Financial vehicle corporations

Since December 2009, the statistics on financial vehicle corporations (FVCs) have included a quarterly survey, carried out at the end of the quarter, of the assets and liabilities of all FVCs in Germany. The survey is conducted on a harmonised basis pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 24/2009 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2013/40); in Germany this has been implemented in the Bundesbank's statistics guidelines. For an overview of the ways in which the individual euro-area countries have implemented it, go to the website of the ECB (see "External links").

One of the main aims of the FVC statistics is to capture in greater detail the other financial intermediaries (OFI) sector in the euro area. Another is that the data are needed to depict financial sector lending – by monetary financial institutions (MFIs) and OFIs – to the non-financial sector.

For the purposes of this survey, a securitisation is defined as a transaction or scheme whereby an asset or pool of assets is transferred to an entity that is separate from the originator and is created for or serves the purpose of the securitisation and/or whereby the credit risk of an asset or pool of assets, or part thereof, is transferred to the investors in the securities, securitisation fund units, other debt instruments and/or financial derivatives issued by an entity that is separate from the originator and is created for or serves the purpose of the securitisation.

The FVC statistics distinguish between the following categories of securitisations: "traditional or true sale", "synthetic", "other" or "securitisation of insurance risks".

Since February 2010, the ECB has published on its website a list of financial vehicle corporations (see "External links"), which is updated on a quarterly basis.