Eligibility criteria
- Selected eligibility criteria for marketable assets
- Selected eligibility criteria for non-marketable assets
- Deutsche Bundesbank's country-specific rules regarding the submission of credit claims
- The Risk Limitation Act and the refinancing of institutions
Detailed information on the individual criteria for eligible assets may be found in chapter 6 of the publication "The implementation of monetary policy in the euro area: General documentation on Eurosystem monetary policy instruments and procedures" (The document is to be found on the right-hand side.).
Our collateral contacts will also be pleased to assist you with any other questions you may have.
Deutsche Bundesbank's country-specific rules regarding the submission of credit claims | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum size for domestic use | Handling fee | Settlement procedure |
| € 10.000 | None | KEV |
The Risk Limitation Act and the refinancing of institutions
The Act to Limit the Risks Associated with Financial Investments (Gesetz zur Begrenzung der mit Finanzinvestitionen verbundenen Risiken), the Risk Limitation Act (Risikobegrenzungsgesetz), was published in the Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt) (Federal Law Gazette 2008 I, page 1666) on 18 August 2008. This Act has amended, inter alia, section 354a of the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch) to the extent that a prohibition of assignment stipulated in a loan agreement shall apply peremptorily and (pursuant to section 399 of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch)) shall lead to the assignment being null and void.
Pursuant to the hitherto applicable wording of section 354a of the Commercial Code, assignment was effective despite a prohibition of assignment (in derogation of section 399 of the German Civil Code) if the claim originated from a reciprocal commercial transaction. Section 354a of the Commercial Code was intended to enable trade and industry to use claims as a means of collateral as widely as possible.
Under the new regulation, section 354a of the Commercial Code shall not apply to the assignment of a claim arising from a loan agreement, the creditor of which is a credit institution within the meaning of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz). In future, the assignment of a credit claim for which a comprehensive prohibition of assignment has been agreed shall be null and void1. In principle, therefore, it will be more difficult to use credit claims to provide security for the lender's refinancing purposes.
The Deutsche Bundesbank – in its dealings with credit institutions – accepts, among other things, eligible credit claims by way of assignment as collateral. It should be noted that credit claims which are subject to such a prohibition of assignment can be used for refinancing purposes at the Deutsche Bundesbank and within the Eurosystem only if it is laid down in the loan agreement that an assignment in transactions with the Deutsche Bundesbank and other Eurosystem central banks is explicitly exempt from the prohibition of assignment.
Such a limitation of the prohibition of assignment is ultimately likely to be in the interests of all the economic agents involved. It would not stand in the way of achieving the general goals pursued by the Risk Limitation Act. According to the Act's Explanatory Memorandum, the intention is to impede or possibly even prevent macroeconomically undesirable activities on the part of financial investors without simultaneously impairing financial or business transactions which boost efficiency. However, the Deutsche Bundesbank does not pursue any active investor interests or any other entrepreneurial goals which could be undesirable from the perspective of the borrower. It holds credit claims solely as collateral for its refinancing loans granted to a particular credit institution. It thus merely enables banks to use these assets in a practical and liquidity-saving way in their dealings with the central bank.
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1Pursuant to article 64 of the Introductory Act to the Commercial Code (Einführungsgesetz zum Handelsgesetzbuch), section 354a of the Commercial Code as amended by the Risk Limitation Act shall apply to the stipulation of prohibitions of assignment agreed after 18 August 2008.
