16 March 2017
(1) the maturity profile of covered bonds, now including conditional pass-through (CPT), soft bullet or non-extendable maturity; and (2) sustainable covered bonds.
In addition, the CBLF has been working on a voluntary addendum to the Harmonised Transparency Template (HTT) in coordination with a broad range of stakeholders. The voluntary addendum, together with the increased granularity for extendable maturities, is intended to align the HTT with the additional information which the European Central Bank (ECB) will require from Q3 2017 onwards, as a result of the introduction of minimum disclosure requirements for covered bond ratings. The Covered Bond Label, together with its HTT, will facilitate timely data disclosure and ensure a homogeneous format across countries and institutions. The addendum will be unveiled at the Label Committee, the Label Advisory Council and the European Covered Bond Council Plenary meetings, which will take place in Oslo on 5-6 April 2017.
The new IT feature which allows investors to identify Covered Bond Labelled Sustainable Bonds consists of a “green leaf” icon appearing next to the ISIN of the relevant bonds.
Commenting on these developments, Luca Bertalot, Covered Bond Label Foundation (CBLF) Administrator, said the following:
“The raison d’être of the Covered Bond Label is to increase transparency in the market by simplifying and standardising data disclosure whilst keeping abreast of new regulatory and market demands. These new features are testament to the ability of the Covered Bond Label to respond rapidly to new regulatory requirements and market needs. The CBLF has worked on these new features in coordination with a broad range of stakeholders, including issuers, rating agencies and investors.”
The Covered Bond Label is open to all covered bond programmes that are compliant with the Covered Bond Label Convention (available here) and that disclose their data by publishing the Harmonised Transparency Template (HTT). More information on all labelled Issuers and the Label itself can be found on the Covered Bond Label website at www.coveredbondlabel.com.
The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) is the platform that brings together covered bond market participants including covered bond issuers, analysts, investment bankers, rating agencies and a wide range of interested stakeholders.
