Press release

The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) is pleased to announce the publication of the 11th (2016) edition of its European Covered Bond Fact Book, which builds upon the success of previous editions and cements its place as the most comprehensive source of information in terms of market, regulatory and legislative developments and statistical data on the covered bond asset class.

With nearly €2.5 trillion outstanding at the end of 2015, covered bonds play a key role in European capital markets, contributing to the efficient allocation of capital and, ultimately, to economic development and recovery. The €539 billion of issuance during 2015 evidences the ability of the asset class to provide essential access to long-term capital market funding. Covered bonds’ consistently strong performance and quality features attract the attention of regulators and market participants worldwide, which, in turn, leads to an increasing recognition of the macro-prudential value of the asset class.

The 11th edition of the European Covered Bond Fact Book 2016 features the following content:

 Chapter I presents an analysis of 11 key themes of the year, offering an overview of the Industry’s views on these developments.

 Chapter II provides a detailed explanation of covered bond fundamentals, including reviews of some of the current European regulatory changes that have had/are bound to have a direct and significant impact on covered bonds, mainly the Capital Requirements Directive and Regulation (CRD IV and CRR), Liquidity Coverage Ratio and Solvency III. This chapter also includes articles outlining the repo treatment of covered bonds by central banks, investigating the relationship between covered bonds and other asset classes, such as senior unsecured and government bonds, and describing the USD and GBP denominated covered bond markets.

 Chapter III presents an overview of the legislation and markets in 37 countries, which demonstrates the worldwide success and recognition of the asset class.

 Chapter IV sets out rating agencies’ 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 2015.

“Over the past years the ECBC Covered Bond Fact Book has represented a clear response of the Covered Bond Industry to the call for enhanced transparency in the covered bond space. The 11th Fact Book edition (2016) reinforces its position as the leading compendium of essential covered bond information offering a complete overview of market, regulatory, legislative and statistical developments at the global level.”

Luca Bertalot, EMF-ECBC Secretary General

The European Covered Bond Fact Book 2016 can be downloaded on the ECBC website here. The hard copy of the Fact Book will be presented and made available at the ECBC Plenary Meeting in Düsseldorf on the 14th of September 2016. For more information on the upcoming ECBC Plenary Meeting, please refer to the agenda available on the ECBC website here.

The ECBC welcomes the broad range of views expressed in this revision of the Fact Book and thanks all contributors whose enthusiasm and dedication have once again produced an outstanding publication, especially the Chairmen of the ECBC Fact Book and Statistics & Data Working Groups, Mr Wolfgang Kälberer and Mr Florian Eichert, respectively.