Opinion of the European Central Bank of 26 July 2012 on State guarantees (CON/2012/60)
Date: 2012-07-26
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Spain, credit institution, financial stability, guarantee, issue of securities, national law

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 26 July 2012 

on State guarantees 

(CON/2012/60) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 6 July 2012 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Governor of the Banco de 

España,  on  behalf  of  the  Spanish  Deputy  Minister  for  Economic  Affairs  and  Competitiveness,  for  an 

opinion on the royal decree-law 21/2012, of 13 July, on liquidity measures in the public administration 
and in the financial sector1; its first final provision amended Article 52(2)(b) and (c) of Law 2/2012 of 29 
June 2012 on the State General Budget for 2012, on State guarantees2 (hereinafter the ‘draft RDL’).  

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 on the third and sixth indents of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 

98/415/EC  of  29 June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  European  Central  Bank  by  national  authorities 
regarding draft legislative provisions3, as the draft provisions relate to the Banco de España and to rules 

applicable  to  financial  institutions  that  materially  influence  the  stability  of  financial  institutions  and 

markets. 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.  

Purpose of the draft RDL 

The  draft  RDL  lays  down  the  conditions  for  the  State  guarantees,  the  eligibility  of  institutions,  the 

applicable  fees  and  the  requesting  and  granting  procedures.  It  applies  to  credit  institutions  with  a 

registered office in Spain which the Banco de España considers solvent but to have temporary liquidity 

problems. 

The  eligible  issues  are  new  issues  of  bonds  and  obligations.  The  securities  may  be  issued  until  15 

December  2012.  The  draft  RDL  does  not  mention  the  type  of  securities,  maturity,  interest  rate  or 

minimum amount of issue.  

On  granting  the  guarantee,  a  fee  of  0.5%  of  the  guaranteed  amount  may  be  charged.  In  addition,  a  fee 

applies  to  every  guaranteed  issue  of  securities.  This  fee  will  be  calculated  in  following  European 
Commission criteria4. The maximum amount of the State guarantees is EUR 55 000 million. 

1  
2  
3  
4  

Boletín Oficial del Estado, 14.7.2012, p. 50519. 
Boletín Oficial del Estado, 30.4.2012, p. 46432. 
OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
See Communication from the Commission on the application, from 1 January 2012, of State aid rules to support 
measures in favour of banks in the context of the financial crisis (OJ C 356, 6.12.2011, p. 7). 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
ECB-PUBLIC 

2. 

General observations  

The consultation request was submitted on 5 July 2012, and the consulting authority requested the ECB to 

consider the consultation as a matter of urgency, without however setting a time limit. On 13 July 2012, 

the  draft  RDL  was  adopted  and  published  in  the  Boletín  Oficial  del  Estado.  In  this  context,  the  ECB 

reminds  the  Spanish  authorities  that,  according  to  Article  4  of  Decision  98/415/EC,  the  ECB  must  be 

consulted  at  an  appropriate  stage  enabling  the  authority  initiating  the  draft  legislative  provision  to  take 

into consideration the ECB’s opinion before taking its decision on the substance. 

3. 

Pricing 

The  ECB  welcomes  that  Article  52bis(4)  of  the  draft  RDL  specifies  that  guarantee  fees  applied  to 

financial institutions benefiting from the State guarantees will be in line with the above-mentioned criteria 

adopted  by  the  Commission.  The  ECB  reiterates  its  view  that  coordination  of  the  duration  of  national 

financial  support  schemes  across  the  Union  is  of  crucial  importance  to  ensure  a  level  playing  field.  In 

addition, the ECB notes the need for national support measures to be temporary in nature. 

4.   Relationship with the single monetary policy  

According  to  Article  52bis(1)  of  the  draft  RDL,  only  bank  bonds  (‘obligaciones’  and  ‘bonos’)  may  be 

guaranteed. The ECB understands that interbank deposits will not be guaranteed. This is in line with the 
ECB’s  previous  opinions5,  whereby  the  extension  of  State  guarantees  to  interbank  deposits  should  be 

avoided, as it could entail a substantial distortion in the various national segments of the euro area money 

market  by  potentially  increasing  short-term  debt  issuance  activity  across  Member  States  and  therefore 

impairing the implementation of the single monetary policy. 

This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 26 July 2012. 

[signed] 

The Vice-President of the ECB 

Vítor CONSTÂNCIO 

5  

Opinion  CON/2008/50,  paragraph  3.2,  Opinion  CON/2009/12,  paragraph 3.3.2,  Opinion  CON/2009/49,  paragraph  3.9 
and Opinion CON/2009/73, paragraph 3.1. 

2