to Regulation (EC) 
No 2532/98, Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 (ECB/1999/4), 
Regulation (EC) No 2531/98 or Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 
(ECB/2003/9) on institutions which do not comply with obligatio ns 
arising from ECB regulations and decisions relating to the appl ication 
of minimum reserves. The relevant sanctions and procedural rule s for 
their application are specified in those regulations.  
2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, in the event of a serious 
infringement of the minimum reserve requirements, the Eurosyste m 
may suspend a counterparty's participation in open market opera tions.  
Article 154  
Sanctions for non-compliance with certain operational rules  
1. In accordance with the provisions of the contractual or regu latory 
arrangements applied by it, the NCB shall impose one or more sa nctions 
if a counterparty fails to comply with any of the following obl igations:  
▼M4 
(a) as regards reverse transactions and foreign exchange swaps for 
monetary policy purposes, the obligations, as laid down in 
Article 15, to adequately collateralise and settle the amount t he 
counterparty has been allotted over the whole term of a particu lar 
operation including any outstanding amount of a particular 
operation in the case of early termination executed by the NCB 
over the remaining term of an operation;  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 110  
(b) as regards collection of fixed-term deposits, outright tran sactions 
and the issuance of ECB debt certificates, the obligation to se ttle 
the transaction, as laid down in Article 16;  
(c) as regards the use of eligible assets, the obligation to mo bilise or 
use only eligible assets and comply with the rules for the use of 
eligible assets in Title VIII of Part Four;  
(d) as regards end-of-day procedures and access conditions for the 
marginal lending facility, the obligation to present sufficient  
eligible assets in advance as collateral in cases where there i s 
any remaining negative balance on a counterparty's settlement 
account in TARGET2 after finalisation of the end-of-day control  
procedures and an automatic request for recourse to the margina l 
lending facility is therefore considered to arise, as laid down  in 
Article 19(6) ;  
▼M4 
(e) any payment obligations pursuant to Article 144a(3).  
▼B 
2. A sanction imposed pursuant to this Article shall involve:  
(a) a financial penalty only; or  
(b) both a financial penalty and a non-financial penalty.  
▼M9 
Article 155  
Financial penalties for non-compliance with certain operational 
rules  
1. If a counterparty fails to comply with any of the obligation s 
referred to in Article 154(1), the Eurosystem shall impose a fi nancial 
penalty for each case of non-compliance. The applicable financi al 
penalty shall be calculated in accordance with Annex VII.  
2. Where a counterparty rectifies a failure to comply with an o bli­
gation referred to in Article 154(1)(c), and notifies the NCB b efore the 
counterparty has been notified of the non-compliance by the NCB , ECB 
or an external auditor (‘self-reported infringement’), the appl icable 
financial penalty as calculated in accordance with Annex VII sh all be 
reduced by 50 %. The reduction of the financial penalty shall a lso be 
applicable in cases where the counterparty notifies the NCB of a breach 
that was not discovered by the ECB or NCB and in relation to as sets 
that have been demobilised. The reduction of the financial pena lty shall 
not be applicable to assets that fall under the scope of an ong oing 
verification procedure of which the counterparty is aware due t o a 
notification by the NCB, ECB or an external auditor.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 111  
Article 156  
Non-financial penalties for non-compliance with certain operational 
rules  
1. If a counterparty fails to comply with an obligation referre d to in 
either Article 154(1)(a) or (b) on more than two occasions in a  12- 
month period and in respect of each failure:  
▼M4 
(a) a financial penalty was imposed;  
▼B 
(b) each decision to impose a financial penalty was notified to  the 
counterparty;  
(c) each occasion of non-compliance relates to the same type of  
non-compliance,  
the Eurosystem shall suspend the counterparty on the occasion o f the 
third failure and each such subsequent failure to comply with a n obli­
gation of that same type in the relevant 12-month period. The 1 2-month 
period shall be calculated from the date of the first failure t o comply 
with an obligation referred to in either Article 154(1)(a) or ( b), as 
applicable.  
2. Any suspension imposed by the Eurosystem under paragraph 1 
shall apply in respect of any subsequent open market operation which 
is of the same type as the open market operation which resulted  in a 
sanction under paragraph 1.  
3. The period of suspension imposed in accordance with paragrap h 1 
shall be determined in accordance with Annex VII.  
▼M6 
4. If a counterparty fails to comply with an obligation referre d to in 
Article 154(1)(c) on more than two occasions in a 12-month peri od and 
in respect of each failure:  
▼M9 
(a) a financial penalty was imposed;  
▼M6 
(b) each decision to impose a financial penalty was notified to  the 
counterparty;  
(c) each occasion of non-compliance relates to the same type of  
non-compliance,  
the Eurosystem shall, on the occasion of the third failure to c omply, 
suspend the counterparty from the first liquidity-providing ope n market 
operation within the reserve maintenance period following the n otifi­
cation of the suspension.  
If subsequently the counterparty again fails to comply, it shal l be 
suspended from the first liquidity-providing open market operat ion 
within the reserve maintenance period following notification of  
suspension until a 12-month period lapses without any further s uch 
failure on the part of the counterparty.  
Each 12-month period shall be calculated from the date of the n otifi­
cation of a sanction for failure to comply with an obligation r eferred to 
in Article 154(1)(c). Second and third breaches committed withi n 12 
months from that notification will be taken into account.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 112  
5. In exceptional cases, the Eurosystem may suspend a counterpa rty 
for a period of three months in respect of all future Eurosyste m 
monetary policy operations for any failure to comply with any o f the 
obligations laid down in Article 154(1). In such a case, the Eu rosystem 
shall have regard to the seriousness of the case and, in partic ular, to the 
amounts involved and to the frequency and duration of non-compl iance.  
6. The period of suspension imposed by the Eurosystem pursuant to 
this Article shall be applied in addition to the relevant finan cial penalty 
applicable in accordance with Article 155.  
Article 157  
Application of non-financial penalties to branches for 
non-compliance with certain operational rules  
When the Eurosystem suspends a counterparty in accordance with 
Article 156(5), that suspension may also be applied to branches  of 
that counterparty established in other Member States whose curr ency 
is the euro.  
PART SIX  
DISCRETIONARY MEASURES 
▼M2 
Article 158  
Discretionary measures on the grounds of prudence or following an 
event of default  
1. On the grounds of prudence, the Eurosystem may take any of t he 
following measures:  
(a) suspend, limit or exclude a counterparty's access to Eurosy stem 
monetary policy operations, pursuant to any contractual or regu ­
latory arrangements applied by its home NCB or by the ECB;  
(b) reject, limit the use of or apply supplementary haircuts to  assets 
mobilised as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations by a sp ecific 
counterparty on the basis of any information the Eurosystem 
considers relevant, in particular if the credit quality of the 
counterparty appears to exhibit a high correlation with the cre dit 
quality of the assets mobilised as collateral.  
▼M10  
2. Counterparties that are subject to supervision as referred t o in 
Article 55(b)(i) but which do not meet the own funds requiremen ts 
laid down in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, on an individual and/ or 
consolidated basis, in accordance with the supervisory requirem ents, and 
counterparties that are subject to supervision of a comparable standard 
as referred to in Article 55(b)(iii) but which do not meet requ irements 
comparable to the own funds requirements laid down in Regulatio n 
(EU) No 575/2013, on an individual and/or consolidated basis, s hall 
automatically have their access to Eurosystem monetary policy 
operations limited on the grounds of prudence. The limitation s hall 
correspond to the level of access to Eurosystem monetary policy  
operations prevailing at the time such non-compliance is notifi ed to 
the Eurosystem. This limitation is without prejudice to any fur ther 
discretionary measure that the Eurosystem may take. If complian ce 
with own funds requirements has not been restored through adequ ate 
and timely measures at the latest within 20 weeks from the refe rence 
date of the data collection exercise in which the non-complianc e was 
identified, counterparties shall be automatically suspended fro m 
accessing Eurosystem monetary policy operations on the grounds of 
prudence.  ▼B
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3. In the context of its assessment of financial soundness of a  
counterparty pursuant to Article 55(c) and without prejudice to  any 
other discretionary measures, the Eurosystem may limit, on the 
grounds of prudence, access to Eurosystem monetary policy opera tions 
by the following counterparties:  
(a) counterparties for which information on capital and/or leve rage 
ratios under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 is incomplete or not 
made available to the relevant NCB and the ECB in a timely 
manner and at the latest within 14 weeks from the end of the 
relevant quarter;  
(b) counterparties which are not required to report capital and  leverage 
ratios under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 but for which 
information of a comparable standard as referred to in 
Article 55(b)(iii) is incomplete or not made available to the 
relevant NCB and the ECB in a timely manner and at the latest 
within 14 weeks from the end of the relevant quarter.  
Access shall be restored once the relevant information has been  made 
available to the relevant NCB and it has been determined that t he 
counterparty fulfils the criterion of financial soundness pursu ant to 
Article 55(c). If the relevant information has not been made av ailable 
at the latest within 20 weeks from the end of the relevant quar ter, the 
counterparty’s access to Eurosystem monetary policy operations shall be 
automatically suspended on the grounds of prudence.  
▼M6 
3a. The Eurosystem may suspend, limit or exclude, on the ground s 
of prudence, access to monetary policy operations by counterpar ties that 
channel Eurosystem liquidity to another entity that belongs to the same 
banking ‘group’ (as defined in point (26) of Article 2(1) of Di rective 
2014/59/EU and point (11) of Article 2 of Directive 2013/34/EU of the 
European Parliament and of the Council (  1 )) where the entity receiving 
such liquidity is (i) a non-eligible wind-down entity or (ii) s ubject to a 
discretionary measure on the grounds of prudence.  
4. Without prejudice to any other discretionary measures, the E uro­
system shall, on the grounds of prudence, limit access to Euros ystem 
monetary policy operations by counterparties deemed to be ‘fail ing or 
likely to fail’ by the relevant authorities based on the condit ions laid 
down in Article 18(4)(a) to (d) of Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 or laid 
down in national legislation implementing Article 32(4)(a) to ( d) of  ▼M10  
( 1 ) Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Co uncil of 
26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated f inancial 
statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings , amending 
Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Coun cil and 
repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 18 2, 
29.6.2013, p. 19).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 114  
Directive 2014/59/EU. The limitation shall correspond to the le vel of 
access to Eurosystem monetary policy operations prevailing at t he time 
when such counterparties are deemed to be ‘failing or likely to  fail’. The 
NCBs shall ensure by means of their contractual or regulatory 
arrangements that the limitation of access is automatic vis-à-v is the 
relevant counterparty, without necessitating a specific decisio n, and 
that the limitation of access is effective on the day following  the day 
on which the relevant authorities deemed the relevant counterpa rty 
‘failing or likely to fail’. This limitation is without prejudi ce to any 
further discretionary measures that the Eurosystem may take.  
▼M2 
5. In addition to limiting access to Eurosystem monetary policy  
operations under paragraph 4, the Eurosystem may, on the ground s of 
prudence, suspend, further limit or exclude counterparties from  
accessing Eurosystem monetary policy operations if they are dee med 
to be ‘failing or likely to fail’ under paragraph 4 and they me et any of 
the following:  
(a) are not made subject to a resolution action by the resoluti on 
authority because there are reasonable prospects that an altern ative 
private sector measure or supervisory action, as referred to in  
Article 18(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 and national le gis­
lation implementing Article 32(1)(b) of Directive 2014/59/EU, 
would prevent the failure of the institution within a reasonabl e 
timeframe, in view of the development of the alternative privat e 
sector measure or supervisory action;  
(b) are assessed as meeting the conditions for resolution pursu ant to 
Article 18(1) of Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 or national legis­
lation implementing Article 32(1) of Directive 2014/59/EU, in v iew 
of the development of the resolution action;  
(c) result from a resolution action as defined under Article 3( 10) of 
Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 and national legislation implementi ng 
Article 2(40) of Directive 2014/59/EU or from an alternative pr ivate 
sector measure or supervisory action as referred to in 
Article 18(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 and national le gis­
lation implementing Article 32(1)(b) of Directive 2014/59/EU.  
6. Beyond a limitation of access to Eurosystem monetary policy 
operations pursuant to paragraph 4, the Eurosystem shall suspen d, 
further limit or exclude from access to Eurosystem monetary pol icy 
operations on the grounds of prudence counterparties which have  
been deemed to be ‘failing or likely to fail’ but for which nei ther a 
resolution action has been provided for, nor are there reasonab le 
prospects that an alternative private sector measure or supervi sory 
action would prevent the failure of the institution within a re asonable 
time-frame as referred to in Article 18(1)(b) of Regulation (EU ) 
No 806/2014 and national legislation implementing Article 32(1) (b) of 
Directive 2014/59/EU.  
7. In the event that a discretionary measure is based on pruden tial 
information, the Eurosystem shall use any such information, pro vided 
either by supervisors or by counterparties, in a manner strictl y commen­
surate with, and necessary for, the performance of the Eurosyst em's 
tasks of conducting monetary policy.  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 115  
8. In the case of an occurrence of an event of default, the Eur osystem 
may suspend, limit or exclude access to Eurosystem monetary pol icy 
operations with regard to counterparties that are in default pu rsuant to 
any contractual or regulatory arrangements applied by the Euros ystem.  
9. All discretionary measures of the Eurosystem shall be applie d in a 
proportionate and non-discriminatory manner and shall be duly j ustified 
by the Eurosystem.  
▼B 
Article 159  
Discretionary measures relating to the Eurosystem's credit quality 
assessment  
1. The Eurosystem shall determine whether an issue, issuer, deb tor or 
guarantor fulfils the Eurosystem's credit quality requirements on the 
basis of any information it considers relevant.  
2. The Eurosystem may reject, limit the mobilisation or use of assets 
or apply supplementary haircuts on the grounds provided for in 
paragraph 1, if such decision is required in order to ensure ad equate 
risk protection of the Eurosystem.  
3. In the event that a rejection as referred to in paragraph 2 is based 
on prudential information, the Eurosystem shall use any such 
information, transmitted either by counterparties or by supervi sors, in 
a manner that is strictly commensurate with, and necessary for,  the 
performance of the Eurosystem's tasks of conducting monetary po licy. 
▼M6 
4. The Eurosystem may exclude the following assets from the lis t of 
eligible marketable assets:  
(a) assets issued, co-issued, serviced or guaranteed by counter parties, or 
entities closely linked to counterparties subject to freezing o f funds 
and/or other measures imposed by the Union under Article 75 of the 
Treaty or by a Member State restricting the use of funds; and/o r 
▼M9 
(b) assets issued, co-issued, serviced or guaranteed by counter parties, or 
entities closely linked to counterparties in respect of which t he 
Eurosystem has suspended, limited or excluded their access to E uro­
system monetary policy operations.  ▼M2
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 116  
PART SEVEN  
ADDITIONAL MINIMUM COMMON FEATURES IN 
RELATION TO EUROSYSTEM MONETARY POLICY 
OPERATIONS  
Article 160  
Legal relationship between the Eurosystem central banks and 
counterparties  
The Eurosystem shall ensure that their contractual or regulator y 
arrangements in respect of their counterparties as referred to in 
Article 1(3) are in conformity with the provisions of Part Seve n. 
CHAPTER 1  
Additional minimum common features applicable to all arrangements 
for Eurosystem monetary policy operations  
Article 161  
Amendments to the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary 
policy framework  
1. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which ensure that it is able to implement any amendment to the 
monetary policy framework without undue delay.  
2. Each NCB shall include a provision in its contractual or reg ulatory 
arrangements that a notice of the amendments referred to in par agraph 1 
must be communicated to its counterparties. Each NCB shall ensu re that 
such notice provides certainty as to the moment from which such  
amendments take legal effect.  
Article 162  
Denomination of payments  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
stipulate that all payments relating to Eurosystem monetary pol icy 
operations, other than foreign currency payments in foreign exc hange 
swaps for monetary policy purposes, must be in euro.  
Article 163  
Form of contractual arrangements  
If it is necessary to constitute all transactions under the agr eement as a 
single contractual arrangement and/or to constitute the agreeme nt as a 
master agreement to allow effective termination and close-out ( including 
netting) of all outstanding transactions upon an event of defau lt, the 
contractual or regulatory arrangements applied by the NCB shall  
provide for such arrangements.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 117  
Article 164  
Forms, data carriers and means of communication  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
ensure that, in the relationship between the NCB and counterpar ties, 
appropriate and unambiguous rules relating to the use of forms,  
including the confirmation of terms of transactions, data carri ers and 
the means and specifics of communication, are in place.  
Article 165  
Events of default  
1. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements that, 
as a minimum, provide for events of default that are not materi ally 
different from the following:  
(a) a decision is made by a competent judicial or other authori ty to 
implement, in relation to the counterparty, a procedure for the  
winding-up of the counterparty or the appointment of a liquidat or 
or analogous officer over the counterparty, or any other analog ous 
procedure;  
(b) a decision is made by a competent judicial or other authori ty to 
implement, in relation to the counterparty, a reorganisation me asure 
or other analogous procedure intended to safeguard or restore t he 
financial situation of the counterparty and to avoid the taking  of a 
decision of the kind referred to in point (a);  
(c) a declaration by the counterparty in writing of its inabili ty to pay 
all or any part of its debts or to meet its obligations arising  in 
relation to monetary policy transactions, or a voluntary genera l 
agreement or arrangement entered into by it with its creditors,  or 
if the counterparty is, or is deemed to be, insolvent or is dee med to 
be unable to pay its debts;  
(d) procedural steps preliminary to a decision being taken unde r points 
(a) or (b);  
(e) any representation or other pre-contractual statement made by the 
counterparty, or which is implied to have been made by the 
counterparty, under applicable provisions of law that is incorr ect 
or untrue;  
(f) the counterparty's authorisation to conduct activities unde r either: 
(a) Directive 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 575/2013; or (b ) 
Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council (  1 ), as implemented in the relevant Member State whose 
currency is the euro, is suspended or revoked;  ▼B 
( 1 ) Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Co uncil of 
21 April 2004 on markets in financial instruments amending Coun cil 
Directives 85/611/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directive 2000/12/EC of the 
European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Di rective 
93/22/EEC (OJ L 145, 30.4.2004, p. 1).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 118  
(g) the counterparty is suspended or expelled from membership o f any 
payment system or arrangement through which payments under 
monetary policy transactions are made or (except for foreign 
exchange swap transactions) is suspended or expelled from 
membership of any SSS used for the settlement of Eurosystem 
monetary policy operations;  
(h) measures such as those referred to in Articles 41(1), 43(1)  and 44 
of Directive 2013/36/EU are taken against the counterparty;  
(i) in relation to reverse transactions, the counterparty fails  to comply 
with provisions concerning risk control measures;  
(j) in relation to repurchase transactions, the counterparty fa ils to pay 
the purchase price or the repurchase price or fails to deliver 
purchased or repurchased assets; or in relation to collateralis ed 
loans, the counterparty fails to deliver assets or reimburse th e 
credit on the applicable dates for such payments and deliveries ; 
(k) in relation to foreign exchange swaps for monetary policy p urposes 
and fixed-term deposits, the counterparty fails to pay the euro  
amount; or in relation to foreign exchange swaps for monetary 
policy purposes, fails to pay foreign currency amounts on the 
applicable dates for such payments;  
(l) the occurrence of an event of default, not materially diffe rent from 
those defined in this Article, in relation to the counterparty under 
an agreement concluded for the purposes of the management of th e 
foreign reserves or own funds of the ECB or any NCBs;  
(m) the counterparty fails to provide relevant information, thu s causing 
severe consequences for the home NCB;  
(n) the counterparty fails to perform any other of its other ob ligations 
under arrangements for reverse transactions and foreign exchang e 
swap transactions and, if capable of remedy, does not remedy su ch 
failure within a maximum of 30 days in the case of collateralis ed 
transactions and a maximum of 10 days for foreign exchange swap  
transactions after notice is given by the NCB requiring it to d o so;  
(o) an event of default occurs in relation to the counterparty in any 
agreement with another member of the Eurosystem entered into fo r 
the purpose of effecting Eurosystem monetary policy operations in 
respect of which that other member of the Eurosystem has 
exercised its right to close out any transaction under such 
agreement by reason of the event of default;  
(p) the counterparty becomes subject to freezing of funds and/o r other 
measures imposed by the Union under Article 75 of the Treaty 
restricting the counterparty's ability to use its funds;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 119  
(q) the counterparty becomes subject to the freezing of funds a nd/or 
other measures imposed by a Member State whose currency is the 
euro restricting the counterparty's ability to use its funds;  
(r) all or a substantial part of the counterparty's assets are subject to a 
freezing order, attachment, seizure or any other procedure that  is 
intended to protect the public interest or the rights of the co unter­
party's creditors;  
(s) all or a substantial part of the counterparty's assets are assigned to 
another entity;  
(t) any other impending or existing event, the occurrence of wh ich 
may threaten the performance by the counterparty of its obligat ions 
under the arrangement it entered into for the purpose of effect ing 
Eurosystem monetary policy operations or any other rules applyi ng 
to the relationship between the counterparty and any of the NCB s. 
2. The events referred to in points (a) and (p) of paragraph 1 shall be 
automatic; the events referred to in points (b), (c) and (q) ma y be 
automatic; the events referred in points (d) to (o) and (r) to (t) cannot 
be automatic and shall be discretionary, i.e. perfected only up on service 
of a notice of default. Such notice of default may provide a ‘g race 
period’ of up to a maximum of three business days to rectify th e 
event in question. For events of default that are discretionary , the 
NCBs shall ensure that the provisions relating to the exercise of such 
discretion provide certainty as to the effect of such exercise.  
Article 166  
Remedies in the event of default or on the grounds of prudence  
1. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which ensure that, if an event of default occurs, or on the gro unds of 
prudence, the NCB is entitled to exercise any of the following remedies:  
(a) suspending, limiting or excluding the counterparty from acc ess to 
open market operations;  
(b) suspending, limiting or excluding the counterparty from acc ess to 
the standing facilities;  
(c) terminating all outstanding agreements and transactions;  
(d) demanding accelerated performance of claims that have not y et 
matured or are contingent;  
(e) using deposits of the counterparty placed with the NCB to s et off 
claims against that counterparty;  
(f) suspending the performance of obligations against the count erparty 
until the claim on the counterparty has been satisfied.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 120  
2. Each NCB may apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which, if an event of default occurs, entitle the home NCB to 
exercise any of the following remedies, in addition to the reme dies 
referred to in paragraph 1:  
(a) claiming default interest; and  
(b) claiming an indemnity for any losses sustained as a consequ ence of 
a default by the counterparty.  
3. Each NCB may apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which, on the grounds of prudence, entitle the home NCB to reje ct, 
limit the use of or apply supplementary haircuts to assets mobi lised as 
collateral in Eurosystem credit operations by counterparties.  
4. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which ensure that, at all times, the home NCB is in a legal pos ition 
to realise all assets provided as collateral without undue dela y and in 
such a way as to entitle the NCB to realise value for the credi t provided, 
if the counterparty does not settle its negative balance prompt ly. 
▼M6 
4a. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements  
which ensure that, at all times, the home NCB is in a legal pos ition 
to impose a financial penalty for a failure of a counterparty t o 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 ac cordance 
with Annex VII, Section III, taking into account the amount of cash that 
the counterparty could not pay or reimburse, or the assets the 
counterparty could not deliver, and the number of calendar days  
during which the counterparty did not pay, reimburse or deliver . 
▼B 
5. In order to ensure the uniform implementation of the measure s 
imposed, the ECB's Governing Council may decide on the remedies , 
including suspension, limitation or exclusion from access to op en 
market operations or standing facilities.  
Article 167  
Provision of information by counterparties  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
ensure that an NCB may obtain any relevant information from 
counterparties in relation to Eurosystem monetary policy operat ions.  
Article 168  
Notices and other communications  
1. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which provide for all notices or other communications to be in 
written and/or electronic form.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 121  
2. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which provide certainty as to how notices or other communicatio ns 
should be given, and when they take effect. Any period after wh ich 
notices or other communications take effect shall not be so lon g as to 
alter the economic effect of the arrangements taken as a whole.  In 
particular, confirmation shall be both delivered and checked pr omptly.  
Article 169  
Third-party rights  
1. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which provide that the rights and obligations of the counterpar ty are 
not to be assigned, charged, novated or otherwise dealt with by  the 
counterparty without the prior written consent of the home NCB.  
2. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which provide that only the contracting or home NCB and the ide ntified 
counterparty have rights and obligations arising under the tran saction. 
However, such contractual or regulatory arrangements shall allo w for 
the relationships between NCBs and/or the ECB:  
(a) arising out of the cross-border use of eligible assets; and  
(b) as necessary for operations effected with counterparties ac ting 
through an intermediary institution.  
Article 170  
Governing law and jurisdiction  
1. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which stipulate that the governing law for the relevant contrac tual or 
regulatory arrangements applied by that NCB and for all transac tions 
under such arrangements is to be, except where the cross-border  use of 
eligible assets requires otherwise, that of the Member State wh ose 
currency is the euro in which such NCB is situated.  
▼M2 
2. The place of dispute resolution shall be, without prejudice to the 
competence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the c ourts or 
tribunals of the Member State whose currency is the euro in whi ch the 
NCB is situated.  
▼B 
Article 171  
Settlement days with regard to fixed-term deposits  
Each NCB shall apply deposit arrangements which specify that 
settlement with regard to both taking in and paying out fixed-t erm 
deposits takes place on the days specified in the ECB's announc ement 
of the deposit operation.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 122  
CHAPTER 2  
Additional minimum common features applicable to both repurchase 
and collateralised loan agreements  
Article 172  
Date of reverse leg of the transaction  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
ensure that the date of the reverse leg of the transaction, inc luding 
the date of repayment of the collateralised loan agreement, as 
applicable, is fixed at the time of entering into each transact ion. 
Article 173  
Business days  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
define ‘business day’, as referred to in Article 2.  
Article 174  
Interest rates  
1. In a repurchase agreement, the price differential between th e 
purchase price and the repurchase price shall correspond to the  
aggregate amount obtained by application of a specified rate to  the 
purchase price during the period from the scheduled purchase da te to 
the repurchase date.  
2. In a collateralised loan, the interest rate shall be determi ned by 
applying the specified interest rate on the credit amount over the 
maturity of the operation.  
3. The rate applied to reverse transactions shall be equal to a  simple 
interest rate based on the actual/360 day-count convention.  
Article 175  
Mechanisms for converting non-euro amounts  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
ensure that the mechanisms for converting non-euro amounts into  
euro specify that the rate to be used is the ECB daily euro for eign 
exchange reference rate or, if unavailable, the spot rate of ex change 
indicated by the ECB on the business day before the day on whic h 
the conversion is to be made for the sale by it of euro against  a  
purchase by it of the other currency.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 123  
CHAPTER 3  
Additional minimum common features exclusive to repurchase 
agreements  
Article 176  
Subject matter of repurchase agreements  
1. When entering into repurchase agreements, each NCB shall app ly 
contractual or regulatory arrangements which ensure that there is a sale 
of eligible assets against euro cash, together with a simultane ous 
agreement to sell back equivalent assets against euro cash at a  
specified time.  
2. Each NCB shall define ‘equivalent assets’ as assets of the s ame 
issuer, forming part of the same issue, irrespective of the dat e of issue, 
and being of identical type, nominal value, amount and descript ion to 
those assets to which such comparison is made.  
3. If the assets in respect of which the comparison under parag raph 2 
is made have been converted or redenominated or a call has been  made 
thereon, the definition of equivalence shall be modified to mea n: 
(a) in the case of conversion, those into which the assets have  
converted;  
(b) in the case of a call being made on assets, equivalent asse ts to the 
paid-up assets, provided that the seller has paid to the buyer a sum 
equal to the value of the call;  
(c) in the case of redenominated assets, equivalent assets to t hose into 
which the original assets have been redenominated with, as 
necessary, a sum of money equal to any difference in value 
between the assets before and after their redenomination.  
Article 177  
Close-out netting arrangements with respect to repurchase 
agreements  
1. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which ensure that, upon the occurrence of an event of default, they 
are entitled to terminate and close-out all outstanding repurch ase 
transactions.  
2. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which contain provisions in relation to netting that are aimed at 
achieving economic effects equivalent to those set out below.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 124  
(a) Upon the occurrence of an event of default, the repurchase date for 
each transaction shall be deemed to occur immediately and be 
subject to either of the following options:  
(i) any equivalent margin assets shall be immediately deliverab le, 
so that performance of respective obligations of the parties wi th 
regard to the delivery of assets and the payment of the 
repurchase price for any repurchased assets shall be effected 
only in accordance with points (b) to (d); or  
(ii) the repurchase transaction will be terminated.  
(b) The default market values of the repurchased assets and any  
equivalent margin assets to be transferred and the repurchase 
price to be paid by each party shall be established by the NCB 
for all transactions as at the repurchase date in a commerciall y 
reasonable manner.  
(c) On the basis of point (b), the NCB shall calculate what is due from 
each party to the other at the repurchase date. The sums due fr om 
one party must be set off against the sums due from the other a nd 
only the net balance is payable by the party having the claim 
thereby valued at the lower amount.  
(d) The net balance shall be due and payable on the next day on  which 
TARGET2 is operational to effect a payment. For the purposes of  
this calculation, any sums not denominated in euro must be 
converted into euro on the appropriate date at the rate calcula ted 
in accordance with Article 175.  
3. Each NCB shall define ‘default market value’ as set out unde r 
Article 2.  
Article 178  
Compliance with risk control measures  
If the NCBs apply contractual or regulatory arrangements that i nclude 
any provision for the substitution of collateral, such arrangem ents shall 
ensure that compliance with the requisite risk control measures  is 
maintained.  
Article 179  
Cash margins  
If the NCBs apply contractual or regulatory arrangements which include 
any provision for margins to be paid or returned in cash, such provision 
shall also stipulate that any further obligation to return or p rovide 
margins should first be satisfied by the use of cash up to the same 
amount, together with any interest applicable to it.  
Article 180  
Further provisions pertaining to repurchase agreements  
Without prejudice to the provisions of this Guideline, each NCB  may 
specify further provisions in its contractual or regulatory arr angements 
pertaining to repurchase agreements.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 125  
CHAPTER 4  
Additional minimum common features exclusive to collateralised loan 
arrangements  
Article 181  
Provision and realisation of collateral  
1. As regards arrangements for providing liquidity in the form of collat­
eralised loans, each NCB shall, in its contractual or regulator y 
arrangements, take account of the different procedures and form alities 
required to enable the creation and subsequent realisation of a  security 
interest in the collateral which apply in its jurisdiction, suc h as a pledge, 
assignment or charge.  
2. Each NCB shall apply collateralised loan arrangements that e nsure 
that the assets provided as collateral are legally realisable b y the NCB 
without there being prior claims over the assets concerned. It shall not 
be possible for third parties, including the liquidating author ity in the 
event of insolvency, to intervene and successfully claim the as sets 
provided as collateral, in the absence of fraud, or any rights attached 
to them.  
3. Each NCB shall apply collateralised loan arrangements which 
ensure that, upon the occurrence of an event of default as spec ified in 
Article 165, it is in a legal position to realise the economic value of the 
assets provided as collateral. Such an event of default shall a lso reflect 
the circumstances in which the NCB can treat the counterparty a s being 
in default under repurchase agreements.  
Article 182  
Overnight extension of intraday operations  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements tha t allow 
for the possibility of operations which are entered into on an intraday 
basis to be extended overnight.  
CHAPTER 5  
Additional minimum common features exclusive to foreign exchange 
swaps for monetary policy purposes  
Article 183  
Simultaneous spot-and-forward sale and purchase agreement  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
ensure that each transaction is constituted as a simultaneous s pot and 
forward sale and purchase of euro against one foreign currency.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 126  
Article 184  
Timing and mechanics of transfer of payments  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
include a provision as to the timing and mechanics of the trans fer of 
payments. The date of the forward sale and purchase shall be fi xed at 
the time of entering into each transaction.  
Article 185  
Definition of specific terms  
Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements whi ch 
define the foreign currency, spot rate, forward rate, transfer date and 
retransfer date in accordance with the following:  
(a) ‘foreign currency’ means any lawful currency other than the  euro;  
(b) ‘spot rate’ means, in relation to a specific transaction, t he rate (as 
calculated in accordance with Article 175 applied to convert th e 
euro amount into such amount in the foreign currency relevant 
for that transaction as one party shall be obliged to transfer to the 
other at the transfer date against payment of the euro amount a nd 
which rate shall be set out in the confirmation;  
(c) ‘forward rate’ means the rate calculated in accordance with  
Article 175 and applied to convert the euro amount into such 
amount in the foreign currency as one party shall be obliged to  
transfer to the other at the retransfer date against payment of  the 
euro amount, which rate shall be as set out in the confirmation  and 
defined in the relevant contractual or regulatory arrangements 
applied by the relevant NCB;  
(d) ‘retransfer foreign currency amount’ means such amount of f oreign 
currency as is required to purchase the euro amount as at the 
retransfer date;  
(e) ‘transfer date’ means, with regard to any transaction, the date and, 
where appropriate, the time on that date when the transfer of t he 
euro amount by one party to the other is to become effective, i .e. 
the date and, where appropriate, the time on that date, when th e 
parties have agreed that settlement of a transfer of the euro a mount 
will occur;  
(f) ‘retransfer date’ means, with regard to any transaction, th e date and, 
where appropriate, the time on that date, when one party is req uired 
to retransfer the euro amount to the other.  
Article 186  
Close-out netting arrangements with respect to foreign exchange 
swaps  
1. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which ensure that, upon the occurrence of an event of default, that 
NCB is entitled to terminate and close-out all outstanding tran sactions.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 127  
2. Each NCB shall apply contractual or regulatory arrangements 
which contain provisions in relation to netting that are aimed at 
achieving economic effects equivalent to those set out below.  
(a) If an event of default has occurred, each transaction shall  be deemed 
to have been terminated and the replacement values of the euro and 
the retransfer foreign currency amounts shall be established by  the 
NCB on the basis that such replacement values are the amounts t hat 
would be necessary to preserve the economic equivalent of any 
payments that would otherwise have been required for the NCB.  
(b) On the basis of the sums so established, the NCB shall calc ulate 
what is due from each party to the other at the retransfer date . The 
sums due by one party must be converted into euro where necessa ry 
in accordance with Article 175 and set off against the sums due  by 
the other. Only the net balance shall be payable by the party h aving 
the claim thereby valued at the lower amount. Such net balance is 
due and payable on the next day on which TARGET2 is operational  
to effect such a payment.  
Article 187  
Further provisions relating to foreign exchange swaps  
Without prejudice to the requirements laid down in this Guideli ne, each 
NCB may specify further provisions in relation to the conduct o f foreign 
exchange swaps in its contractual or regulatory arrangements.  
PART EIGHT  
FINAL PROVISIONS  
Article 188  
Sharing of information  
The NCBs may, if necessary for the implementation of monetary p olicy, 
share with each other individual information, such as operation al data, 
relating to counterparties participating in Eurosystem monetary  policy 
operations. Such information shall be subject to the requiremen t 
concerning professional secrecy in Article 37 of the Statute of  the 
ESCB.  
Article 189  
Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing legislation  
Counterparties to Eurosystem monetary policy operations shall b e aware 
of, and comply with, all obligations imposed on them by anti-mo ney 
laundering and counter-terrorist financing legislation.  ▼B
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Article 190  
Repeal  
1. Guideline ECB/2011/14 is repealed from 1 May 2015.  
2. References to the repealed Guideline shall be construed as 
references to this Guideline and be read in accordance with the  corre­
lation table set out in Annex XIII.  
Article 191  
Taking effect, application and implementation  
1. This Guideline shall take effect on the day of its notificat ion to the 
NCBs.  
2. All provisions of this Guideline shall apply from 1 May 2015  
except those detailed in Article 142 which shall apply from 
1 November 2015.  
3. The NCBs shall forward to the ECB the texts and means by whi ch 
they intend to comply with the provisions of this Guideline tha t 
represent substantive changes compared to Guideline ECB/2011/14  by 
16 February 2015, at the latest.  
Article 192  
Addressees  
This Guideline is addressed to all Eurosystem central banks.  ▼B
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ANNEX I  
MINIMUM RESERVES  
The content of this Annex is for information purposes only. In the event of 
conflict between this Annex and the legal framework for the Eur osystem's 
minimum reserve system as described in paragraph 1, the latter prevails.  
1. Pursuant to Article 19 of the Statute of the European System  of Central 
Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statue  of the 
ESCB’), the European Central Bank (ECB) requires credit institu tions to 
hold minimum reserves on accounts with national central banks ( NCBs) 
within the framework of the Eurosystem's minimum reserve system . The 
legal framework for this system is laid down in Article 19 of t he Statute 
of the ESCB, Regulation (EC) No 2531/98 and Regulation (EC) 
No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9). The application of Regulation (EC) 
No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9) ensures that the terms and conditions  of the 
Eurosystem's minimum reserve system are uniform throughout Memb er 
States whose currency is the euro.  
2. The Eurosystem's minimum reserves system primarily pursues t he aims of 
stabilising money market interest rates and creating (or enlarg ing) a structural 
liquidity shortage.  
3. In accordance with Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2 003 
(ECB/2003/9), the Eurosystem's minimum reserve system applies t o credit 
institutions established in Member States whose currency is the  euro. In 
addition, branches in the euro area of credit institutions not incorporated 
in the euro area are also subject to the Eurosystem's minimum r eserve 
system. However, branches established outside the euro area of credit insti­
tutions incorporated in the euro area are not subject to this s ystem.  
4. Pursuant to Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (EC B/2003/9), 
institutions will be automatically exempt from reserve requirem ents from the 
start of the maintenance period within which their authorisatio n is withdrawn 
or surrendered, or within which a decision to submit the instit ution to 
winding-up proceedings is taken by a judicial authority or any other 
competent authority of a Member State.  
5. Pursuant to Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (EC B/2003/9), 
the ECB may exempt, on a non-discriminatory basis, the institut ions listed in 
points (a) to (c) thereof from reserve requirements.  ►M9 Such institutions 
include, inter alia, institutions subject to reorganisation mea sures and insti­
tutions subject to the freezing of funds and/or other measures imposed by the 
Union under Article 75 of the Treaty or by a Member State restr icting the 
use of their funds or a decision of the Eurosystem suspending o r excluding 
their access to open market operations or the Eurosystem’s stan ding 
facilities. ◄  
6. Pursuant to Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (EC B/2003/9), 
the ECB establishes and maintains a list of institutions subjec t to the Euro­
system's minimum reserve system.  
7. The ECB also publishes a list of any institutions exempt fro m their obli­
gations under this system for reasons other than their being su bject to reor­
ganisation measures or the freezing of funds and/or other measu res imposed 
by the Union under Article 75 of the Treaty or by a Member Stat e restricting 
the use of their funds or in respect of which the ECB's Governi ng Council 
issued a decision suspending or excluding their access to open market 
operations or the Eurosystem's standing facilities.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 130  
8. The reserve base of each institution is determined in relati on to elements of 
its balance sheet. The balance sheet data are reported to the N CBs within the 
general framework of the ECB's monetary and financial statistic s. Institutions 
calculate the reserve base in respect of a particular maintenan ce period on the 
basis of the data relating to the month that is two months prio r to the month 
within which the maintenance period starts pursuant to Article 3(3) of Regu­
lation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9), subject to the exception s for tail 
institutions, as laid down in Article 3(4) of the same Regulati on. 
9. The reserve ratios are determined by the ECB subject to the maximum limit 
specified in Regulation (EC) No 2531/98.  
10. The amount of minimum reserves to be held by each instituti on in respect of 
a particular maintenance period are calculated by applying the reserve ratios 
to each relevant item of the reserve base for that period. The minimum 
reserves identified by the relevant participating NCB and by th e institution 
in accordance with the procedures mentioned in Article 5 of Reg ulation (EC) 
No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9) constitute the basis for: (a) remuner ation of 
holdings of required reserves; and (b) assessment of an institu tion's 
compliance with the obligation to hold the required amount of m inimum 
reserves.  
11. In order to pursue the aim of stabilising interest rates, t he Eurosystem's 
minimum reserve system enables institutions to make use of aver aging 
provisions, implying that compliance with reserve requirements is 
determined on the basis of the average of the end-of-calendar-d ay balances 
on the counterparties' reserve accounts over a maintenance peri od. 
Compliance with the reserve requirement is determined on the ba sis of an 
institution's average daily reserve holdings over the maintenan ce period. The 
maintenance period is defined in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) N o 1745/2003 
(ECB/2003/9).  
12. In accordance with Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1745/200 3 
(ECB/2003/9), institutions' holdings of required reserves are r emunerated at 
the average, over the maintenance period, of the ECB's rate (we ighted 
according to the number of calendar days) on the main refinanci ng 
operations according to the following formula (whereby the resu lt is 
rounded to the nearest cent):  
R t ¼ H t · n t · r t 
100 · 360  
r t ¼ X  n t 
i¼1 MR  i 
n t 
Where:  
Rt = remuneration to be paid on holdings of required reserves for  the 
maintenance period  t; 
Ht = average daily holdings of required reserves for the maintena nce 
period  t; 
nt = number of calendar days in the maintenance period  t; 
rt = rate of remuneration on holdings of required reserves for th e main­
tenance period  t. Standard rounding of the rate of remuneration to 
two decimals shall be applied;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 131  
i =  ith calendar day of the maintenance period  t; 
MR  i = marginal interest rate for the most recent main refinancing o peration 
settled on or before calendar day  i. 
Where an institution fails to comply with other obligations und er ECB regu­
lations and decisions relating to the Eurosystem's minimum rese rve system 
(e.g. if relevant data are not transmitted in time or are not a ccurate), the ECB 
is empowered to impose sanctions in accordance with Regulation (EC) 
No 2532/98 and Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 (ECB/1999/4). The E CB's 
Executive Board may specify and publish the criteria according to which it 
will apply the sanctions provided for in Article 7(1) of Regula tion (EC) 
No 2531/98.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 132  
ANNEX II  
ANNOUNCEMENT OF TENDER OPERATIONS  
The public tender announcement contains the following indicativ e information:  
(a) the reference number of the tender operation;  
(b) the date of the tender operation;  
(c) the type of operation (provision or absorption of liquidity , and the type of 
monetary policy instrument to be used);  
(d) the maturity of the operation;  
(e) the duration of the operation (normally expressed in a numb er of days);  
(f) the type of auction, i.e. fixed rate or variable rate tende r; 
(g) for variable rate tenders, the method of allotment, i.e. th e single rate auction 
(Dutch auction) or multiple rate auction (American auction) pro cedure;  
(h) the intended operation volume, normally only in the case of  longer-term 
refinancing operations;  
(i) for fixed rate tenders, the fixed tender interest rate, pri ce, swap point or 
spread (the reference index in the case of indexed tenders and the quotation 
type in the case of an interest rate or spread);  
(j) the minimum or maximum accepted interest rate, price or swa p point, if 
applicable;  
(k) the start date and maturity date of the operation, if appli cable, or the value 
date and the maturity date of the instrument, in the case of th e issuance of 
European Central Bank (ECB) debt certificates;  
(l) the currencies involved and for foreign exchange swaps, the  amount of the 
currency which is kept fixed;  
(m) for foreign exchange swaps, the reference spot exchange rat e to be used for 
the calculation of bids;  
(n) the maximum bid limit, if any;  
(o) the minimum individual allotment amount, if any;  
(p) the minimum allotment ratio, i.e. the lower limit, expresse d in percentage 
terms, of the ratio of bids at the marginal interest rate to be  allotted in a 
tender operation, if any;  
(q) the time schedule for the submission of bids;  
(r) in the case of the issuance of ECB debt certificates, the d enomination of the 
certificates and the ISIN code of the issue;  
(s) the maximum number of bids per counterparty (for variable r ate tenders, in 
the event that the ECB intends to limit the number of bids, thi s is normally 
set at ten bids per counterparty);  
(t) the quotation type (rate or spread);  
(u) the reference entity in the case of indexed tenders.  ▼B
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ANNEX III  
ALLOTMENT OF TENDERS AND TENDER PROCEDURES  
Table 1  
Allotment of fixed rate tenders  
The percentage of allotment is:  
all % ¼ A 
X  n 
i¼1 a i 
The amount allotted to the  ith counterparty is:  
all i = all % × ( a i ) 
where:  
A = total amount allotted  
n = total number of counterparties  
a i = bid amount of the  ith counterparty  
all % = percentage of allotment  
all i = total amount allotted to the  ith counterparty  
Table 2  
Allotment of variable rate tenders in euro  
(the example refers to bids quoted in the form of interest rates)  
The percentage of allotment at the marginal interest rate is:  
all % ðr m Þ ¼ A Ä X  mÄ1 
s¼1 aðr s Þ 
aðr m Þ 
The allotment to the  ith counterparty at the marginal interest rate is:  
all (r m ) i = all % ( r m ) × a(r  m ) i 
The total amount allotted to the  ith counterparty is:  
all i ¼ X  mÄ1 
s¼1 aðr s Þ i þ allðr m Þ i 
where:  
A = total amount allotted  
r s = sth interest rate bid by the counterparties  
N = total number of counterparties  
a(r s ) i = amount bid at the  sth interest rate (r  s ) by the  ith counterparty  
a(r s ) = total amount bid at the sth interest rate (rs)  
aðr s Þ ¼ X  n 
i¼1 aðr s Þ i ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 134  
r m = marginal interest rate:  
r 1 ≥ r s ≥ r m for a liquidity-providing tender  
r m ≥ r s ≥ r 1 for a liquidity-absorbing tender  
r m – 1  = interest rate before the marginal interest rate (last interes t rate at 
which bids are completely satisfied):  
r m – 1  > r m for a liquidity-providing tender  
r m > r m – 1  for a liquidity-absorbing tender  
all %(r  m ) = percentage of allotment at the marginal interest rate  
all(r  s ) i = allotment to the ith counterparty at the sth interest rate  
all i = total amount allotted to the ith counterparty  
Table 3  
Allotment of variable rate foreign exchange swap tenders  
The percentage of allotment at the marginal swap point quotatio n is: 
all % ðΔ m Þ ¼ A Ä X  mÄ1 
s¼1 aðΔ s Þ 
aðΔ m Þ 
The allotment to the  ith counterparty at the marginal swap point quotation is:  
all ( Δ  m ) i = all % (Δ  m ) × a(Δ  m ) i 
The total amount allotted to the  ith counterparty is:  
all i ¼ X  mÄ1 
s¼1 aðΔ s Þ i þ allðΔ m Þ i 
where:  
A = total amount allotted  
Δ s = s th swap point quotation bid by the counterparties  
N = total number of counterparties  
a(Δ  s ) i = amount bid at the  sth swap point quotation (Δ  s ) by the  ith 
counterparty  
a(Δ  s ) = total amount bid at the  sth swap point quotation (Δ  s ) 
aðΔ s Þ ¼ X  n 
i¼1 aðΔ s Þ i 
Δ m = marginal swap point quotation:  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 135  
Δ m ≥ Δ  s ≥ Δ  1 for a liquidity-providing foreign exchange swap  
Δ 1 ≥ Δ  s ≥ Δ  m for a liquidity-absorbing foreign exchange swap  
Δ m – 1  swap point quotation before the marginal swap point quotation ( last 
swap point quotation at which bids are completely satisfied):  
Δ m > Δ  m – 1  for a liquidity-providing foreign exchange swap  
Δ m – 1  > Δ  m for a liquidity-absorbing foreign exchange swap  
all %(Δ  m ) percentage of allotment at the marginal swap point quotation  
all(Δ  s ) i allotment to the  ith counterparty at the  sth swap point quotation  
all i total amount allotted to the  ith counterparty  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 136  
ANNEX IV  
ANNOUNCEMENT OF TENDER RESULTS  
The public tender result message contains the following indicat ive information:  
(a) the reference number of the tender operation;  
(b) the date of the tender operation;  
(c) the type of operation;  
(d) the maturity of the operation;  
(e) the duration of the operation (normally expressed in a numb er of days);  
(f) the total amount bid by Eurosystem counterparties;  
(g) the number of bidders;  
(h) for foreign exchange swaps, the currencies involved;  
(i) the total amount allotted;  
(j) for fixed rate tenders, the percentage of allotment;  
(k) for foreign exchange swaps, the spot exchange rate;  
(l) for variable rate tenders, the marginal interest rate, pric e, swap point or 
spread accepted and the percentage of allotment at the marginal  interest 
rate, price or swap point;  
(m) for multiple rate auctions, the minimum bid rate and the ma ximum bid rate, 
i.e. the lower and upper limit to the interest rate at which co unterparties 
submitted their bids in variable rate tenders, and the weighted  average 
allotment rate;  
(n) the start date and the maturity date of the operation, if a pplicable, or the 
value date and the maturity date of the instrument, in the case  of the 
issuance of European Central Bank (ECB) debt certificates;  
(o) the minimum individual allotment amount, if any;  
(p) the minimum allotment ratio, if any;  
(q) in the case of the issuance of ECB debt certificates, the d enomination of the 
certificates and the ISIN code of the issue;  
(r) the maximum number of bids per counterparty (for variable r ate tenders, in 
the event that the ECB intends to limit the number of bids, thi s is normally 
set at ten bids per counterparty).  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 137  
ANNEX V  
CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF COUNTERPARTIES TO 
PARTICIPATE IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE INTERVENTION 
OPERATIONS  
1. The selection of counterparties for Eurosystem foreign excha nge intervention 
operations is based on two sets of criteria relating to the pri nciples of 
prudence and efficiency.  
2. The criteria relating to efficiency are only applied once th e criteria relating to 
the principle of prudence have been applied.  
3. The criteria relating to the principle of prudence comprise the following:  
(a) creditworthiness of the counterparty, which is assessed usi ng a combi­
nation of different methods, e.g. using credit ratings availabl e from 
commercial agencies and the in-house analysis of capital and ot her 
business ratios;  
(b) a counterparty is supervised by a recognised supervisor;  
(c) a counterparty has a good reputation and observes high ethi cal standards.  
4. The criteria relating to the principle of efficiency compris e, inter alia, the 
following:  
(a) a counterparty's competitive pricing behaviour and its abil ity to conduct 
large-volume foreign exchange operations efficiently under all market 
conditions; and  
(b) the quality and coverage of information provided by the cou nterparty.  
5. In order to be able to intervene efficiently in different ge ographical locations, 
the national central banks may select counterparties for their foreign exchange 
intervention operations in any international financial centre.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 138  
ANNEX VI  
CROSS-BORDER USE OF ELIGIBLE ASSETS  
I. THE CORRESPONDENT CENTRAL BANKING MODEL (CCBM)  
Table 1  
The correspondent central banking model (CCBM)  
Use of eligible assets deposited in country B by a counterparty  established in 
country A in order to obtain credit from the national central b ank (NCB) of 
country A
  
1. All NCBs maintain securities accounts with each other for th e cross-border 
use of eligible assets. The precise procedure of the CCBM depen ds on 
whether the eligible assets are earmarked for each individual t ransaction or 
whether they are held in a pool of underlying assets.  
2. In an earmarking system, as soon as a counterparty's bid for  credit is 
accepted by its home NCB the counterparty instructs, via its ow n 
custodian if necessary, the securities settlement systems (SSS)  in the 
country in which its marketable assets are held, to transfer th em to the 
central bank of that country (hereinafter the ‘correspondent ce ntral bank’) 
for the account of the home NCB. Once the home NCB has been inf ormed 
by the correspondent central bank that the collateral has been received, it 
transfers the funds to the counterparty. The NCBs do not advanc e funds until 
they are certain that the counterparties' marketable assets hav e been received 
by the correspondent central bank. Where necessary to meet sett lement 
deadlines, counterparties may be able to pre-deposit assets wit h corre­
spondent central banks for the account of their home NCB using the 
CCBM procedures.  
3. In a pooling system, the counterparty may at any time provid e the corre­
spondent central bank with marketable assets for the account of  the home 
NCB. Once the home NCB has been informed by the correspondent c entral 
bank that the marketable assets have been received, it will add  these 
marketable assets to the pool account of the counterparty.  
4. Specific procedures for cross-border use have been developed  for certain 
non-marketable assets, i.e. credit claims and retail mortgage-b acked debt 
instruments (RMBDs). When credit claims are used as collateral in ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 139  
a cross-border context, a CCBM variant is applied to credit cla ims, using a 
transfer of ownership, an assignment or a pledge in favour of t he home 
NCB, or a charge in favour of the correspondent central bank, a cting as 
the agent for the home NCB. A further ad-hoc variant based on t he charge in 
favour of the correspondent central bank acting as the agent fo r the home 
NCB is applied to allow the cross-border use of RMBDs.  
5. The CCBM is available to counterparties, both for marketable  and 
non-marketable assets, as a minimum from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CET o n each 
TARGET2 business day. A counterparty wishing to make use of the  CCBM 
must advise the NCB from which it wishes to receive credit, i.e . its home 
NCB, before 4 p.m. CET. The counterparty must ensure that the c ollateral 
for securing the credit operation is delivered to the account o f the corre­
spondent central bank by 4.45 p.m. CET at the latest. Instructi ons or 
deliveries that do not respect this deadline will only be dealt  with on a 
best effort basis and may be considered for credit that will be  given on 
the following TARGET2 business day. When counterparties foresee  a need 
to use the CCBM late in the day, they should, where possible, p re-deposit 
the assets. Under exceptional circumstances or when required fo r monetary 
policy purposes, the ECB may decide to extend the CCBM's closin g time 
until the TARGET2 closing time, in cooperation with central sec urities 
depositories regarding their availability to extend their cut-o ff times for 
marketable assets.  
II. ELIGIBLE LINKS BETWEEN SSSS  
Table 2  
▼M7 
Eligible links between securities settlement systems  
Use of eligible assets issued in the SSS of country B held by a  counterparty 
established in country A through an eligible link between the S SSs in 
countries A and B in order to obtain credit from the NCB of cou ntry A.  
▼B
 ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 140  
1. Eligible links between two SSSs in the European Economic Are a (EEA) 
consist of a set of procedures and arrangements for the cross-b order 
transfer of securities through a book-entry process. They take the form of 
an omnibus account opened by an SSS (hereinafter the ‘investor SSS’) in 
another SSS (hereinafter the ‘issuer SSS’).  
2. Eligible links allow a participant in one SSS in the EEA to hold securities 
issued in another SSS in the EEA without being a participant th erein. When 
using links between SSSs, the counterparties hold the assets on  their own 
account with their home SSS and have no need for a custodian.  
III. CCBM IN COMBINATION WITH ELIGIBLE LINKS  
Table 3  
CCBM in combination with eligible links  
▼M7 
Use of eligible assets issued in the SSS of country C and held in the SSS of 
country B by a counterparty established in country A through an  eligible link 
between the SSSs in countries B and C in order to obtain credit  from the 
NCB of country A.  
▼B
 
Where eligible assets in the form of securities are to be trans ferred via the 
CCBM with links, counterparties must ensure that the securities  are delivered 
to an account at the relevant investor SSS by 4 p.m. CET on the  settlement 
date in order to ensure settlement of same-day value operations . Any request 
for mobilisation received by home NCBs from their counterpartie s after 4 
p.m. CET, or any request for the delivery of eligible assets to  an account at 
the relevant investor SSS after 4 p.m. CET, is dealt with on a best efforts 
basis, according to the cut-off times of the SSSs involved.  
IV. CCBM WITH TRI-PARTY COLLATERAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES  
Table 4  
Cross-border tri-party services  
Use of eligible assets held in the tri-party agent (TPA) of cou ntry B by a 
counterparty established in country A in order to obtain credit  from the NCB 
of country A.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 141
  
The arrow ‘Information on collateral’ between counterparty A an d NCB A 
may not be relevant in the case of certain TPAs, depending on t he 
contractual model chosen, and in such cases the counterparty do es not 
send an instruction to NCB A or receive a confirmation from NCB  A . ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 142  
ANNEX VIa  
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR THE USE OF SECURITIES 
SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS AND LINKS BETWEEN SECURITIES 
SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS IN EUROSYSTEM CREDIT OPERATIONS  
I. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SECURITIES SETTLEMENT 
SYSTEMS (SSSS) AND LINKS BETWEEN SSSS  
1. The Eurosystem determines the eligibility of an SSS operated  by a central 
securities depository (CSD) established in a Member State whose  currency is 
the euro or a national central bank (NCB) or a public body as s pecified in 
Article 1(4) of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Par liament 
and of the Council (  1 ) of a Member State whose currency is the euro (here­
inafter an ‘SSS operator’ or an ‘operator of an SSS’) on the ba sis of the 
following criteria:  
(a) the euro area SSS operator complies with the requirements f or authoris­
ation as a CSD laid down in Regulation (EU) No 909/2014; and  
(b) the NCB of the Member State in which the respective SSS ope rates has 
set up and maintains appropriate contractual or other arrangeme nts with 
the euro area SSS operator, which include the Eurosystem requir ements 
laid down in Section II.  
If the authorisation procedure laid down in Title III of Regula tion (EU) 
No 909/2014 in respect of a euro area CSD has not been complete d, 
points (a) and (b) do not apply. In this situation, the SSS ope rated by this 
CSD must instead be positively assessed under the ‘Framework fo r the 
assessment of securities settlement systems and links to determ ine their 
eligibility for use in Eurosystem credit operations’, January 2 014, which is 
published on the ECB's website.  
2. The Eurosystem determines the eligibility of a direct link o r a relayed link on 
the basis of the following criteria:  
(a) the direct link or, in the case of a relayed link, each of the underlying 
direct links, complies with the requirements laid down in 
Regulation (EU) No 909/2014;  
(b) the NCBs of the Member States in which the investor SSS, an y inter­
mediary SSS and the issuer SSS are established have set up and maintain 
appropriate contractual or other arrangements with the euro are a SSS 
operators, which include the Eurosystem requirements laid down in 
Section II;  
(c) the investor SSS, any intermediary SSS and the issuer SSS i nvolved in 
the link are all considered eligible by the Eurosystem.  ▼M6 
( 1 ) 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 a nd on central securities 
depositories and amending Directives 98/26/EC and 2014/65/EU an d Regulation (EU) 
No 236/2012 (OJ L 257, 28.8.2014, p. 1).
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 143  
If the authorisation procedure laid down in Title III of Regula tion (EU) 
No 909/2014 in respect of any CSD operating an SSS involved in a link 
has not been completed, points (a) to (c) do not apply. In this  situation, links 
involving an SSS operated by such a CSD must instead be positiv ely 
assessed under the ‘Framework for the assessment of securities settlement 
systems and links to determine their eligibility for use in Eur osystem credit 
operations’, January 2014.  
3. Before determining the eligibility of a direct link or relay ed link involving 
one or more SSSs operated by CSDs established in a European Eco nomic 
Area (EEA) State whose currency is not the euro or NCBs or publ ic bodies 
of an EEA State whose currency is not the euro (hereinafter a ‘ non-euro area 
EEA SSS’ operated by a ‘non-euro area EEA SSS operator’), the E urosystem 
carries out a business case analysis which takes into account, inter alia, the 
value of the eligible assets issued by or held in those SSSs.  
4. Subject to the business case analysis having a positive outc ome, the Euro­
system determines the eligibility of a link involving non-euro area EEA SSSs 
on the basis of the following criteria.  
(a) The non-euro area EEA operators of the SSSs involved in the  link and 
the link itself comply with the requirements laid down in 
Regulation (EU) No 909/2014.  
(b) For direct links, the NCB of the Member State in which the investor SSS 
operates has set up and maintains appropriate contractual or ot her 
arrangements with the euro area operator of the investor SSS. T hese 
contractual or other arrangements must stipulate the obligation  of the 
euro area SSS operator to implement the provisions laid down in  
Section II in its legal arrangements with the non-euro area EEA  
operator of the issuer SSS.  
For relayed links, each of the underlying direct links in which  a non-euro 
area EEA SSS acts as issuer SSS must fulfil the criterion in th e first 
paragraph of point (b). In a relayed link where both the interm ediary SSS 
and the issuer SSS are non-euro area EEA SSSs, the NCB of the 
Member State in which the investor SSS operates must set up and  
maintain appropriate contractual or other arrangements with the  euro 
area operator of the investor SSS. These contractual or other 
arrangements must stipulate not only the obligation of the euro  area 
SSS operator to implement the provisions laid down in Section I I in 
its legal arrangements with the non-euro area EEA operator of t he inter­
mediary SSS, but also the obligation of the non-euro area EEA o perator 
of the intermediary SSS to implement the legal provisions laid down in 
Section II in its contractual or other arrangements with the no n-euro area 
EEA operator of the issuer SSS.  
(c) All euro area SSSs involved in the link are considered elig ible by the 
Eurosystem.  
(d) The NCB of the non-euro area EEA State in which the investo r SSS 
operates has committed to reporting information on the eligible  assets 
traded on domestic acceptable markets in a manner determined by  the 
Eurosystem.  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 144  
If the authorisation procedure laid down in Title III of Regula tion (EU) 
No 909/2014 in respect of any CSD operating the investor SSS, i ntermediary 
SSS or issuer SSS involved in a link has not been completed, po ints (a) 
to (d) do not apply. In this situation, links involving an SSS operated by 
such a CSD must instead be positively assessed under the ‘Frame work for 
the assessment of securities settlement systems and links to de termine their 
eligibility for use in Eurosystem credit operations’, January 2 014. 
II. EUROSYSTEM REQUIREMENTS  
1. In order to ensure legal soundness, an SSS operator must sat isfy the NCB of 
the Member State in which the respective SSS operates, by refer ence to 
binding legal documentation, whether in the form of a duly exec uted 
contract or by reference to the mandatory terms and conditions of the 
relevant SSS operator or otherwise, that:  
(a) the entitlement to securities held in an SSS operated by th at SSS 
operator, including to securities held through the links operat ed by the 
SSS operator (held in accounts maintained by the linked SSS ope rators), 
is governed by the law of an EEA State;  
(b) the entitlement of the participants in the SSS to securitie s held in that 
SSS is clear, unambiguous and ensures that the participants in the SSS 
are not exposed to the insolvency of that SSS operator;  
(c) where the SSS acts in the capacity of an issuer SSS, the en titlement of 
the linked investor SSS to securities held in the issuer SSS is  clear, 
unambiguous and ensures that the investor SSS and its participa nts are 
not exposed to the insolvency of the issuer SSS operator;  
(d) where the SSS acts in the capacity of an investor SSS, the entitlement of 
that SSS to the securities held in the linked issuer SSS is cle ar, unam­
biguous and ensures that the investor SSS and its participants are not 
exposed to the insolvency of the issuer SSS operator;  
(e) no lien or similar mechanism provided for under applicable law or 
contractual arrangements will have a negative impact on the NCB 's 
entitlement to the securities held in the SSS;  
(f) the procedure for allocating any shortfall of securities he ld in the SSS, in 
particular in the event of the insolvency of: (i) the SSS opera tor; (ii) any 
third party involved in safekeeping the securities; or (iii) an y linked 
issuer SSS, is clear and unambiguous;  
(g) the procedures to be followed in order to claim securities under the legal 
framework of the SSS are clear and unambiguous, including, wher e the 
SSS acts as an investor SSS, any formalities to be fulfilled to wards the 
linked issuer SSS.  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 145  
2. An SSS operator must ensure that when the SSS it operates ac ts as an 
investor SSS, securities transfers made via links will be final  within the 
meaning of Directive 98/26/EC of the European Parliament and of  the 
Council (  1 ), i.e. it is not possible to revoke, unwind, rescind or otherw ise 
undo such securities transfers.  
3. When the SSS that it operates acts as an issuer SSS, an SSS operator must 
ensure that it does not make use of a third-party institution, such as a bank or 
any party other than the SSS acting as intermediary between the  issuer and 
the issuer SSS, or the SSS operator must ensure that its SSS ha s a direct or 
relayed link with an SSS which has this (unique and direct) rel ationship.  
4. In order to utilise the links between SSSs used to settle ce ntral bank trans­
actions, facilities must be in place to allow either intraday d elivery-versus- 
payment settlement in central bank money or intraday free of pa yment (FOP) 
settlement, which may take the form of real-time gross settleme nt or a series 
of batch processes with intraday finality. Owing to the settlem ent features of 
TARGET2-Securities, this requirement is considered as already f ulfilled for 
direct and relayed links in which all SSSs involved in the link  are integrated 
in TARGET2-Securities.  
5. With regard to operating hours and opening days:  
(a) an SSS and its links must provide settlement services on al l TARGET2 
business days;  
(b) an SSS must operate during daytime processing as referred t o in 
Appendix V of Annex II to Guideline ECB/2012/27 (  2 ); 
(c) SSSs involved in direct links or relayed links must enable their 
participants to submit instructions for same-day delivery-versu s- 
payment settlement via the issuer and/or the intermediary SSS ( as 
applicable) to the investor SSS until at least 3.30 p.m. Centra l 
European Time (CET) (  3 ); 
(d) SSSs involved in direct links or relayed links must enable their 
participants to submit instructions for same-day FOP settlement  via the 
issuer or intermediary SSS (as applicable) to the investor SSS until at 
least 4 p.m. CET;  
(e) SSSs must have measures in place to ensure that the operati ng times 
specified in points (b) to (d) above are extended in the event of 
emergency.  
Owing to the settlement features of TARGET2-Securities, these r equirements 
are considered as already fulfilled for SSSs integrated in TARG ET-2 
Securities, and for direct and relayed links in which all SSSs involved in 
the link are integrated in TARGET2-Securities.  ▼M6 
( 1 ) Directive 98/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Coun cil of 19 May 1998 on 
settlement finality in payment and securities settlement system s (OJ L 166, 11.6.1998, 
p. 45). 
( 2 ) Guideline ECB/2012/27 of 5 December 2012 on a Trans-European Automated Real-time 
Gross settlement Express Transfer system (TARGET2) (OJ L 30, 30 .1.2013, p. 1). 
( 3 ) CET takes account of the change to Central European Summer Ti me.
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 146  
III. APPLICATION PROCEDURE  
1. Euro area SSS operators that intend for their services to be  used in Euro­
system credit operations should submit an application for an as sessment of 
eligibility to the NCB of the Member State in which the SSS is established.  
2. For links, including those involving a non-euro area EEA SSS , the operator 
of the investor SSS should submit the application for an assess ment of 
eligibility to the NCB of the Member State in which the investo r SSS 
operates.  
3. The Eurosystem may reject an application or, where the SSS o r link is 
already eligible, it may suspend or withdraw eligibility if:  
(a) one or more of the eligibility criteria provided for in Sec tion I are not 
met; 
(b) the use of the SSS or link could affect the safety and effi ciency of 
Eurosystem credit operations and expose the Eurosystem to the r isk of 
financial losses, or is otherwise deemed, on the grounds of pru dence, to 
pose a risk.  
4. The Eurosystem decision on the eligibility of an SSS or link  is notified to the 
SSS operator which submitted the application for an assessment of eligibility. 
The Eurosystem will provide reasons for any negative decision.  
5. The SSS or link may be used for Eurosystem credit operations  once it has 
been published in the Eurosystem lists of eligible SSSs and eli gible links on 
the ECB's website.  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 147  
ANNEX VII  
▼M6 
CALCULATION OF SANCTIONS TO BE APPLIED IN ACCORDANCE 
WITH PART FIVE AND FINANCIAL PENALTIES TO BE APPLIED IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH PART SEVEN  
I. CALCULATION OF FINANCIAL PENALTIES TO BE APPLIED IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH PART FIVE  
▼B 
1. Where a financial penalty is to be imposed by a national cen tral bank(NCB) 
on any of its counterparties in accordance with Part Five, the NCB shall 
calculate the penalty in accordance with a pre-specified penalt y rate, as 
follows.  
(a) For failure to comply with an obligation referred to in Art icle 154(1)(a), 
(b) or (c) a financial penalty is calculated using the marginal  lending 
facility rate that applied on the day when the non-compliance b egan plus 
2,5 percentage points.  
▼M4 
(b) For failure to comply with an obligation referred to in Art icle 154(1)(d) 
or (e), a financial penalty is calculated using the marginal le nding facility 
rate that applied on the day when the non-compliance began plus  5  
percentage points. For repeated infringements of the obligation  referred 
to in Article 154(1)(d) or of the obligation referred to in Art icle 154(1)(e) 
within a 12-month period, starting from the day of the first in fringement, 
the penalty rate increases by a further 2,5 percentage points f or each 
infringement.  
▼B 
2. For failure to comply with an obligation referred to in Arti cle 154(1)(a) or 
(b), a financial penalty is calculated by applying the penalty rate, in 
accordance with paragraph 1(a), to the amount of collateral or cash that 
the counterparty could not deliver or settle, multiplied by the  coefficient 
X/360, where X is the number of calendar days, with a maximum o f 
seven, during which the counterparty was unable to collateralis e or settle: 
(a) the allotted amount as specified in the certification of in dividual tender 
allotment results during the maturity of an operation; or (b) t he remaining 
amount of a particular operation if there are early termination s executed by 
the NCB over the remainder of the term of the operation.  
3. For failure to comply with an obligation referred to in Arti cle 154(1)(c), a 
financial penalty is calculated by applying the penalty rate, i n accordance 
with paragraph 1(a), to the value of the ineligible assets or t he assets that 
may not be mobilised or used by the counterparty after haircuts , as follows:  
(a) in the case of ineligible assets which are provided by the counterparty to 
an NCB, the value of the ineligible assets after haircuts are t aken into 
account; or  
(b) in the case of assets which were originally eligible but be came ineligible 
or may no longer be mobilised or used by the counterparty, the value 
after haircuts of the assets that have not been removed by or b efore the 
start of the eighth calendar day, following an event after whic h the 
eligible assets became ineligible or may no longer be mobilised  or 
used by the counterparty, are taken into account.  
4. The amounts referred to in paragraph 3(a) and (b) are multip lied by the 
coefficient X/360, where X is the number of calendar days, with  a  
maximum of seven, during which the counterparty failed to compl y with 
its obligations in respect of the use of assets submitted as co llateral for 
Eurosystem credit operations. In the case of paragraph 3(b), th e calculation 
of X begins after the expiry of the grace period of seven calen dar days.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 148  
[EUR [value of ineligible assets after haircuts on the first day of the 
infringement] * (the applicable marginal lending facility rate on the day when 
the infringement began + 2,5 %) * [X]/360 = EUR […]]  
5. For limit breaches as regards unsecured debt instruments iss ued by a credit 
institution or its closely linked entities as laid down in Arti cle 141, the 
application of a grace period is determined as follows:  
▼M4 
(a) A grace period of seven calendar days applies if the breach  resulted from 
a change in the valuation, without a submission of additional s uch 
unsecured debt instruments and without removal of assets from t he 
total collateral pool, on the basis of the following:  
(i) the value of those already submitted unsecured debt instrum ents has 
increased; or  
(ii) the total value of the collateral pool has decreased.  
In such cases the counterparty is required to adjust the value of its total 
collateral pool and/or the value of such unsecured debt instrum ents 
within the grace period, to ensure compliance with the applicab le limit.  
▼B 
(b) The submission of additional unsecured debt instruments iss ued by a 
credit institution or its closely linked entities breaching the  applicable 
limit does not entitle the counterparty to a grace period.  
▼M4 
6. If the counterparty has provided information that affects th e value of its 
collateral negatively from the Eurosystem's perspective with re gard to 
Article 145(4), e.g. incorrect information on the outstanding a mount of a 
used credit claim that is or has been false or out of date, or if the 
counterparty fails to timely provide information as required un der 
Article 101(a)(iv), the amount (value) of the collateral that h as been 
negatively affected is taken into account for the calculation o f the financial 
penalty under paragraph 3 and no grace period shall be applicab le. If the 
incorrect information is corrected within the applicable notifi cation period, 
e.g. for credit claims within the course of the next business d ay pursuant to 
Article 109(2), no penalty is to be applied.  
7. For failure to comply with the obligations referred to in Ar ticle 154(1)(d) or 
(e), a financial penalty is calculated by applying the penalty rate, in 
accordance with paragraph 1(b), to the amount of the counterpar ty's unauth­
orised access to the marginal lending facility or unpaid credit  from the 
Eurosystem.  
▼B 
8. An NCB will impose a minimum financial penalty of EUR 500 wh ere the 
calculation in accordance with this Annex results in an amount of 
less than EUR 500. A financial penalty will not be imposed wher e a 
breach is rectified within an applicable grace period.  
▼M6 
II. CALCULATION OF NON-FINANCIAL PENALTIES TO BE APPLIED IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH PART FIVE  
▼B 
Suspension for non-compliance with obligations referred to in 
Article 154(1)(a) or (b)  
9. Where a suspension period applies in accordance with Article  156(1), an 
NCB will impose the suspension in accordance with the following : 
(a) if the amount of non-delivered collateral or cash is up to 40 % of the 
total collateral or cash to be delivered, a suspension of one m onth 
applies;  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 149  
(b) if the amount of non-delivered collateral or cash is betwee n 40 % and 
80 % of the total collateral or cash to be delivered, a suspens ion of two 
months applies;  
(c) if the amount of non-delivered collateral or cash is betwee n 80 % and 
100 % of the total collateral or cash to be delivered, a suspen sion of 
three months applies.  
10. With regard to I and II above, if a sanction relates to a t ransaction between a 
counterparty and the ECB in a bilateral procedure, the above pr ovisions are 
interpreted to cater for the imposition of sanctions by the ECB . 
▼M6 
III. CALCULATION OF FINANCIAL PENALTIES TO BE APPLIED IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH PART SEVEN  
1. NCBs calculate the financial penalty pursuant to Article 166 (4a) in 
accordance with the following:  
(a) For failure to comply with an obligation referred to in Art icle 166(4a), 
the financial penalty is calculated using the marginal lending facility rate 
that applied on the day when the non-compliance began plus 2,5 
percentage points.  
(b) The financial penalty is calculated by applying the penalty  rate, in 
accordance with paragraph (a), to the amount of cash that the 
counterparty could not reimburse or pay, or to the value of the  assets 
which were not delivered, multiplied by the coefficient X/360, where X 
is the number of calendar days, with a maximum of seven, during  which 
the counterparty was unable to: (i) reimburse any amount of the  credit, 
pay the repurchase price or the cash otherwise due; or (ii) del iver the 
assets at maturity or when otherwise due according to the contr actual or 
regulatory arrangements.  
2. The following formula shall be used for the calculation of t he financial 
penalty in accordance with paragraph 1(a) and (b) above:  
[EUR [amount of cash that the counterparty could not reimburse or pay, or 
value of assets that the counterparty could not deliver] * (the  applicable 
marginal lending facility rate on the day when the non-complian ce began 
plus 2,5 percentage points) * [X]/360 (where X is the number of  calendar 
days during which the counterparty did not pay, reimburse or de liver) = 
EUR […]].  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 150  
ANNEX VIII  
LOAN-LEVEL DATA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR 
ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES AND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR 
LOAN-LEVEL DATA REPOSITORIES  
This Annex applies to the provision of comprehensive and standa rdised 
loan-level data on the pool of cash-flow generating assets back ing asset-backed 
securities (ABSs), as specified in Article 78, and sets out the  requirements for 
loan-level data repositories.  
▼B 
I. SUBMISSION OF LOAN-LEVEL DATA  
▼M7 
1. Loan-level data must be submitted by the relevant parties to  a loan-level data 
repository in accordance with this Annex. The loan-level data r epository 
publishes such data electronically.  
2. Loan-level data may be submitted for each individual transac tion using:  
(a) for transactions reported to an ESMA securitisation reposit ory, the 
relevant templates specified in the implementing technical stan dards 
adopted by the Commission under Article 7(4) of Regulation (EU)  
2017/2402; or  
(b) for transactions reported to a Eurosystem designated reposi tory, the 
up-to-date relevant ECB loan-level data reporting template, pub lished 
on the ECB's website.  
In each case, the relevant template to be submitted depends on the type of 
asset backing the ABS, as defined in Article 73(1).  
2a. Submission of loan-level data in accordance with paragraph 2(a) will 
commence at the beginning of the calendar month immediately fol lowing 
the date which is three months from the ESMA reporting activati on date.  
Submission of loan-level data in accordance with paragraph 2(b)  is permitted 
until the end of the calendar month in which the date three yea rs and three 
months from the ESMA reporting activation date falls.  
2b. Notwithstanding the second subparagraph of paragraph 2a, lo an-level data 
for an individual transaction must be submitted in accordance w ith paragraph 
2(a) where both:  
(a) the relevant parties to a transaction are obliged pursuant to Article 7(1)(a) 
and Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 to report loan-le vel data 
on the individual transaction to an ESMA securitisation reposit ory using 
the relevant templates specified in the implementing technical standards 
adopted by the Commission under Article 7(4) of that Regulation ; and  
(b) submissions of loan-level data in accordance with paragraph  2(a) have 
commenced.  ▼M7
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 151  
3. Loan-level data must be reported at least on a quarterly bas is, but no later 
than one month following a due date for the payment of interest  on the 
relevant ABSs. As regards the data submitted, the pool cut-off date may 
not be more than two months old, i.e. the ‘date of submission o f report’ less 
the ‘pool cut-off date’ must be less than two months. The ‘pool  cut-off date’ 
is defined as the date on which a snapshot of the performance o f the 
underlying assets was captured for the respective report.  
4. To ensure compliance with the requirements in paragraphs 2 a nd 3, the 
loan-level data repository conducts automated consistency and a ccuracy 
checks on reports of new and updated loan-level data for each t ransaction.  
II. LEVEL OF REQUIRED DETAIL  
1. After the date of application of loan-level data reporting r equirements for the 
specific class of cash-flow generating assets backing the ABSs as specified on 
the European Central Bank's (ECB's) website, detailed loan-by-l oan level 
information must be provided for ABSs to become or remain eligi ble. 
▼M9 
2. The ABSs for which the ECB’s loan-level data reporting templ ate is used 
must achieve a compulsory minimum compliance level of A1 data s core, 
assessed by reference to the availability of information, in pa rticular the 
data fields of the loan-level data reporting template, calculat ed in accordance 
with the methodology set out in Section III of this Annex. Notw ithstanding 
the required scoring values set out in Section III in respect o f loan-level data, 
the Eurosystem may accept as collateral ABSs for which the ECB’ s loan-level 
data reporting templates are used with a score lower than the r equired scoring 
value (A1), on a case-by-case basis and subject to the provisio n of adequate 
explanations for the failure to achieve the required score. For  each adequate 
explanation, the Eurosystem will specify a maximum tolerance le vel and a 
tolerance horizon, as further specified on the ECB’s website. T he tolerance 
horizon will indicate the time period within which the data qua lity for the 
ABSs must improve.  
▼M7 
3. To capture non-available fields, a set of six ‘no data’ (ND)  options are 
included in  ►M9 the ECB’s loan-level data reporting templates ◄ and 
must be filled in whenever particular data cannot be submitted in accordance 
with the loan-level data reporting template.  
▼M6 
Table 1  
Explanation of the ND options  
‘no data’ options Explanation  
ND1 Data not collected as not required by the underwriting crit eria 
ND2 Data collected on application but not loaded into the repor ting 
system on completion  
ND3 Data collected on application but loaded it on a separate s ystem 
from the reporting one  
ND4 Data collected but will only be available from MM-YYYY  
ND5 Not relevant  
ND6 Not applicable for the jurisdiction  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 152  
III. ►M9 ECB DATA SCORE METHODOLOGY ◄  
__________  
2. The loan-level data repository generates and assigns a score  to each ABS 
transaction upon submission and processing of loan-level data.  
▼B 
3. This score reflects the number of mandatory fields that cont ain ND1 and the 
number of mandatory fields that contain ND2, ND3 or ND4, compar ed in 
each case against the total number of mandatory fields. In this  regard, the 
options  ►M6 ND5 and ND6 ◄ may only be used if the relevant data fields 
in the relevant loan-level data reporting template so permit. C ombining the 
two threshold references produces the following range of loan-l evel data 
scores.  
Table 2  
Loan-level data scores  
Scoring value matrix ND1 fields  
0 ≤ 10 % ≤ 30 % > 30 %  
ND2 
or 
ND3 
or 
ND4 0 A1 B1 C1 D1  
≤ 20 % A2 B2 C2 D2  
≤ 40 % A3 B3 C3 D3  
> 40 % A4 B4 C4 D4  
▼M7 __________  
▼M4 
IV. ►M9 EUROSYSTEM DESIGNATION OF LOAN-LEVEL DATA 
REPOSITORIES ◄  
I. Requirements for designation  
▼M9 
1. In order to be designated by the Eurosystem, loan-level data  repositories 
must comply with the applicable Eurosystem requirements, includ ing open 
access, non-discrimination, coverage, appropriate governance st ructure and 
transparency.  
▼M4 
2. In relation to the requirements of open access and non-discr imination, a loan- 
level data repository:  
(a) may not unfairly discriminate between data users when provi ding access 
to loan-level data;  
(b) must apply criteria for access to loan-level data which are  objective, 
non-discriminatory and publicly available;  
(c) may only restrict access to the least possible extent so as  to meet the 
requirement of proportionality;  
(d) must establish fair procedures for instances where it denie s access to data 
users or data providers;  
(e) must have the necessary technical capabilities to provide a ccess to both 
data users and data providers in all reasonable circumstances, including 
data backup procedures, data security safeguards, and disaster recovery 
arrangements;  ▼M7
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 153  
(f) may not impose costs for data users for the supply or extra ction of 
loan-level data which are discriminatory or give rise to undue restrictions 
on access to loan-level data.  
3. In relation to the requirement of coverage, a loan-level dat a repository:  
▼M6 
(a) must establish and maintain robust technology systems and o perational 
controls to enable it to process loan-level data in a manner th at supports 
the Eurosystem's requirements for submission of and access to l oan-level 
data in relation to eligible assets subject to loan-level data disclosure 
requirements, as specified both in Article 78 and in this Annex . 
In particular, the loan-level data repository's technology syst em must 
allow data users to extract loan-level data, loan-level data sc ores and 
the timestamp of data submissions, through both manual and auto matic 
processes that cover all loan-level data submissions of all ABS  trans­
actions which have been submitted through that loan-level data 
repository and an extraction of multiple loan-level data files if required 
in one download request;  
▼M4 
(b) must credibly demonstrate to the Eurosystem that its techni cal and oper­
ational capacity would permit it to achieve substantial coverag e should it 
obtain designated loan-level data repository status.  
4. In relation to the requirements of an appropriate governance  structure and 
transparency, a loan-level data repository:  
(a) must establish governance arrangements that serve the inter ests of stake­
holders in the ABS market in fostering transparency;  
(b) must establish clearly documented governance arrangements, respect 
appropriate governance standards and ensure the maintenance and  
operation of an adequate organisational structure to ensure con tinuity 
and orderly functioning; and  
(c) must grant the Eurosystem sufficient access to documents an d supporting 
information in order to monitor, on an ongoing basis, the conti nued 
appropriateness of the loan-level data repository's governance structure.  
II. Procedures for designation and withdrawal of designation  
▼M7 
1. An application for designation by the Eurosystem as a loan-l evel data 
repository must be submitted to the ECB's Directorate Risk Mana gement. 
The application must provide appropriate reasoning and complete  supporting 
documentation demonstrating the applicant's compliance with the  
requirements for loan-level data repositories set out in this G uideline. The 
application, reasoning and supporting documentation must be pro vided in 
writing and, wherever possible, in electronic format. No applic ation for 
designation will be accepted after 13 May 2019. Any application  received 
prior to that date will be processed in accordance with this An nex. 
▼M4 
2. Within 25 working days of receipt of the application, the EC B will assess 
whether the application is complete. If the application is not complete, the 
ECB will set a deadline by which the loan-level data repository  is to provide 
additional information.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 154  
3. After assessing an application as complete, the ECB will not ify the 
loan-level data repository accordingly.  
▼M6 
4. The Eurosystem will, within a reasonable time frame (aiming for 60 working 
days of the notification referred to in paragraph 3), examine a n application 
for designation made by a loan-level data repository based on t he compliance 
of the loan-level data repository with the requirements set out  in this 
Guideline. As part of its examination, the Eurosystem may requi re the 
loan-level data repository to conduct one or more live interact ive demon­
strations with Eurosystem staff, to illustrate the loan-level d ata repository's 
technical capabilities in relation to the requirements set out in Section IV.I, 
paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Annex. If such a demonstration is re quired, it 
shall be considered a mandatory requirement of the application process. The 
demonstration may also include the use of test files.  
▼M4 
5. The Eurosystem may extend the period of examination by 20 wo rking days, 
in cases where additional clarification is deemed necessary by the Euro­
system or where a demonstration has been required in accordance  with 
paragraph 4.  
6. The Eurosystem will aim to adopt a reasoned decision to desi gnate or to 
refuse designation within 60 working days of the notification r eferred to in 
paragraph 3, or within 80 working days thereof where paragraph 5 applies.  
7. Within five working days of the adoption of a decision under  paragraph 6, 
the Eurosystem will notify its decision to the loan-level data repository 
concerned. Where the Eurosystem refuses to designate the loan-l evel data 
repository or withdraws the designation of the loan-level data repository, it 
will provide reasons for its decision in the notification.  
8. The decision adopted by the Eurosystem pursuant to paragraph  6 will take 
effect on the fifth working day following its notification purs uant to 
paragraph 7.  
9. A designated loan-level data repository must, without undue delay, notify the 
Eurosystem of any material changes to its compliance with the r equirements 
for designation.  
10. The Eurosystem will withdraw the designation of a loan-leve l data repository 
where the loan-level data repository:  
(a) obtained the designation by making false statements or by a ny other 
irregular means; or  
(b) no longer fulfils the requirements under which it was desig nated.  
11. A decision to withdraw the designation of a loan-level data  repository will 
take effect immediately. ABSs in relation to which loan-level d ata was made 
available through a loan-level data repository whose designatio n was 
withdrawn in accordance with paragraph 10 may remain eligible a s collateral 
for Eurosystem credit operations, providing all other requireme nts are 
fulfilled, for a period  
(a) until the next required loan-level data reporting date spec ified in Section 
I.4 of Annex VIII; or  
(b) if the period permitted under (a) is technically infeasible  for the party 
submitting loan-level data and a written explanation has been p rovided 
to the NCB assessing eligibility by the next required loan-leve l data 
reporting date specified in Section I.4 of Annex VIII, three mo nths 
following the decision under paragraph 10.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 155  
After the expiry of this period the loan-level data for such AB Ss must be 
made available through a designated loan-level data repository in accordance 
with all applicable Eurosystem requirements.  
12. The Eurosystem will publish on the ECB's website a list of loan-level data 
repositories designated in accordance with this Guideline. That  list will be 
updated within five working days following the adoption of a de cision under 
paragraph 6 or paragraph 10.  
▼M6 
IIa. Minimum information required for an application for designation to be 
deemed complete  
1. As regards the Eurosystem requirements of open access, non-d iscrimination, 
and transparency, applicants must provide information on the fo llowing:  
(a) detailed access criteria and any access restrictions to loa n-level data for 
data users, and details of and reasons for any variations in su ch access 
criteria and access restrictions for data users;  
(b) policy statements or other written description of the proce ss and criteria 
applied for granting a data user access to a specific loan-leve l data file, as 
well as further details, whether in such policy statements or o ther written 
description, of any technical or procedural safeguards that exi st to ensure 
non-discrimination.  
2. As regards the Eurosystem requirement of coverage, applicant s must provide 
information on the following.  
(a) The number of staff employed by the applicant in the area o f loan-level 
data repository services, the technical background of the staff  employed in 
and/or other resources dedicated to this area, and how the appl icant 
manages and retains the technical know-how of such staff and/or  other 
resources to ensure technical and operational continuity on a d aily basis 
despite any changes to staff or resources.  
(b) Up-to-date coverage statistics, including how many outstand ing ABSs 
eligible for Eurosystem collateral operations are currently hos ted by the 
applicant, including a breakdown of such ABSs based on geograph ical 
location of the debtors of the cash-flow generating assets and the type of 
cash-flow generating asset classes specified in Article 73(1). In the event 
that any asset class is not currently hosted by the applicant, information 
must be provided on the applicant's plans and the technical fea sibility to 
cover such asset class in the future.  
(c) The technical operation of the applicant's loan-level data repository 
system, including a written description of:  
(i) the user guide to its user interface, explaining how to acc ess, extract 
and submit loan-level data, from both a data user perspective a nd a 
data provider perspective;  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 156  
(ii) the current technical and operational capacity of the appl icant's 
repository system, such as how many ABS transactions can be 
stored in the system (and whether the system can easily be upsc aled), 
how loan-level data regarding historical ABS transactions are s tored 
and accessed by data users and data providers and any maximum 
limits for the number of loans that can be uploaded by a data 
provider in one ABS transaction;  
(iii) the applicant's current technical and operational capabil ities regarding 
the submission of data by data providers, i.e. the technical pr ocess by 
which the data provider can submit loan-level data and whether this 
is a manual or automatic process; and  
(iv) the applicant's current technical and operational capabili ties regarding 
the extraction of data by data users, i.e. the technical proces s by 
which the data user can extract loan-level data, whether this i s a 
manual or automatic process.  
(d) A technical description of:  
(i) the file formats submitted by data providers and accepted b y the 
applicant for the submission of loan-level data (Excel template  file, 
XML schemas, etc.), including an electronic soft copy of each s uch 
file format, and an indication of whether the applicant provide s tools 
for data providers to convert loan-level data into the file for mats 
accepted by the applicant;  
(ii) the applicant's current technical and operational capabili ties regarding 
the testing and validation documentation for the applicant's sy stem, 
including the calculation of the loan-level data compliance sco re; 
(iii) the frequency of updates and new releases of its system, and the 
maintenance policy and testing policy;  
(iv) the applicant's technical and operational capabilities to adapt to future 
Eurosystem loan-level data template updates, such as changes in  
current fields, and the addition or deletion of fields;  
(v) the applicant's technical capabilities regarding disaster r ecovery and 
business continuity, specifically with regard to the degree of 
redundancy of individual storage and backup solutions in its da ta 
centre and server architecture;  
(vi) a description of the applicant's current technical capabil ities regarding 
its internal control architecture in relation to loan-level dat a, 
including information system controls and data integrity.  
3. As regards the Eurosystem requirement of an appropriate gove rnance 
structure, applicants must provide the following:  
(a) details of its corporate status, i.e. its statute or articl es of association, and 
its shareholder structure;  
(b) information on the applicant's internal audit procedures (i f any), including 
the identity of those responsible for conducting such audits, w hether 
audits are externally verified and, if audits are conducted int ernally, 
what arrangements are taken to prevent or manage any conflicts of 
interest;  ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 157  
(c) information on how the applicant's governance arrangements serve the 
interests of ABS market stakeholders, in particular whether its  pricing 
policy is considered in the context of this requirement;  
(d) written confirmation that the Eurosystem will have access, on an ongoing 
basis, to the documentation necessary for it to monitor the con tinued 
appropriateness of the applicant's governance structure and com pliance 
with the governance requirements in paragraph 4 of Section IV.I . 
4. The applicant must provide a description of the following:  
(a) how the applicant calculates the data quality score, and ho w the score is 
published in the applicant's repository system and thereby made  available 
to data users;  
(b) the data quality checks carried out by the applicant, inclu ding the process, 
the number of checks and the list of fields checked;  
(c) the applicant's current capabilities regarding the reportin g of consistency 
and accuracy checks, i.e. how existing reports are produced by the 
applicant for data providers and data users, the ability of the  applicant's 
platform to build automated and custom reports according to dat a users' 
requests, and the ability of the applicant's platform to automa tically send 
notifications to data users and data providers (for example, no tifications of 
loan-level data having been uploaded for a particular transacti on). ▼M6
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 158  
ANNEX IX  
EUROSYSTEM CREDIT ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK 
PERFORMANCE MONITORING PROCESS  
1. For each credit assessment system, the Eurosystem credit ass essment 
framework (ECAF) performance monitoring process consists of an annual  
ex post  comparison of:  
(a) the observed default rates for all eligible entities and de bt instruments 
rated by the credit assessment system, whereby these entities a nd 
instruments are grouped into static pools based on certain char acteristics, 
e.g. credit rating, asset class, industry sector, credit qualit y assessment 
model; and  
(b) the maximum probability of default associated with the resp ective credit 
quality step of the Eurosystem's harmonised rating scale.  
2. The first element of the process is the annual compilation b y the credit 
assessment system provider of the list of entities and debt ins truments with 
credit quality assessments that satisfy the Eurosystem credit q uality 
requirements at the beginning of the monitoring period. This li st must then 
be submitted by the credit assessment system provider to the Eu rosystem, 
using the template provided by the Eurosystem, which includes i dentification, 
classification and credit quality assessment-related fields.  
3. The second element of the process takes place at the end of the 12-month 
monitoring period. The credit assessment system provider update s the 
performance data for the entities and debt instruments on the l ist. The Euro­
system reserves the right to request any additional information  required in 
order to conduct performance monitoring.  
4. The observed default rate of the static pools of a credit as sessment system 
recorded over a one-year horizon is input to the ECAF performan ce moni­
toring process, which comprises an annual rule and a multi-peri od assessment.  
5. In the event of a significant deviation between the observed  default rate of the 
static pools and the maximum probability of default of the rele vant credit 
quality step over an annual and/or a multi-annual period, the E urosystem 
will consult the credit assessment system provider to analyse t he reasons 
for that deviation.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 159  
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 specifie d in 
Article 120(2).  
1. COVERAGE REQUIREMENTS  
1. ►M6 Concerning current coverage, in each of at least three out of the 
four asset classes (a) unsecured bank bonds, (b) corporate bond s, (c) 
covered bonds and (d) ABS, the CRA must provide a minimum 
coverage of: ◄  
(i) 10 % in the eligible universe of euro area assets, computed  in terms of 
rated assets and rated issuers, except for the ABS asset class,  for 
which coverage in terms of rated assets only will apply;  
(ii) 20 % in the eligible universe of euro area assets, compute d in terms of 
nominal amounts outstanding;  
(iii) in at least 2/3 of the euro area countries with eligible assets in the 
respective asset classes, the CRA must provide the required cov erage 
of rated assets, rated issuers or rated nominal amounts as refe rred to in 
points (i) and (ii).  
2. The CRA must provide sovereign ratings for, at a minimum, al l euro area 
issuer residence countries where assets in one of the four asse t classes 
mentioned in paragraph 1 are rated by this CRA, with the except ion of 
assets for which the Eurosystem considers the respective countr y risk 
assessment to be irrelevant for the credit rating provided by t he CRA for 
the issue, issuer or guarantor.  
3. Concerning historical coverage, the CRA must meet at least 8 0 % of the 
minimum coverage requirements outlined in paragraphs 1 and 2 in  each of 
the last three years prior to the application for ECAF acceptan ce, and must 
meet 100 % of those requirements at the time of application and  during the 
entire period of ECAF acceptance.  
2. CALCULATION OF COVERAGE  
▼M9 
1. Coverage is calculated on the basis of credit ratings issued  or endorsed by 
the CRA in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 and mee ting 
all other requirements for ECAF purposes. For historical covera ge, only 
the Eurosystem collateral eligibility requirements that were in  force at the 
relevant point in time and only ratings that had been issued or  endorsed in 
accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 at the relevant po int in 
time will be considered.  
▼M4 
2. The coverage of a given CRA is based on credit ratings of el igible assets 
for Eurosystem monetary policy operations, and is computed in l ine with 
the priority rules under Article 84 by considering only that CR A's ratings.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 160  
3. In the calculation of the minimum coverage of a CRA not yet accepted 
for ECAF purposes, the Eurosystem also includes relevant credit  ratings 
provided for assets that are not eligible because of the lack o f a rating 
from ECAF-accepted external credit assessment institutions (ECA I). 
3. REVIEW OF COMPLIANCE  
1. The compliance of ECAIs accepted with these coverage require ments will 
be reviewed annually.  
2. Non-compliance with the coverage requirements may be sanctio ned in 
accordance with ECAF rules and procedures.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 161  
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 c overed bonds, 
with effect from 1 July 2017. In particular, ECAIs shall:  
(a) explain newly rated covered bond programmes in a publicly a vailable 
credit rating report; and  
(b) make surveillance reports on covered bond programmes availa ble on a 
quarterly basis.  
This Annex sets out these minimum requirements in detail.  
▼M7 
The requirements apply to issue ratings as referred to in Artic le 83 and 
therefore encompass all asset and programme ratings for eligibl e covered 
bonds. ECAIs' compliance with these requirements will be regula rly 
reviewed. If the criteria are not fulfilled for a particular co vered 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 no t be used to 
establish the credit quality requirements for marketable assets  issued under the 
specific covered bond programme.  
▼M4 
2. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS  
(a) The publicly available credit rating reports (new issue rep ort) referred to 
in paragraph 1(a) must include a comprehensive analysis of the structural 
and legal aspects of the programme, a detailed collateral pool assessment, 
an analysis of the refinancing and market risk, an analysis of the trans­
action participants, ECAI proprietary assumptions and metrics, and an 
analysis of any other relevant details of the transaction.  
(b) The surveillance reports referred to in paragraph 1(b) must  be published 
by the ECAI no later than eight weeks after the end of each qua rter. The 
surveillance reports must contain the following information.  
(i) Any ECAI proprietary metrics, including the latest availabl e 
dynamic proprietary metrics used in the determination of the 
rating. If the date to which the proprietary metrics refer diff ers 
from the publication date of the report, the date to which the 
proprietary metrics refer should be specified.  
(ii) A programme overview, to include, at a minimum, the outsta nding 
assets and liabilities, the issuer and other key transaction pa rties, the 
main collateral asset type, the legal framework to which the 
programme is subject, and the rating of the programme and the 
issuer.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 162  
(iii) Overcollateralisation levels, including current and commi tted 
overcollateralisation.  
(iv) The asset-liability profile, including the maturity type o f the covered 
bonds, e.g. hard bullet, soft bullet, or pass through, the weig hted 
average life of the covered bonds and of the cover pool and 
information on interest rate and currency mismatches.  
(v) Interest rate and currency swap arrangements existing at th e time of 
the publication of the report, including the swap counterparty names 
and, where available, their legal entity identifiers.  
▼M7 
(vi) The distribution of currencies, including a breakdown in t erms of 
value at the level of both the cover pool and the individual bo nds 
and including the percentage of euro-denominated assets and the  
percentage of euro-denominated bonds.  
(vii) Cover pool assets, including the asset balance, asset typ es, number 
and average size of loans, seasoning, maturity, loan-to-valuati on 
ratios, regional distribution and arrears distribution. As rega rds 
regional distributions, if the cover pool assets consist of loa ns orig­
inated in different countries, the surveillance report must, as  a  
minimum, present the distribution across countries and the 
regional distribution for the main country of origin.  
▼M4 
(viii) Cover pool substitute assets, including the asset balanc e. 
(ix) The list of all rated securities in the programme, identif ied by their 
international securities identification number (ISIN). This dis closure 
can also be made via a separate, downloadable file published on  the 
ECAI's website.  
(x) A list of data definitions and data sources used in the pro duction of 
the surveillance report. This disclosure can also be made via a  
separate file published on the ECAI's website.  
▼M7 
Surveillance reports for multi-cédulas must contain all the inf ormation 
required under points (i) to (x). In addition, these reports mu st include 
the list of the relevant originators and their respective share s in the 
multi-cédula. Asset-specific information must be reported eithe r directly 
in the multi-cédula's surveillance report or by reference to th e surveillance 
reports for each individual cédula rated by the ECAI.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 163  
ANNEX IXc  
ECAI ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA AND APPLICATION PROCESS  
This Annex sets out in detail the acceptance criteria for exter nal credit assessment 
institutions (ECAIs) and the process for a credit rating agency  (CRA) to apply to 
become accepted as an ECAI under the Eurosystem credit assessme nt 
framework (ECAF), as provided for in Article 120 of this Guidel ine. 
I. APPLICATION PROCESS FOR ACCEPTANCE AS AN ECAI UNDER 
THE ECAF  
1. An application by a CRA for acceptance as an ECAI under the ECAF 
must be submitted to the ECB’s Directorate Risk Management (DRM Se­
cretariat@ecb.europa.eu). The application must provide appropri ate 
reasoning and supporting documentation as set out in Section II , demon­
strating the applicant’s compliance with the requirements for E CAIs set 
out in this Guideline. The application, reasoning and supportin g docu­
mentation must be provided in writing in English, using any app licable 
templates and in electronic format.  
2. In the first stage of the application process, the CRA must demonstrate its 
compliance with the relevant coverage requirements set out in A rticle 120 
of and Annex IXa to this Guideline, as well as in this Annex, a nd, if the 
CRA’s application to be accepted under the ECAF was previously 
rejected by the Eurosystem, how it has addressed its previous 
non-compliance. The individual steps in this first stage are as  follows.  
(a) The CRA must provide to the ECB the documentation and 
information set out in Section II.1 below. The CRA may also 
provide any other information it considers relevant to demonstr ate 
its compliance with the relevant coverage requirements and, if 
applicable, how the CRA has remedied its previous non-complianc e. 
(b) The ECB will assess whether the documentation and informati on 
provided under Section II.1 is complete. If the information is not 
complete, the ECB will request the CRA to provide additional 
information.  
(c) In accordance with Section II.2, the ECB may request any su pple­
mental information necessary to commence its assessment of the 
CRA’s compliance with the relevant coverage requirements and, i f 
applicable, how the CRA has remedied its previous non-complianc e. 
(d) After the ECB has assessed an application as complete and a fter 
having requested and received any supplemental information, if 
necessary, the ECB will notify the CRA accordingly.  
(e) The ECB will assess whether the CRA complies with the relev ant 
coverage requirements set out in Article 120 of and Annex IXa t o this 
Guideline, as well as in this Annex, based on the information 
provided pursuant to Section II.1 and 2, taking both a quantita tive 
and qualitative perspective of the concept of coverage as furth er 
specified in Section III.2.  
(f) As part of its assessment of the CRA’s compliance with rele vant 
coverage requirements, the ECB may require the CRA to grant 
access to rating reports to illustrate the compliance of rating s with 
the ECAF requirements.  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 164  
(g) The ECB may request additional clarifications or informatio n from 
the CRA at any time during its assessment of the relevant cover age 
requirements and, if applicable, how the CRA has remedied its 
previous non-compliance.  
(h) The Eurosystem will adopt a reasoned decision on the CRA’s 
compliance with the relevant coverage requirements and, if 
applicable, how the CRA has remedied its previous 
non-compliance. It will notify its decision to the CRA concerne d. 
Where the Eurosystem decides that the CRA does not meet the 
relevant coverage requirements and/or, if applicable, has not 
remedied its previous non-compliance, it will provide reasons f or 
its decision in the notification.  
(i) Simultaneously with any decision notified to the CRA under 
point (h), the Eurosystem will notify the CRA of whether or not  it 
exercises its reserved right to decide not to initiate an ECAF 
acceptance procedure pursuant to Article 120(2) of this Guideli ne, 
that is, not to permit a CRA to proceed to the second stage of the 
application process. The Eurosystem will provide reasons for it s 
decision in the notification. To support such a decision, the E uro­
system may take into account, among other things, whether 
information provided by the CRA or derived from other sources 
raise material concerns that the CRA’s acceptance in the ECAF 
would prevent the efficient implementation of the ECAF or would  
not be in accordance with the principles of the risk control fu nction of 
the ECAF for the Eurosystem’s collateral framework.  
3. If the ECB decides that the CRA complies with the relevant c overage 
requirements and, where applicable, has remedied its previous 
non-compliance and the ECB decides to initiate an ECAF acceptan ce 
procedure, the CRA may proceed to the second stage of the appli cation 
process. In the second stage, the CRA must demonstrate its comp liance 
with all other relevant requirements set out in this Guideline.  The indi­
vidual steps in the second stage are as follows.  
(a) The CRA must provide to the ECB the documentation and 
information set out in Section II.3. The CRA may also provide a ny 
other information it considers relevant to demonstrate its comp liance 
with the requirements set out in this Guideline.  
(b) The ECB will assess whether the documentation and informati on 
provided in relation to Section II.3 is complete. If the inform ation 
is not complete, the ECB will request the CRA to provide additi onal 
information.  
(c) In accordance with Section II.4, the ECB may request any su pple­
mental information necessary to commence its assessment of the 
CRA’s compliance with the requirements set out in this Guidelin e. 
(d) After the ECB has assessed an application as complete and a fter 
having requested and received any supplemental information, if 
necessary, in relation to coverage, the ECB will notify the CRA  
accordingly.  
(e) The Eurosystem will assess whether the CRA complies with th e 
requirements set out in this Guideline based on the documentati on 
and information provided pursuant to Section II.3 and 4 and any  other 
relevant information available from other sources, including th e 
CRA’s website. It will conduct its assessment with a view to 
ensuring the efficient implementation of the ECAF, maintaining the 
Eurosystem’s requirement for high credit standards for eligible  assets 
and safeguarding the risk control function of the ECAF for the Euro­
system’s collateral framework.  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 165  
(f) As part of its assessment of the CRA’s capacity to fulfil t he criteria 
and rules of the ECAF performance monitoring process, the Euro­
system will apply the ECAF performance monitoring process 
described in Article 126 of this Guideline to the CRA’s ratings  
covering at least three years and preferably five years prior t o the 
application, in accordance with Section II.3 and Section III. T he 
Eurosystem may also assess the actual ratings of the CRA agains t 
other credit assessment systems, based on its experience and 
knowledge gained under the ECAF.  
(g) As part of its assessment, the Eurosystem may require the C RA to 
arrange for one or more on-site visits of Eurosystem staff at t he 
CRA’s premises and/or live meetings of the relevant CRA staff 
with Eurosystem staff at the ECB’s premises. If such a visit or  
meeting is required, it shall be considered a mandatory require ment 
of the application process.  
(h) As part of its assessment, the Eurosystem may require the C RA to 
grant access to rating reports to illustrate the compliance of asset 
ratings with the disclosure requirements set out in Annex IXb a nd 
the availability of information requirements in Article 120 and  further 
specified in Section III.3.  
(i) The Eurosystem may request additional clarifications or inf ormation 
from the CRA at any time during its assessment.  
(j) The Eurosystem will adopt a reasoned decision on the CRA’s 
compliance with the requirements set out in this Guideline and its 
acceptance as an ECAI in the ECAF. It will notify its decision to the 
CRA concerned. Where the ECB decides that the CRA does not meet  
the requirements set out in this Guideline and is not to be acc epted as 
an ECAI in the ECAF, it will provide reasons for its decision i n the 
notification.  
(k) If the Eurosystem decides to accept the CRA as an ECAI in t he 
ECAF, the ECB will also notify the CRA of the next steps 
required to integrate the CRA as an ECAI in the ECAF on an oper ­
ational level.  
II. INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR AN APPLICATION FOR ECAF 
ACCEPTANCE TO BE DEEMED COMPLETE  
1. As regards the first stage of the application process, a CRA  must provide 
the following information.  
(a) The CRA’s own estimates of its rating coverage.  
(b) A statement certified by the CRA attesting to its complianc e with all 
ECAF requirements contained in this Guideline for which it can 
assess its own compliance.  
(c) Disaggregated ratings data on a granular rating level to pe rmit the 
ECB to confirm the compliance of the CRA with the relevant 
coverage requirements. The ratings data must be submitted in th e 
applicable ECB templates available provided by the ECB and 
which contain instructions regarding the presentation of the da ta. 
The data must cover all asset, issuer and guarantor ratings tha t are 
eligible for ECAF purposes in accordance with this Guideline as  well 
as static information on the related assets, issuers and guaran tors as 
provided for in the templates.  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 166  
(d) Ratings data demonstrating the required rating coverage at the time of 
the application and in each of the three year’s prior to the ap plication, 
that is, 36 months prior to the application date. The ratings d ata must 
show the required coverage with data snapshots measured at ever y six 
month interval in the relevant 36 months preceding the applicat ion. 
(e) If the CRA’s application to be accepted under the ECAF was 
previously rejected by the Eurosystem, supporting documentation  
demonstrating how it has addressed its previous non-compliance.  
2. The ECB may request supplemental information, for example, t o demon­
strate the stability of a CRA’s coverage over time, the CRA’s r ating 
issuance practices and the quality of the CRA’s ratings during the 
relevant coverage period.  
3. As regards the second stage of the application process, a CR A must 
provide the following documentation and information:  
(a) A description of the CRA’s organisation, including its corp orate and 
ownership structure, its business strategy, in particular regar ding its 
strategy to maintain relevant coverage for ECAF purposes, and i ts 
rating process, in particular how rating committees are compose d and 
their decision-making processes.  
(b) All documents relevant to its rating methodologies, rating scale(s) and 
default definitions.  
(c) New issue, rating and surveillance reports related to ratin gs selected 
by the ECB.  
(d) The historical record of the CRA’s default events covering at least 
three years and preferably five years as well as the definition  of 
default used by the CRA, in order for the Eurosystem to perform  
an ex post  performance monitoring of the CRA in accordance with 
the performance monitoring framework. This will also form the b asis 
for mapping the ratings to the Eurosystem’s harmonised rating s cale. 
The submission must include:  
(i) global disaggregated data on all ratings, including those t hat are 
not ECAF-eligible, for example due to geographic or other 
restrictions;  
(ii) corresponding rating transition tables and default statist ics. 
The disaggregated ratings data must be submitted in the applica ble 
ECB templates available on the ECB’s website and which contain 
instructions regarding the presentation of the data. The data m ust 
cover all asset, issuer and guarantor ratings that are eligible  for 
ECAF purposes in accordance with this Guideline as well as stat ic 
information on the related assets, issuers and guarantors as pr ovided 
for in the templates.  
(e) Information on the operational aspects of how the Eurosyste m would 
be able to access and use the CRA’s ratings, including the CRA’ s 
data feed, fees and necessary contractual arrangements to acces s 
ratings.  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 167  
4. The ECB may request relevant supplemental information from t he CRA, 
such as in relation to the CRA’s ratings of assets, issuers and  guarantors 
which are not eligible under the ECAF, for example, due to geog raphical 
restrictions.  
III. ECAF ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA  
1. In order to be accepted in the ECAF, a CRA must comply with the 
applicable requirements in this Guideline, including relevant c overage 
so as to ensure the efficient implementation of the ECAF, opera tional 
criteria, the availability of information on ECAI credit assess ments and 
for the purposes of the performance monitoring processes and th e capacity 
to fulfil the criteria and rules of the ECAF performance monito ring 
process.  
2. In relation to the requirement of relevant coverage:  
(a) a CRA must comply with the coverage requirements specified in 
Annex IXa to this Guideline;  
(b) only ratings that were actually issued or endorsed by the C RA in 
accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 at the relevant 
point in time in the three years prior to the data of the appli cation 
are considered by the Eurosystem, retrospective ratings are not  
accepted;  
(c) the Eurosystem will take the stability of the relevant cove rage over 
time into account, including the pace of any increases or decre ases in 
such coverage.  
3. In relation to the availability of information on ECAI credi t assessments 
and for the purposes of the performance monitoring processes:  
(a) a CRA must ensure high levels of transparency in documents relevant 
to its rating methodologies and actual rating actions. The CRA must 
ensure that all information necessary to understand an ECAI cre dit 
assessment, such as rating or surveillance reports or other pub lications 
on its website, are readily accessible and comprehensible. If a  specific 
asset rating does not comply with applicable disclosure require ments, 
this renders it ineligible for ECAF purposes but it may be cons idered 
in the Eurosystem’s assessment of the transparency of the CRA’s  
general rating processes;  
(b) a CRA must ensure transparency in relation to its rating pr ocess and 
how it maintains sound rating issuance practices. All methodolo gical 
documents shall demonstrate a thorough expertise and the method ­
ologies should take into account all relevant information for t he 
purpose of issuing credit assessments. In this regard, the Euro system 
may analyse, among other things, the number of ratings issued p er 
analyst, the size, composition and expertise of members of the rating 
committee, the degree of independence of the rating committee f rom 
rating analysts, the frequency of rating reviews and the reason s for 
large issuances of ratings. The Eurosystem may take into accoun t any 
current and past supervisory measures against a CRA by ESMA 
pursuant to Article 24(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 in it s 
assessment of the reliability and quality of a CRA’s rating 
processes and practices;  
(c) a CRA must apply its methodologies consistently to its cred it ratings.  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 168  
4. In relation to a CRA’s capacity to fulfil the criteria and r ules of the ECAF 
performance monitoring process, the performance of the CRA’s ra tings 
and its default assignments must be consistent over time to (a)  ensure the 
appropriate mapping of the credit assessment information provid ed by the 
credit assessment system to the Eurosystem’s harmonised rating scale; 
and (b) to maintain the comparability of the results from the C RA’s 
credit assessments across the ECAF’s systems and sources. The C RA’s 
observed rating transition tables and default statistics should  be in line 
with the expected values based on the CRA’s own rating scales, because, 
as set out in Annex IX to this Guideline, deviations between ob served 
default rates and assigned probability of default can call into  question the 
quality of credit assessments, thus hampering the efficient imp lementation 
of the ECAF.  
5. In relation to the operational criteria:  
(a) a CRA must provide daily rating information to all Eurosyst em 
central banks in accordance with the format and distribution me thod 
required by the Eurosystem;  
(b) a CRA must ensure prompt access to relevant rating informat ion for 
the Eurosystem that is necessary for ECAF eligibility and on-go ing 
monitoring requirements, including press releases, new issue re ports, 
surveillance reports, information regarding rating coverage, in  a  
resource- and cost-efficient manner;  
(c) a CRA must be willing to enter into contractual arrangement s with 
the Eurosystem in the event of its acceptance in the ECAF with 
sufficient data access and reasonable access fees.  
6. All ECAF acceptance criteria must be fulfilled in order for a CRA to be 
accepted in the ECAF. As the application to be accepted in the ECAF 
requires a highly technical qualitative and quantitative assess ment, the 
Eurosystem may assess further relevant factors related to the r equirements 
of this Guideline on the ECAF, if necessary.  
IV. ECAF ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA FOR ECAIS AND COMPLIANCE 
OVER TIME  
1. The acceptance criteria for ECAIs must be fulfilled by CRAs at the time 
of their application for acceptance and at all times after thei r acceptance 
under the ECAF.  
2. The Eurosystem may apply measures pursuant to Article 126 of  this 
Guideline to a CRA that:  
(a) was accepted in the ECAF after making false statements or b y any 
other irregular means; or  
(b) no longer fulfils the acceptance criteria for the ECAF.  
When notifying the CRA of its decision to apply measures pursua nt 
Article 126, the Eurosystem will provide reasons for its decisi on. 
▼M3 __________  ▼M9
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 169  
ANNEX XI  
SECURITY FORMS  
On 13 June 2006 the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the n ew global 
notes (NGN) criteria for international global bearer form secur ities that would be 
eligible as collateral for Eurosystem credit operations from 1 January 2007. On 
22 October 2008 the ECB announced that international debt secur ities in global 
registered form issued after 30 September 2010, would only be e ligible as 
collateral for Eurosystem credit operations when the new safeke eping structure 
for international debt securities (NSS) is used.  
The following table summarises the eligibility rules for the di fferent forms of 
securities with the introduction of the NGN and NSS criteria.  
Table 1  
Eligibility rules for different security forms  
Global/individual Bearer/registered NGN/classic global 
note (CGN)/NSS Is the common 
safekeeper (CSK) an 
ICSD (*)? Eligible?  
Global Bearer NGN Yes Yes  
No No  
Global Bearer CGN N/A No, but those securities issued 
before 1 January 2007 will be 
grandfathered until maturity, 
plus any tap issues from 
1 January 2007 when the 
ISINs are fungible.  
Global Registered CGN N/A Bonds issued under this 
structure after 30 September 
2010 are no longer eligible.  
Global Registered NSS Yes Yes  
Individual Bearer N/A N/A Bonds issued under this 
structure after 30 September 
2010 are no longer eligible. 
Individual bearer notes issued 
on or before 30 September 
2010 are grandfathered until 
maturity.  
(*) Or, should it become applicable, in a positively assessed c entral securities depository  ▼M3
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 170  
ANNEX XII  
EXAMPLES OF EUROSYSTEM MONETARY POLICY OPERATIONS 
AND PROCEDURES  
List of examples  
Example 1 Liquidity-providing reverse transaction by fixed rate  tender  
Example 2 Liquidity-providing reverse transaction by variable r ate tender  
Example 3 Issuance of European Central Bank (ECB) debt certific ates by 
variable rate tender  
Example 4 Liquidity-absorbing foreign exchange swap by variable  rate 
tender  
Example 5 Liquidity-providing foreign exchange swap by variable  rate 
tender  
Example 6 Risk control measures  
I. EXAMPLE 1: LIQUIDITY-PROVIDING REVERSE TRANSACTION BY 
FIXED RATE TENDER  
1. The ECB decides to provide liquidity to the market by means of a reverse 
transaction organised with a fixed rate tender procedure.  
2. Three counterparties submit the following bids:  
Counterparty Bid (EUR million)  
Bank 1 30  
Bank 2 40  
Bank 3 70  
Total  140  
3. The ECB decides to allot a total of EUR 105 million.  
4. The percentage of allotment is:  
105 
ð30 þ 40 þ 70Þ ¼ 75%  
5. The allotment to the counterparties is:  
Counterparty Bid (EUR million) Allotment (EUR million)  
Bank 1 30 22,5  
Bank 2 40 30,0  
Bank 3 70 52,5  
Total  140 105,0  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 171  
II. EXAMPLE 2: LIQUIDITY-PROVIDING REVERSE TRANSACTION BY 
VARIABLE RATE TENDER  
1. The ECB decides to provide liquidity to the market by means of a reverse 
transaction organised with a variable rate tender procedure.  
2. Three counterparties submit the following bids:  
Amount (EUR million)  
Interest rate (%) Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total bids Cumulative 
bids 
3,15 0 0  
3,10 5 5 10 10  
3,09 5 5 10 20  
3,08 5 5 10 30  
3,07 5 5 10 20 50  
3,06 5 10 15 30 80  
3,05 10 10 15 35 115  
3,04 5 5 5 15 130  
3,03 5 10 15 145  
Total  30 45 70 145  
3. The ECB decides to allot EUR 94 million, implying a marginal  interest rate 
of 3,05 %.  
4. All bids above 3,05 % (for a cumulative amount of EUR 80 mil lion) are 
fully satisfied. At 3,05 % the percentage of allotment is:  
94 Ä 80 
35 ¼ 40%  
5. The allotment to Bank 1 at the marginal interest rate is, fo r example:  
0,4 × 10 = 4  
6. The total allotment to Bank 1 is:  
5 + 5 + 4 = 14  
7. The allotment results can be summarised as follows:  
Amount (EUR million)  
Counterparties Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total  
Total bids  30,0 45,0 70,0 145  
Total allotment  14,0 34,0 46,0 94  
8. If the allotment procedure follows a single rate (Dutch) auc tion, the interest 
rate applied to the amounts allotted to the counterparties is 3 ,05 %.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 172  
9. If the allotment procedure follows a multiple rate (American ) auction, no 
single interest rate is applied to the amounts allotted to the counterparties; for 
example, Bank 1 receives EUR 5 million at 3,07 %, EUR 5 million  at 
3,06 % and EUR 4 million at 3,05 %.  
III. EXAMPLE 3: ISSUANCE OF ECB DEBT CERTIFICATES BY 
VARIABLE RATE TENDER  
1. The ECB decides to absorb liquidity from the market by issui ng debt 
certificates using a variable rate tender procedure.  
2. Three counterparties submit the following bids:  
Amount (EUR million)  
Interest rate (%) Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total Cumulative bids  
3,00 0 0  
3,01 5 5 10 10  
3,02 5 5 5 15 25  
3,03 5 5 5 15 40  
3,04 10 5 10 25 65  
3,05 20 40 10 70 135  
3,06 5 10 10 25 160  
3,08 5 10 15 175  
3,10 5 5 180  
Total  55 70 55 180  
3. The ECB decides to allot a nominal amount of EUR 124,5 milli on, implying 
a marginal interest rate of 3,05 %.  
4. All bids below 3,05 % (for a cumulative amount of EUR 65 mil lion) are 
fully satisfied. At 3,05 % the percentage of allotment is:  
124,5 Ä 65 
70 ¼ 85%  
5. The allotment to Bank 1 at the marginal interest rate is, fo r example:  
0,85 × 20 = 17  
6. The total allotment to Bank 1 is:  
5 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 17 = 42  
7. The allotment results can be summarised as follows:  
Amount (EUR million)  
Counterparties Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total  
Total bids  55,0 70,0 55,0 180,0  
Total allotment  42,0 49,0 33,5 124,5  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 173  
IV. EXAMPLE 4: LIQUIDITY-ABSORBING FOREIGN EXCHANGE SWAP 
BY VARIABLE RATE TENDER  
1. The ECB decides to absorb liquidity from the market by execu ting a foreign 
exchange swap on the EUR/USD rate by means of a variable rate t ender 
procedure. (Note: The euro is traded at a premium in this examp le.) 
2. Three counterparties submit the following bids:  
Amount (EUR million)  
Swap points 
(× 10 000) Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total Cumulative 
bids 
6,84 0 0  
6,80 5 5 10 10  
6,76 5 5 5 15 25  
6,71 5 5 5 15 40  
6,67 10 10 5 25 65  
6,63 25 35 40 100 165  
6,58 10 20 10 40 205  
6,54 5 10 10 25 230  
6,49 5 5 235  
Total  65 90 80 235  
3. The ECB decides to allot EUR 158 million, implying 6,63 marg inal swap 
points. All bids above 6,63 (for a cumulative amount of EUR 65 million) are 
fully satisfied. At 6,63 the percentage of allotment is:  
158 Ä 65 
100 ¼ 93%  
4. The allotment to Bank 1 at the marginal swap points is, for example:  
0,93 × 25 = 23,25  
5. The total allotment to Bank 1 is:  
5 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 23,25 = 48,25  
6. The allotment results can be summarised as follows:  
Amount (EUR million)  
Counterparties Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total  
Total bids  65,0 90,0 80,0 235,0  
Total allotment  48,25 52,55 57,20 158,0  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 174  
7. The ECB fixes the spot EUR/USD exchange rate for the operati on at 1,1300.  
8. If the allotment procedure follows a single rate (Dutch) auc tion, at the start 
date of the operation the Eurosystem buys EUR 158 000 000 and s ells USD 
178 540 000. At the maturity date of the operation, the 
Eurosystem sells EUR 158 000 000 and buys USD 178 644 754 (the 
forward exchange rate is 1,130663 = 1,1300 + 0,000663).  
9. If the allotment procedure follows a multiple rate (American ) auction, the 
Eurosystem exchanges the amounts of euro and US dollars shown i n the 
following table:  
Spot transaction Forward transaction  
Exchange rate Buy EUR Sell USD Exchange rate Sell EUR Buy USD  
1,1300 1,130684  
1,1300 10 000 000 11 300 000 1,130680 10 000 000 11 306 800  
1,1300 15 000 000 16 950 000 1,130676 15 000 000 16 960 140  
1,1300 15 000 000 16 950 000 1,130671 15 000 000 16 960 065  
1,1300 25 000 000 28 250 000 1,130667 25 000 000 28 266 675  
1,1300 93 000 000 105 090 000 1,130663 93 000 000 105 151 659  
1,1300 1,130658  
1,1300 1,130654  
1,1300 1,130649  
Total  158 000 000 178 540 000 158 000 000 178 645 339  
V. EXAMPLE 5: LIQUIDITY-PROVIDING FOREIGN EXCHANGE SWAP 
BY VARIABLE RATE TENDER  
1. The ECB decides to provide liquidity to the market by execut ing a foreign 
exchange swap on the EUR/USD rate by means of a variable rate t ender 
procedure. (Note: The euro is traded at a premium in this examp le.) 
2. Three counterparties submit the following bids:  
Amount (EUR million)  
Swap points 
(× 10 000) Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total Cumulative 
bids 
6,23 
6,27 5 5 10 10  
6,32 5 5 10 20  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 175  
Amount (EUR million)  
Swap points 
(× 10 000) Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total Cumulative 
bids 
6,36 10 5 5 20 40  
6,41 10 10 20 40 80  
6,45 20 40 20 80 160  
6,49 5 20 10 35 195  
6,54 5 5 10 20 215  
6,58 5 5 220  
Total  60 85 75 220  
3. The ECB decides to allot EUR 197 million, implying 6,54 marg inal swap 
points. All bids below 6,54 (for a cumulative amount of EUR 195  million) 
are fully satisfied. At 6,54 the percentage of allotment is:  
197 Ä 195 
20 ¼ 10%  
4. The allotment to Bank 1 at the marginal swap points is, for example:  
0,10 × 5 = 0,5  
5. The total allotment to Bank 1 is:  
5 + 5 + 10 + 10 + 20 + 5 + 0,5 = 55,5  
6. The allotment results can be summarised as follows:  
Amount (EUR million)  
Counterparties Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Total  
Total bids  60,0 85,0 75,0 220  
Total allotment  55,5 75,5 66,0 197  
6. The ECB fixes the spot EUR/USD exchange rate for the operati on at 1,1300.  
7. If the allotment procedure follows a single rate (Dutch) auc tion, at the start 
date of the operation the Eurosystem sells EUR 197 000 000 and buys USD 
222 610 000. At the maturity date of the operation, the 
Eurosystem buys EUR 197 000 000 and sells USD 222 738 838 (the 
forward exchange rate is 1,130654 = 1,1300 + 0,000654).  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 176  
8. If the allotment procedure follows a multiple rate (American ) auction, the 
Eurosystem exchanges the amounts of euro and US dollars shown i n the 
following table:  
Spot transaction Forward transaction*  
Exchange rate Sell EUR Buy USD Exchange rate Buy EUR Sell USD  
1,1300 1,130623  
1,1300 10 000 000 11 300 000 1,130627 10 000 000 11 306 270  
1,1300 10 000 000 11 300 000 1,130632 10 000 000 11 306 320  
1,1300 20 000 000 22 600 000 1,130636 20 000 000 22 612 720  
1,1300 40 000 000 45 200 000 1,130641 40 000 000 45 225 640  
1,1300 80 000 000 90 400 000 1,130645 80 000 000 90 451 600  
1,1300 35 000 000 39 550 000 1,130649 35 000 000 39 572 715  
1,1300 2 000 000 2 260 000 1,130654 2 000 000 2 261 308  
1,1300 1,130658  
Total  197 000 000 222 610 000 197 000 000 222 736 573  
VI. EXAMPLE 6: RISK CONTROL MEASURES  
1. This example illustrates the risk control framework applied to assets 
mobilised as collateral in the Eurosystem credit operations. It  is based on 
the assumption that, in the calculation of the need for a margi n call, accrued 
interest on the liquidity provided is taken into account and a trigger point of 
0,5 % of the liquidity provided is applied. The example is base d on the 
assumption that a counterparty participates in the following Eu rosystem 
monetary policy operations:  
(a) a main refinancing operation starting on 30 July 2014 and e nding on 
6 August 2014 where the counterparty is allotted EUR 50 million  at an 
interest rate of 0,15 %;  
(b) a longer-term refinancing operation starting on 31 July 201 4 and ending 
on 23 October 2014 where the counterparty is allotted EUR 45 mi llion 
at an interest rate of 0,15 %;  
(c) a main refinancing operation starting on 6 August 2014 and ending on 
13 August 2014 where the counterparty is allotted EUR 35 millio n at an 
interest rate of 0,15 %.  
2. The characteristics of the marketable assets mobilised by th e counterparty to 
cover these operations are specified in Table 1.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 177  
Table 1  
Marketable assets mobilised in the transactions  
Characteristics  
Name Asset class Maturity date Coupon defi­
nition Coupon 
frequency Residual 
maturity Haircut  
Asset A  ►M9 Jumbo 
covered 
bond ◄ 30.8.2018 Fixed rate 6 months 4 years 2,50 %  
Asset B Central 
government 
bond 19.11.2018 Variable rate 12 months 4 years 0,50 %  
Asset C Corporate bond 12.5.2025 Zero coupon 
rate > 10 years 13,00 %  
Prices in percentages (including accrued interest) (*)  
30.7.2014 31.7.2014 1.8.2014 4.8.2014 5.8.2014 6.8.2014 7.8.201 4 
101,61 101,21 99,50 99,97 99,73 100,01 100,12  
98,12 97,95 98,15 98,56 98,59 98,57  
53,71 53,62  
(*) The prices shown for a specific valuation date correspond t o the most representative price on the business day preceding t his 
valuation date.  
▼B 
EARMARKING SYSTEM  
First, it is assumed that the transactions are carried out with  a national central 
bank (NCB) using a system where underlying assets are earmarked  for each 
transaction. The valuation of assets mobilised as collateral is  carried out on a 
daily basis. The risk control framework can then be described a s follows (see 
also Table 2 below):  
▼M4 
1. On 30 July 2014, the counterparty enters into a repurchase t ransaction with 
the NCB, which purchases EUR 50,6 million of Asset A. Asset A i s a 
►M9 jumbo covered bond ◄ with a fixed coupon maturing on 
30 August 2018 and allocated to credit quality step 1-2. It thu s has a 
residual maturity of four years, therefore requiring a valuatio n haircut of 
2,5 %. The market price of Asset A on its reference market on t hat day is 
101,61 %, which includes the accrued interest on the coupon. Th e 
counterparty is required to provide an amount of Asset A, which , after 
deduction of the 2,5 % valuation haircut, exceeds the allotted amount of 
EUR 50 million. The counterparty therefore delivers Asset A for  a  
nominal amount of EUR 50,6 million, the adjusted market value o f which 
is EUR 50 129 294 on that day.  
▼B 
2. On 31 July 2014, the counterparty enters into a repurchase t ransaction with 
the NCB, which purchases EUR 21 million of Asset A (market pric e 
101,21 %, valuation haircut 2,5 %) and EUR 25 million of Asset B 
(market price 98,02 %). Asset B is a central government bond wi th 
variable rate coupon payments and allocated to credit quality s tep 1-2, to 
which a 0,5 % valuation haircut is applied. The adjusted market  value of 
Asset A and Asset B on that day is EUR 45 130 098, thus exceedi ng the 
required amount of EUR 45 000 000.  ▼M4
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 178  
3. On 31 July 2014, the assets underlying the main refinancing operation 
initiated on 30 July 2014 are revalued. With a market price of 101,21 %, 
the haircut-adjusted market value of Asset A is still within th e lower and 
upper trigger amounts. The collateral that was mobilised initia lly is 
consequently considered to cater for both the initial amount of  liquidity 
provided and the accrued interest amounting to EUR 208.  
4. On 1 August 2014, the underlying assets are revalued: the ma rket price of 
Asset A is 99,50 % and the market price of Asset B is 97,95 %. Accrued 
interest amounts to EUR 417 on the main refinancing operation i nitiated on 
30 July 2014 and EUR 188 on the longer-term refinancing operati on initiated 
on 31 July 2014. As a result, the adjusted market value of Asse t A in the 
first transaction falls below the transaction's amount to be co vered, i.e. the 
liquidity provided plus the accrued interest, by EUR 912 092, b ut also below 
the lower trigger level of EUR 49 750 415. The counterparty del ivers EUR 
950 000 of Asset A in nominal value terms, which, after deducti ng a 2,5 % 
haircut from the market value based on a price of 99,50 %, rest ores 
sufficient collateral coverage. NCBs may perform margin calls i n cash 
rather than securities.  
A margin call is also needed on the second transaction since th e adjusted 
market value of the underlying assets used in this transaction (EUR 
44 737 688) is below the lower trigger level (EUR 44 775 187). The 
counterparty therefore provides EUR 270 000 of Asset B with an adjusted 
market value of EUR 263 143.  
5. On 4 and 5 August 2014, the underlying assets are revalued, without 
resulting in any margin call for the transactions entered into on 30 and 
31 July 2014.  
6. On 6 August 2014, the counterparty repays the liquidity prov ided under the 
main refinancing operation initiated on 30 July 2014, including  the accrued 
interest of EUR 1 458. The NCB returns EUR 51 550 000 of Asset A in 
nominal value.  
On the same day the counterparty enters into a new repurchase t ransaction 
with the NCB, which purchases EUR 75 million of Asset C in nomi nal value 
terms. Since Asset C is a zero coupon corporate bond with a res idual 
maturity of more than 10 years and allocated to credit quality step 1-2, 
requiring a valuation haircut of 13 %, the corresponding haircu t-adjusted 
market value on that day is of EUR 35 045 775. The revaluation of assets 
underlying the long-term refinancing operation initiated on 31 July 2014 
reveals that the adjusted market value of the assets provided e xceeds the 
upper trigger level and leads to the NCB returning EUR 262 000 of Asset B 
in nominal value to the counterparty. If a margin had to be pai d to the 
counterparty by the NCB in relation to the second transaction, such a 
margin could, in certain cases, be netted out with the margin p aid to the 
NCB by the counterparty in relation to the first transaction. A s a result, there 
would only be one margin settlement.  
POOLING SYSTEM  
Second, it is assumed that the transactions are carried out wit h an NCB using a 
pooling system where assets included in the pool of assets used  by the 
counterparty are not earmarked for specific transactions:  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 179  
1. The same sequence of transactions is used in this example as  in the above 
example illustrating an earmarking system. The main difference is that, on the 
revaluation dates, the adjusted market value of all the assets in the pool has to 
cover the total amount of all of the counterparty's outstanding  operations with 
the NCB. The margin call of EUR 1 174 592 occurring on 1 August  2014 is 
identical in this example to the one required in the earmarking  system case. 
The counterparty delivers EUR 1 300 000 of Asset A in nominal v alue terms, 
which, after deducting a 2,5 % haircut from the market value ba sed on a price 
of 99,50 %, restores sufficient collateral coverage.  
2. Moreover, on 6 August 2014, when the main refinancing operat ion entered 
into on 30 July 2014 matures, the counterparty may keep the ass ets on its 
pool account. An asset can also be exchanged for another asset as shown in 
the example, where EUR 51,9 million of Asset A in nominal value  are 
replaced with EUR 75,5 million of Asset C in nominal value to c over the 
liquidity provided and the accrued interest under all refinanci ng operations.  
3. The risk control framework in the pooling system is describe d in Table 3.  ▼B
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 180
 ▼B 
Table 2  
Earmarking System  
Date Outstanding 
transactions Start date End date Interest rate Liquidity 
provided Accrued interest Total amount to 
be covered Lower trigger 
amount Upper trigger 
amount Adjusted market 
value Margin call  
30.7.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 — 50 000 000 49 750 000 50 2 50 000 50 129 294 —  
31.7.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 208 50 000 208 49 750 207 50  250 209 49 931 954 —  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 — 45 000 000 44 775 000 45  225 000 45 130 098 —  
1.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 417 50 000 417 49 750 415 50  250 419 49 088 325 – 912 092  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 188 45 000 188 44 775 187 45 225 188 44 737 688 – 262 500  
4.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 1 042 50 001 042 49 751 036 50 251 047 50 246 172 —  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 750 45 000 750 44 775 746 45 225 754 45 147 350 —  
5.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 1 250 50 001 250 49 751 244 50 251 256 50 125 545 —  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 938 45 000 938 44 775 933 45 225 942 45 201 299 —
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 181
 ▼B 
Date Outstanding 
transactions Start date End date Interest rate Liquidity 
provided Accrued interest Total amount to 
be covered Lower trigger 
amount Upper trigger 
amount Adjusted market 
value Margin call  
6.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 6.8.2014 13.8.2014 0,15 35 000 000 — 35 000 000 34 825 000 35 1 75 000 35 045 775 —  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 1 125 45 001 125 44 776 11 9 45 226 131 45 266 172 265 047  
7.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 6.8.2014 13.8.2014 0,15 35 000 000 146 35 000 146 34 825 145 35  175 147 34 987 050 —  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 1 313 45 001 313 44 776 30 6 45 226 319 45 026 704 —
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 182
 ▼B 
Table 3  
Pooling System  
Date Outstanding 
transactions Start date End date Interest rate Liquidity 
provided Accrued interest Total amount to 
be covered Lower trigger 
amount (*) Upper trigger 
amount (**) Adjusted market 
value Margin call  
30.7.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 — 50 000 000 49 750 000 Not applicable 50 129 294 —  
31.7.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 208 95 000 208 94 525 207 No t applicable 95 062 051 —  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 —  
1.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 417 95 000 604 94 525 601 No t applicable 93 826 013 – 1 174 592  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 188  
4.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 1 042 95 001 792 94 526 783 Not applicable 95 470 989 —  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 750  
5.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 30.7.2014 6.8.2014 0,15 50 000 000 1 250 95 002 188 94 527 177 Not applicable 95 402 391 —
 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 183
 ▼B 
Date Outstanding 
transactions Start date End date Interest rate Liquidity 
provided Accrued interest Total amount to 
be covered Lower trigger 
amount (*) Upper trigger 
amount (**) Adjusted market 
value Margin call  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 938  
6.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 6.8.2014 13.8.2014 0,15 35 000 000 — 80 001 125 79 601 119 Not applicable 80 280 724 —  
Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 1 125  
7.8.2014 Main refi­
nancing 6.8.2014 13.8.2014 0,15 35 000 000 146 80 001 458 79 601 451 No t applicable 80 239 155 —  
30.7.2014 Longer-term 
refinancing 31.7.2014 29.10.2014 0,15 45 000 000 1 313  
(*) In a pooling system, the lower trigger amount is the lowest  threshold for margin calls. In practice most NCBs require addi tional collateral whenever the haircut adjusted market value of  the collateral pool falls below 
the total amount to be covered. 
(**) In a pooling system, the notion of upper trigger amount is  not relevant, since the counterparty will constantly target an  excess amount of collateral provided in order to minimise oper ational transactions.
ANNEX XIIa  
An entity that is considered an agency as defined in point (2) of Article 2 of this 
Guideline must fulfil the following quantitative criteria in or der for its eligible 
marketable assets to be allocated to haircut category II as set  out in Table 1 of 
the Annex to Guideline (EU) 2016/65 (ECB/2015/35):  
(a) the average of the sum of the nominal values outstanding of  all eligible 
marketable assets issued by the agency is at least EUR 10 billi on over the 
reference period; and  
(b) the average of the sum of the nominal values of all eligibl e marketable assets 
with a nominal value outstanding of at least EUR 500 million is sued by the 
agency over the reference period results in a share equal to 50  % or more of 
the average of the sum of nominal value outstanding of all elig ible 
marketable assets issued by that agency over the reference peri od. 
Compliance with these quantitative criteria is assessed on an a nnual basis by 
calculating, in each given year, the relevant average over a on e-year reference 
period starting on 1 August of the previous year and ending on 31 July of the 
current year.  ▼M7 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 184
 
ANNEX XIII  
CORRELATION TABLE  
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 1(1)  
Article 1(2) Article 1  
Article 1(3) Introduction  
Article 1(4) Section 1.6  
Article 1(5) Article 2  
Article 2(1) Appendix 2  
Article 2(2) Section 6.4.2  
Article 2(3) Appendix 2  
Article 2(4) Section 5.2.1, Appendix 2  
Article 2(5) Appendix 2  
Article 2(6) Annex II, Section II  
Article 2(7) Appendix 2  
Article 2(8) Section 3.1.1.2  
Article 2(9) Appendix 2  
Article 2(10)  
Article 2(11) Appendix 2  
Article 2(12)  
Article 2(13) Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 2(14) Appendix 2  
Article 2(15) Appendix 2  
Article 2(16) Section 6.6  
Article 2(17) Appendix 2  
Article 2(18) Appendix 2  
Article 2(19) Annex II, Point 20  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 185
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 2(20) Appendix 2  
Article 2(21) Appendix 2  
Article 2(22) Appendix 2  
Article 2(23)  
Article 2(24) Appendix 2  
Article 2(25)  
Article 2(26) Appendix 2  
Article 2(27) Article 3(2)(b)(ii)(d)  
Article 2(28) Article 10  
Article 2(29) Appendix 2  
Article 2(30) Section 4.1.3, Appendix 2  
Article 2(31)  
Article 2(32)  
Article 2(33)  
Article 2(34) Appendix 2  
Article 2(35)  
Article 2(36) Appendix 2  
Article 2(37)  
Article 2(38)  Section 5.1.1.3, Appendix 2  
Article 2(39) Section 6.4.2  
Article 2(40) Section 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 
Appendix 2  
Article 2(41) Section 6.6.1  
Article 2(42)  
Article 2(43)  
Article 2(44)  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 186
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 2(45) Appendix 2  
Article 2(46) Appendix 2  
Article 2(47)  
Article 2(48) Section 6.4.2  
Article 2(49)  
Article 2(50) Appendix 2  
Article 2(51) Appendix 2  
Article 2(52) Appendix 2  
Article 2(53) Appendix 2  
Article 2(54) Appendix 2  
Article 2(55) Appendix 2  
Article 2(56) Appendix 2  
Article 2(57)  
Article 2(58) Appendix 2  
Article 2(59)  
Article 2(60) Appendix 2  
Article 2(61)  
Article 2(62)  
Article 2(63)  
Article 2(64)  Section 5.1.5.4, Appendix 2  
Article 2(65)  
Article 2(66) Appendix 2  
Article 2(67) Appendix 2  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 187
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 2(68)  
Article 2(69) Section 6.2.1.3  
Article 2(70) Section 6.2.2  
Article 2(71) Section 6.4.2  
Article 2(72) Section 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 
Appendix 2  
Article 2(73) Appendix 2  
Article 2(74)  
Article 2(75)  
Article 2(76) Appendix 2  
Article 2(77)  Section 3.1.1.2, Appendix 2  
Article 2(78) Appendix 2  
Article 2(79) Appendix 2  
Article 2(80) Section 3.1.1.1  
Article 2(81) Appendix 2  
Article 2(82) Appendix 2  
Article 2(83) Appendix 2  
Article 2(84)  Section 5.1.5.4, Appendix 2  
Article 2(85)  
Article 2(86) Appendix 2  
Article 2(87) Appendix 2  
Article 2(88)  
Article 2(89) Section 3.4.3  
Article 2(90)  
Article 2(91) Appendix 2  
Article 2(92) Appendix 2  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 188
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 2(93)  
Article 2(94) Appendix 2  
Article 2(95)  
Article 2(96)  
Article 2(97) Box 7, Appendix 2  
Article 2(98) Appendix 2  
Article 2(99)  Section 5.1.1.3, Appendix 2  
Article 2(100)  
Article 3(1) Section 1.3  
Article 3(2)  
Article 4  
Article 5(1) Preamble of Chapter 3  
Article 5(2) Preamble of Chapter 3  
Article 5(3) Preamble of Chapter 3, 
Section 1.3.3  
Article 5(4) Preamble of Chapter 3, 
Section 1.3.3, Section 
3.1.5  
Article 5(5) Section 1.3.1  
Article 6(1) Section 3.1.1.1  
Article 6(2) Section 3.1.2  
Article 6(3)  
Article 6(4)  
Article 6(5)  
Article 6(6)  
Article 7(1) Section 3.1.1.1  
Article 7(2) Section 3.1.3  
Article 7(3)  
Article 7(4)  
Article 7(5)  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 189
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 7(6) Section 3.1.3  
Article 8(1) Section 3.1.4  
Article 8(2) Section 3.1.4  
Article 8(3) Section 5.1.2.3, 5.2.5  
Article 8(4) Section 3.1.4  
Article 9(1) Section 3.1.5  
Article 9(2) Section 3.1.5  
Article 9(3) Section 3.1.4  
Article 10(1)  
Article 10(2) Annex II  
Article 10(3)  
Article 10(4)  
Article 10(5) Section 6.1  
Article 11(1) Section 3.4.1  
Article 11(2) Annex II  
Article 11(3) Section 3.4.3  
Article 11(4) Section 3.4.3  
Article 11(5) Section 3.4.4  
Article 11(6)  
Article 12(1) Section 3.5.1  
Article 12(2) Section 3.5.2  
Article 12(3) Article 1  
Article 12(4) Section 3.5.3  
Article 12(5) Section 3.1.3  
Article 12(6) Section 3.5  
Article 12(7)  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 190
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 13(1) Section 3.3.2  
Article 13(2) Section 3.3.2  
Article 13(3) Section 3.3.2  
Article 13(4) Section 3.3.3  
Article 13(5) Section 3.3.4  
Article 13(6)  
Article 14(1) Section 3.2.2  
Article 14(2) Section 3.2.3  
Article 14(3) Section 3.2.4  
Article 14(4)  
Article 15(1) Section 3.2, Section 5.1.4  
Article 15(2)  
Article 15(3)  
Article 16(1) Section 2.3  
Article 16(2) Section 2.3  
Article 17(1) Appendix 2  
Article 17(2)  
Article 17(3) Section 4.1.1, Section 
4.2.1  
Article 17(4) Section 4.1.5, Section 
4.2.5  
Article 17(5) Section 4.1.5  
Article 17(6) Section 4.1.4  
Article 17(7)  
Article 18(1) Section 4.1.1, Section 
4.1.2  
Article 18(2) Section 4.1.2  
Article 18(3) Section 4.1.3  
Article 18(4) Section 4.1.3  
Article 19(1) Section 4.1.3  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 191
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 19(2)  
Article 19(3)  
Article 19(4)  
Article 19(5) Section 4.1.3  
Article 19(6) Section 4.1.3  
Article 20(1) Section 4.1.4  
Article 20(2) Section 4.1.4  
Article 20(3)  
Article 21(1) Section 4.2.1  
Article 21(2) Article 1  
Article 21(3) Section 4.2.2  
Article 21(4) Section 4.2.3  
Article 22(1) Section 4.2.3  
Article 22(2) Section 4.2.3  
Article 22(3) Section 4.2.3  
Article 23(1) Section 4.2.4  
Article 23(2) Section 4.2.4  
Article 23(3)  
Article 24  
Article 25(1) Section 5.1.1, Section 
5.1.1.3  
Article 25(2) Section 5.1.1, Section 
5.1.2.3  
Article 25(3) Section 5.1.1.3  
Article 26(1) Section 5.1.1.1  
Article 26(2) Section 5.1.1.1  
Article 26(3) Section 5.1.1.1  
Article 26(4) Section 5.1.1.1  
Article 27(1) Section 5.1.1.2  
Article 27(2) Section 5.1.1.2  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 192
 
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ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 27(3) Section 5.1.1.2  
Article 27(4) Section 5.1.1.2  
Article 28(1) Section 5.1.2  
Article 28(2) Section 5.1.2  
Article 28(3) Section 5.1.2, Section 
5.1.2.3  
Article 29(1) Section 5.1.2.2-5.1.2.3  
Article 29(2) Section 5.1.2.2-5.1.2.3  
Article 30(1) Section 5.1.3.  
Article 30(2) Section 5.1.3.  
Article 30(3)  
Article 30(4) Section 5.1.3.  
Article 30(5) Section 5.1.3.  
Article 31(1) Section 5.1.4  
Article 31(2) Section 5.1.4  
Article 32(1) Section 5.1.4  
Article 32(2) Section 5.1.1.3  
Article 32(3) Section 5.1.4  
Article 32(4) Section 5.1.1.3  
Article 32(5) Section 5.1.4  
Article 32(6) Section 5.1.4  
Article 33(1) Section 5.1.4  
Article 33(2) Section 5.1.4  
Article 33(3) Section 5.1.4  
Article 33(4) Section 5.1.4  
Article 34(1) Appendix 2  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 193
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 34(2) Appendix 2  
Article 35(1) Section 5.1.4  
Article 35(2)  
Article 35(3)  
Article 36(1) Section 5.1.4  
Article 36(2)  
Article 36(3)  
Article 37(1) Section 5.1.5.1  
Article 37(2)  
Article 38(1) Section 5.1.5.2  
Article 38(2) Section 5.1.5.2  
Article 39(1) Section 5.1.5.2  
Article 39(2) Section 5.1.5.2  
Article 40(1) Section 5.1.5.3  
Article 40(2)  
Article 41(1) Section 5.1.5.3  
Article 41(2)  
Article 42 Section 5.1.5.4  
Article 43(1) Section 5.1.6  
Article 43(2) Section 5.1.6  
Article 43(3) Section 5.1.6  
Article 43(4)  
Article 44(1) Section 5.2.1  
Article 44(2) Section 5.2.1  
Article 45(1) Section 5.2.2  
Article 45(2) Section 5.2.2  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 194
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 45(3) Section 5.2.2  
Article 46(1) Section 5.2.3  
Article 46(2) Section 5.2.3  
Article 46(3) Section 5.2.3  
Article 47(1) Section 5.2.4  
Article 47(2) Section 5.2.4  
Article 48(1) Section 5.2.5  
Article 48(2) Section 5.2.5  
Article 49(1) Section 5.3.1  
Article 49(2) Section 5.3.1  
Article 50(1) Section 5.3.2  
Article 50(2) Section 5.3.1  
Article 51(1) Section 5.3.2  
Article 51(2) Section 5.3.1  
Article 51(3) Section 5.3.2  
Article 52(1) Section 5.3.2  
Article 52(2)  
Article 53(1) Section 5.3.1  
Article 53(2)  
Article 54(1) Section 7.4.2  
Article 54(2) Article 2  
Article 55 Section 2.1  
Article 56(1) Section 2.1  
Article 56(2) Section 2.1  
Article 56(3) Section 2.1  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 195
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 56(4) Section 2.1  
Article 57(1)  
Article 57(2) Section 2.2  
Article 57(3) Section 2.2, 
Appendix 3  
Article 57(4) Section 2.2, Section 5.2.2  
Article 57(5)  
Article 58(1) Section 1.5  
Article 58(2) Section 1.5, Section 6.1  
Article 58(3)  
Article 58(4) Section 6.4.2  
Article 58(5) Section 6.1  
Article 58(6) Section 6.2  
Article 59(1) Section 6.2.1.2  
Article 59(2) Section 6.1, Section 6.3.1  
Article 59(3) Section 6.3.1  
Article 59(4)  
Article 59(5) Section 6.3.1  
Article 59(6) Section 6.3.1  
Article 59(7) Section 6.3.1  
Article 60  
Article 61(1) Section 6.2  
Article 61(2) Section 6.3.2, Annex to 
ECB/2014/10  
Article 62(1) Section 6.2.1.1 Article 3(2)  
Article 62(2) Article 3(2)  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 196
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 62(3) Article 3(2)  
Article 63(1) Article 3(2)  
Article 63(2)  
Article 63(3) Section 6.2.1.1 Article 3(3)  
Article 63(4) Article 3(4)  
Article 63(5) Article 3(5)  
Article 64 Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 65 Section 6.2.1.8  
Article 66(1) Section 6.2.1.3, ECB/ 
2014/10  
Article 66(2) Section 6.2.1.3  
Article 66(3) Section 6.2.1.3  
Article 67(1) Section 6.2.1.4, ECB/ 
2014/10  
Article 67(2)  
Article 68(1) Section 6.2.1.5, Annex to 
ECB/2014/10  
Article 68(2) Section 6.2.1.5  
Article 68(3) Section 6.2.1.5, Annex to 
ECB/2014/10  
Article 69(1) Section 6.2.1.6  
Article 69(2)  
Article 70(1) Section 6.2.1.7  
Article 70(2)  
Article 70(3)  
Article 70(4)  
Article 70(5)  
Article 70(6)  
Article 71  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 197
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 72 Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 73(1) Section 6.2.1.1, ECB/ 
2014/10  
Article 73(2)  
Article 73(3) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 73(4) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 73(5) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 73(6) Article 4  
Article 73(7)  
Article 74(1) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 74(2) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 74(3)  
Article 74(4) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 75(1) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 75(2) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 76(1) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 76(2)  
Article 77(1) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 77(2)  
Article 78(1) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 78(2) Article 11  
Article 79 Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 80(1) Section 6.2.1.1  
Article 80(2)  
Article 80(3)  
Article 80(4)  
Article 80(5) Article 5(2)  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 198
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 81(1) Section 6.2.1  
Article 81(2)  
Article 82(1) Section 6.3.1 Article 6(2)  
Article 82(2) Section 6.3.1  
Article 83 Article 1  
Article 84 Article 1  
Article 85  
Article 86  
Article 87(1) Section 6.3.2  
Article 87(2)  
Article 87(3) Section 6.3.2  
Article 88(1) Section 6.3.1  
Article 88(2)  
Article 89(1) Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 89(2)  
Article 89(3)  
Article 89(4)  
Article 89(5)  
Article 90 Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 91 Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 92 Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 93 Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 94 Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 95(1) Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 95(2) Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 96(1) Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 96(2)  
Article 96(3)  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 199
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 97 Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 98 Section 6.2.2.1  
Article 99(1) Section 6.2.3.1  
Article 99(2)  
Article 100 Appendix 7  
Article 101(1) Appendix 7  
Article 101(2) Appendix 7  
Article 102 Appendix 7  
Article 103(1) Appendix 7  
Article 103(2) Appendix 7  
Article 103(3)  
Article 104(1) Appendix 7  
Article 104(2) Appendix 7  
Article 104(3)  
Article 104(4)  
Article 105  
Article 106 Section 6.2.2  
Article 107(1) Section 6.2.2.2  
Article 107(2) Section 6.2.2.2  
Article 107(3) Section 6.2.2.2  
Article 107(4) Section 6.2.2.2  
Article 107(5) Section 6.2.2.2  
Article 107(6) Section 6.2.2.2  
Article 107(7) Section 6.2.2.2  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 200
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 108 Section 6.3.1, Section 
6.2.2.1, Section 6.3.3.2  
Article 109(1) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 109(2) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 109(3) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 110(1) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 110(2) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 110(3) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 110(4) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 110(5)  
Article 110(6)  
Article 110(7) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 111(1) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 111(2) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 112 Section 6.3.3.2  
Article 113(1) Section 6.3.2  
Article 113(2)  
Article 113(3)  
Article 114(1) Section 6.3.2, 
section 6.3.3.1  
Article 114(2) Section 6.3.3.1  
Article 114(3) Section 6.3.2, 
section 6.3.3.1  
Article 114(4) Sections 6.3.2, 
section 6.3.3.1  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 201
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 114(5) Section 6.3.2, 
section 6.3.3.1  
Article 115 Section 6.3.2, 
section 6.3.3.1  
Article 116 Section 6.2.1.2, 
section 6.2.2.1  
Article 117 Section 6.2.1.6, 
section 6.2.2.1  
Article 118(1)  
Article 119(1) Section 6.3.1  
Article 119(2) Section 6.3.4.1, Section 
6.3.4  
Article 119(3)  
Article 119(4) Section 6.3.4  
Article 119(5) Section 6.3.5  
Article 120(1)  
Article 120(2)  
Article 120(3)  
Article 121(1) Section 6.3.4.2  
Article 121(2)  
Article 121(3)  
Article 121(4)  
Article 122(1) Section 6.3.4.3  
Article 122(2)  
Article 122(3) Section 6.3.4.3  
Article 122(4)  
Article 122(5)  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 202
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 123(1)  
Article 123(2)  
Article 123(3)  
Article 123(4)  
Article 124(1) Section 6.3.4.4  
Article 124(2)  
Article 124(3)  
Article 124(4) Section 6.3.4.4  
Article 124(5) Section 6.3.4.4  
Article 125  
Article 126(1) Section 6.3.5  
Article 126(2) Section 6.3.5  
Article 126(3)  
Article 126(4)  
Article 126(5)  
Article 127(1) Section 6.4.1  
Article 127(2) Section 6.4.1  
Article 127(3) Section 6.4.1  
Article 128(1) Section 6.4.1  
Article 128(2) Section 6.4.1  
Article 129(1) Section 6.4.2 Article 8(1)  
Article 129(2) Section 6.4.2  
Article 130(1) Section 6.4.2 Article 8(2)  
Article 130(2) Article 8(3)  
Article 130(3) Section 6.4.2  
Article 130(4) Article 8(4)  
Article 130(5) Section 6.4.2  
Article 130(6) Section 6.4.2  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 203
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 130(7) Section 6.4.2  
Article 130(8) Section 6.4.2  
Article 131(1) Section 6.4.3.1 Article 8(5)  
Article 131(2) Section 6.4.3.1  
Article 131(3) Section 6.4.3.1  
Article 132 Article 8(6)  
Article 133 Section 6.4.3.3  
Article 134 Section 6.5, Section 6.5.1  
Article 135 Section 6.5.2  
Article 136(1) Section 6.4.2  
Article 136(2) Section 6.4.2  
Article 136(3) Section 6.4.2  
Article 136(4)  
Article 137(1) Section 6.7  
Article 137(2) Section 6.7  
Article 137(3) Section 6.7  
Article 138(1) Section 6.2.3.2  
Article 138(2)  
Article 138(3) Section 6.2.3.2  
Article 139(1) Article 1(1)  
Article 139(2)  
Article 140 Section 6.3.2.3  
Article 141(1) Section 6.4.2  
Article 141(2)  
Article 141(3) Section 6.2.3.2  
Article 142(1)  
Article 142(2)  
Article 142(3)  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 204
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 142(4)  
Article 143(1)  
Article 143(2) Section 6.2.3.2  
Article 143(3)  
Article 144 Section 6.2.3  
Article 145(1) Section 6.2.3.2  
Article 145(2) Section 6.2.3.2  
Article 145(3) Section 6.2.3.2  
Article 145(4) Appendix 6  
Article 146  
Article 147 Section 6.2.3.2  
Article 148(1) Section 6.6  
Article 148(2) Section 6.6  
Article 148(3) Section 6.6.1  
Article 148(4)  
Article 148(5)  
Article 148(6)  
Article 149(1) Section 6.6  
Article 149(2) Section 6.6, Section 6.6.2  
Article 150(1) Section 6.6.2  
Article 150(2) Section 6.2.1.4, Section 
6.6.2, ECB/2014/10  
Article 150(3)  
Article 150(4) Section 6.6.2  
Article 150(5) Section 6.6.2  
Article 150(6)  
Article 151(1) ECB/2014/10  
Article 151(2) ECB/2014/10  
Article 151(3) ECB/2014/10  
Article 151(4) ECB/2014/10  
Article 152(1) Annex to ECB/2014/10  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 205
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 152(2)  
Article 152(3)  
Article 153(1) Section 2.3  
Article 153(2)  
Article 154(1) Section 2.3  
Article 154(2)  
Article 155 Appendix 6  
Article 156(1) Appendix 6  
Article 156(2) Appendix 6  
Article 156(3) Appendix 6  
Article 156(4) Appendix 6  
Article 156(5) Appendix 6, Section 2.3  
Article 156(6) Appendix 6  
Article 157 Section 2.3  
Article 158(1) Section 2.4.1, Section 
6.3.1 Article 9(2)  
Article 158(2) Section 6.3.1  
Article 158(3) Section 2.4.2  
Article 158(4) Section 2.4.3  
Article 159(1) Section 6.3.1  
Article 159(2) Section 6.3.1  
Article 159(3) Section 6.3.1  
Article 159(4) Section 6.3.1  
Article 160  
Article 161(1) Annex II, Section I  
Article 161(2) Annex II, Section I  
Article 162 Annex II, Section I  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 206
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 163 Annex II, Section I  
Article 164 Annex II, Section I  
Article 165(1) Annex II, Section I  
Article 165(2) Annex II, Section I  
Article 166(1) Article 9(2)  
Article 166(2) Article 9(3)  
Article 166(3) Article 9(4)  
Article 166(4) Article 9(5)  
Article 166(5) Article 9(6)  
Article 167 Annex II, Section I  
Article 168(1) Annex II, Section I  
Article 168(2) Annex II, Section I  
Article 169(1) Annex II, Section I  
Article 169(2) Annex II, Section I  
Article 170 Annex II, Section I  
Article 171 Annex II, Section I  
Article 172 Annex II, Section II  
Article 173 Annex II, Section II  
Article 174(1) Section 3.1.1.3  
Article 174(2)  
Article 174(3)  
Article 175 Annex II, Section II  
Article 176(1) Annex II, Section II  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 207
 
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ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Article 176(2) Annex II, Section II  
Article 176(3)  
Article 177(1) Annex II, Section II  
Article 177(2) Annex II, Section II  
Article 177(3) Annex II, Section II  
Article 178 Annex II, Section II  
Article 179 Annex II, Section II  
Article 180 Section 3.1.1.2  
Article 181(1) Section 4.1.2  
Article 181(2) Annex II, Section II  
Article 181(3) Annex II, Section II  
Article 182 Annex II, Section II  
Article 183 Annex II, Section III  
Article 184 Annex II, Section III  
Article 185 Annex II, Section III  
Article 186(1) Annex II, Section III  
Article 186(2) Annex II, Section III  
Article 187 Section 3.4.2  
Article 188  
Article 189 Section 1.4  
Article 190(1)  
Article 190(2)  
Article 191(1)  
Article 191(2)  
Article 191(3)  
Article 192  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 208
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Annex I 
Introduction Section 7.1  
Annex I 1 Section 7.1  
Annex I 2 Section 7.1  
Annex I 3 Section 1.3.3, Section 7.2  
Annex I 4  
Annex I 5  
Annex I 6 Section 7.2  
Annex I 7  
Annex I 8 Section 1.3.3, Section 
7.3.1  
Annex I 9 Section 7.3.1  
Annex I 10  
Annex I 11  
Annex I 12 Section 1.3.3, Section 
7.4.3  
Annex I 13 Section 7.6  
Annex II Section 5.1.3  
Annex III Section 5.1.5.1  
Annex IV Section 5.1.6  
Annex V Annex I, 
Appendix 3  
Annex VI I.1 Section 6.6.1  
Annex VI I.2  
Annex VI I.(3)  
Annex VI I.4 Section 6.6.1  
Annex VI I.5 Section 6.6.1  
Annex VI II.1 Section 6.6.2  
Annex VI II.2 Section 6.6.2  
Annex VI III ECB/2014/10  
Annex VI IV ECB/2014/10  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 209
 
This Guideline Guideline 
ECB/2011/14 Decision 
ECB/2013/6 Decision 
ECB/2013/35 Decision 
ECB/2014/23  
Annex VII I.1 Section 2.3, Appendix 6, 
Section 1  
Annex VII I.2 Appendix 6, Section 1  
Annex VII I.3 Appendix 6, Section 1  
Annex VII I.4  
Annex VII I.5  
Annex VII I.6  
Annex VII I.7 Appendix 6, Section 1  
Annex VII I.8 Appendix 6, Section 1  
Annex VII II Appendix 6, Section 2.1  
Annex VIII I.1 Annex I, Appendix 8  
Annex VIII I.2 Annex I, Appendix 8  
Annex VIII I.3 Annex I, Appendix 8  
Annex VIII I.4  
Annex VIII II.1 Appendix 8  
Annex VIII II.2  
Annex VIII II.3 Appendix 8  
Annex VIII II.4 Appendix 8  
Annex VIII III.1 Appendix 8  
Annex VIII III.2 Appendix 8  
Annex VIII III.3 Appendix 8  
Annex VIII III.4 Appendix 8  
Annex IX Section 6.3.5  
Annex X Annex I, Annex II  
Annex XI  
Annex XII  
Annex XIII  
Annex XIV  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 210
 
ANNEX XIV  
REPEALED GUIDELINE WITH LIST OF ITS SUCCESSIVE 
AMENDMENTS  
Guideline ECB/2011/14 (OJ L 331, 14.12.2011, p. 1).  
Guideline ECB/2012/25 (OJ L 359, 29.12.2012, p. 74).  
Guideline ECB/2014/10 (OJ L 166, 5.6.2014, p. 33).  
Decision ECB/2013/6 (OJ L 95, 5.4.2013, p. 22).  
Decision ECB/2013/35 (OJ L 301, 12.11.2013, p. 6).  
Decision ECB/2014/23 (OJ L 168, 7.6.2014, p. 115).  ▼B 02014O0060 — EN — 28.06.2021 — 011.001 — 211