Press release

ECBC European Covered Bond Fact Book (2020 Edition) & Virtual Publication Event

The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) is pleased to announce the publication of the 15^th (2020) edition of its European Covered Bond Fact Book, which builds upon the success of previous editions to cement its place as the definitive source of information in terms of market, regulatory and legislative developments and statistical data on the covered bond asset class.

 

The European Covered Bond Fact Book 2020, featuring the latest covered bond statistical data as of end 2019, can be downloaded from the ECBC website. On Wednesday, 28 October at 10h00 (CET), contributing authors, who are amongst some of the world’s leading covered bond experts, will present the key highlights of this year’s edition during a virtual publication event. Click here to register!

 

With over EUR 2.7 tn. outstanding at the end of 2019, covered bonds continue play a key role in European capital markets, contributing to the efficient allocation of capital and, ultimately, to economic development and recovery. The EUR 546 bn. of issuance during 2019 evidences the ability of the asset class to provide essential access to long-term capital market funding. The consistently strong performance of covered bonds and their quality features attract the attention of regulators and market participants worldwide, which, in turn, leads to the increasing recognition of the macro-prudential value of the asset class.

 

The 2020 edition of the Fact Book features the following content:

 

• Chapter I presents an analysis of eleven key themes of the year, offering an overview of the Industry’s perspective on these, such as the latest state of play on the implementation of the Covered Bond Directive, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the anticipated impact of this on covered bond markets.
• Chapter II provides a detailed explanation of covered bond fundamentals, the EU Legislative Package for covered bonds, the implementation of Basel III, the Capital Markets Union (CMU), the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR), Solvency II, bail-in mechanisms (MREL and TLAC), and covered bond protection. This chapter also includes articles outlining the repo treatment of covered bonds by central banks, investigates the relationship between covered bonds and other asset classes, such as senior unsecured and government bonds, and describes the USD, GBP and domestic currency denominated covered bond markets.
• Chapter III presents an overview of the legislation and markets in 42 different countries, demonstrating the worldwide success and recognition, and the continued spread of the asset class.
• Chapter IV sets out credit rating agencies’ various covered bond methodologies.
• Chapter V provides a description of trends in the covered bond market, as well as a complete set of covered bond statistics up to the end of 2019.

 

With regard to the covered bond market statistics for 2019, the ECBC is pleased to confirm that these are now available via the ECBC website here and a short video introduction of the statistics by the Chairman of the ECBC Statistics & Data Working Group, Mr Joost Beaumont, can be found on our YouTube channel. The ECBC data covers market developments over the past 17 years for 34 different countries.

 

The ECBC welcomes the broad range of views expressed in this latest revision of the Fact Book and thanks all contributors whose enthusiasm and dedication have once again produced an outstanding publication. Particularly, we would like to express our gratitude to the Chairmen of the ECBC Fact Book and Statistics & Data Working Groups, Mr Sascha Kullig and Mr Joost Beaumont, respectively.

 

Commenting on the publication of the 2020 Edition of the ECBC European Covered Bond Fact Book, EMF-ECBC Secretary General, Luca Bertalot, said:

 

“The publication of this year’s Covered Bond Fact Book coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent unprecedented shocks for the global economy. With these events in mind, this year’s Fact Book has been published a little later than in previous years in order to allow the authors to capture the preliminary impacts of COVID-19 in their analyses. We therefore trust that the articles and statistics provide a more accurate and relevant picture of market conditions for regulators and investors. For more insights, we are delighted to be hosting a special virtual publication event on 28 of October during which this year’s edition will be officially presented.”