EN ECB -PUBLIC  
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 1 July 2022  
on the mobilisation of credit claims as collateral in central bank operations  
(CON/20 22/23) 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 19 May 2022 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Lithuanian Ministry of 
Finance  for an opinion on  draft amendments to Law No XII -2769 on real estate related credit and Law XI-
2153 on c onsumer c redit (hereinafter the ‘draft law s’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the third and fifth indents of Article  2(1) of Council Decision 
98/415/EC1, as th e draft laws  relate to Lietuvos bankas and payment and settlement systems . In 
accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, 
the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.  
1. P
urpose of the draft laws
1.1 As noted in the consultation request and the explanatory memorandum accompanying the draft laws ,
the ma
in purpose of the draft law s is to enable Lietuvos bankas to take over rights and obligations 
under consumer credit and residential real estate related credit  agreements2 in the event that a 
financial market participant that pledged rights under these agreements to Lietuvos bankas default s. 
Under current Lithuanian law , the rights and obligations under existing consumer and residential real 
estate related credit  agreements may only be owned by or assigned to persons included in the public 
lists of credit providers and consumer credit providers, respectively. Lietuvos bankas is not included 
in any of the lists, and therefore t hese restrictions limit its ability to liquidate such claims in  case they 
have been provided as security in the context of  Eurosystem monetary policy  operations  or the 
provision of liquidity  loans  by Lietuvos bankas .  
1.2 The draft laws stipulate that when Lietuvos bankas, in the performance of its functions, assumes the rights and obligations under consumer  and residential real estate related credit agreements of a credit 
provider, the legal limitation to transfer the rights and obligations under existing consumer and 
1 Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29  June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities 
regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42). 
2 Article 2(2), point 1,  of Law No XII -2769 on r eal estate related credit provides that the Law shall not be applicable to 
credit agreements designed for granting credits to persons other than borrowers. Article 3(13) defines the borrower as 
a natural person who seeks to conclude or concludes a credit agreement for personal, family, or household needs, except for business or p rofessional needs, effectively narrowing the scope of the Law to residential real estate related 
credits.  
ECB -PUBLIC  
2 residential real estate related credit agreements only to a person included in the public list of  
consumer credit providers or public list of credit pr oviders will not apply to Lietuvos bankas.  
1.3 As noted in the explanatory memorandum, the draft laws  enable Lietuvos bankas  to appropriate 
pledged consumer and residential real estate related credit  pools  and create the legal preconditions 
to enforce the collateral represented by these  credit claims  in the event of default of a central bank 
counterparty . 
 
2. General o bservations  
2.1 Credit claims have been accepted as eligible collateral in Eurosystem monetary policy and intraday 
credit operations since 1 January 20073. The scope for accepting eligible credit claims has been 
extended by the additional credit claims (ACC) framework under which certain additional  types of 
credit claims, such as residential mortgages or consumer loans, may also qualify as eligible collateral 
in certain euro area jurisdictions, provided that they meet certain additional specific criteria.  Lietuvos 
bankas is one of  the Eurosystem central banks that have made use of this possibility4.  
2.2 The provisions of the draft laws aim at excluding legal and financial risks associated with credit claims 
accepted  as collateral by Lietuvos bankas . In this respect , the existing restrictions hi nder the process 
of liquidating  collateral in the form of consumer credit and residential real estate related credit 
agreements . According to the requirement laid down in the second indent of Article 18.1 of the Statute 
of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank , lending by the ESCB 
central banks must be based on adequate collateral.  As regards credit claims, this requirement 
encompasses inter alia that a valid security is created over credit claims and that the credit claim can 
be swiftly realised in the event of a counterparty default5.   
2.3 The ECB welcomes the draft provisions , which  eliminate the limitations  for Lietuvos bankas to take 
over rights and obligations under consumer and residential real estate related credit  claims , as they 
have  the effect of broadening the range of assets eligible as collateral and increasing the amount  of 
collateral available for mobili sation in Eurosystem monetary policy and intraday credit operations  in 
the context of the ACC framework of Lietuvos bankas , as well as  in the emergency liquidity 
assistance ( ELA) operations of Lietuvos bankas . As such, the draft amendments will enhance the 
capacity of financial market participants  to obtain liquidity support when needed.  Moreover, i n 
expanding the pool of eligible collateral against which the Lietuvos bankas may extend credit in ELA 
operations , the draft laws could  contribute to maintaining the stability of the financial system in 
Lithuania.   
 
3  See ECB, ‘Decisions taken by the Governing Council of the ECB (in addition to decisions setting interest rates)’ (July 
2005), and ECB press releas e, ‘Eurosystem collateral framework: Inclusion of non -marketable assets in the Single 
List’ (22 July 2005), available on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu.  
4  See ECB, ‘What are additional credit claim (ACC) frameworks?’, available on the ECB’s websit e at 
www.ecb.europa.eu . 
5  Article 99 of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 of the European Central Bank of 19 December 2014 on the implementation of 
the Eurosystem monetary policy framework ( ECB/2014/60 ) (OJ L 91, 2.4.2015, p. 3) . 
ECB -PUBLIC  
3 2.4 Annex VI, Section 1 to Guideline  (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60)  provides for the cross- border use of 
credit claims. While demand for the cross -border use of Lithuanian credit claims  might currently be 
limited , the possibility cannot be excluded that this demand might increase in the future. In recent 
years other euro area Member States have consulted the ECB on draft legislative provisions 
designed to exclude certain  legal risks which Eurosystem national central banks (NCBs) might face 
in relation to the mobilisation of credit claims as collateral in central bank operations , e.g. provisions 
to exclude set -off rights for credit claims mobilised as collateral in central bank  operations . While in 
certain Member States the relevant draft legislative provisions  proposed to protect only that particular 
Member State’s central bank, some Member States have also proposed to extend protection to the 
ECB and the other NCBs  in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB)6. Against this 
background, the ECB invites the consulting authority to consider extending the protection of the draft 
laws to the ECB and the other NCBs in the ESCB, with a particular view to the possible cross -border 
mobilisation of Lithuanian credit claims as collateral in future Eurosystem credit operations .  
2.5 The draft laws eliminate  the restrictions for Lietuvos bankas to take over rights and obligations under 
consumer and residential real estate related credit agreements . This is proposed to be achieved by 
means of exempt ing Lietuvos bankas  from the requirement s to be included in the public list s of 
consumer credit providers and credit providers when Lietuvos bankas  is assigned rights and 
obligations under existing consumer and residential real estate related credit agreements . The ECB 
notes that , based on  a literal interpretation of  the text of the draft laws,  this exemption is  applicable 
not only to the transfer of collateral into Lietuvos bankas ’s ownership, but also to the later point in 
time when Lietuvos bankas  realis es its collateral rights by selling the credit claims  to a third party  
which is not i n the public list s of consumer credit providers and  credit providers . In this respect, t he 
explanatory memorandum accompanying the draft laws states that Lietuvos bankas must  ensure 
that it carries out the transfer of rights and obligations under existing consumer and residenti al real 
estate related credit agreements to a person included in the public list s of consumer credit providers 
and credit providers.  Accordingly, applying these draft provisions in a formulaic manner might raise 
concerns with regard to whether the wording of the draft laws is aligned with the intentions of the 
consulting authority . Therefore,  the consulting authority is invited to consider whether t he precise 
wording of the draft laws  could , for the sake of legal certainty,  be further clarified  to ensure their full 
effectiveness and intended purposes . In this respect, it is noted that the absence of restrictions 
concerning mobilisation and realisation of credit claims constitutes an eligibility criterion for the mobilisation of credit claims as collateral in Eurosystem monetary policy and intraday credit 
operations
7. Thus, the restriction for Lietuvos bankas to transfer the rights and obligations under 
existing consumer and residential real estate related credit agreements only to persons included in 
the public lists of consumer credit providers and credit providers would prevent the fulfilment of this 
eligibility criterion. To ensure the el igibility of consumer and residential real estate related credit 
claims for monetary policy and intraday credit operations the draft laws should exclude Lietuvos 
 
6  See paragraph 2.3 of Opinion CON/2016/37 and paragraph 5.1 of Opinion CON/2017/1. All ECB opinions are available 
on EUR -Lex. 
7  Article 104 of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 of the European Central Bank of 19 December 2014 on the implementation of 
the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (ECB/2014/60) (OJ L 91, 2.4.2015, p. 3).  
ECB -PUBLIC  
4 bankas and, if applicable, the ECB and the other NCBs in ESCB from the requirement to transfer  
credit claims only to persons in the public lists of consumer credit providers and credit providers.  
 
This opinion will be published on EUR -Lex. 
  
Done at Frankfurt am Main,  1 July 2022 . 
 
[signed]  
 
The President of the ECB  
Christine  LAGARDE