The European Central Bank amends Guideline (EU) 2015/510 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework

The new ECB Guideline 2026/689 introduces some new definitions, adds and amends some articles to the previous Guideline (EU) 2015/510. Some of the key amendments include:

• The introduction of a definition of the “climate factor”, which means an adjustment that may be applied to the value assigned to marketable assets issued by certain non-financial corporations and their respective corporate issuer groups that are mobilised as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations in order to mitigate the potential financial impact of climate transition-related uncertainties. Annex XIIb is inserted, covering the details for the determination of climate factors applicable to marketable assets to mitigate climate  transition-related uncertainties. 

• Article 73, paragraph 1 (Homogeneity and composition of the cash-flow generating assets) is amended as follows:

  In order for ABSs to be eligible, all cash-flow generating assets backing the ABSs shall be homogenous, i.e. it shall be possible to report them according to one of the types of loan-level templates specified in the implementing technical standards adopted by the Commission as referred to in Article 7(4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2402, which shall relate to one of the following:

  (a)residential mortgages;

  (b)loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);

  (c)auto loans;

  (d)consumer finance loans;

  (e)leasing receivables;

  (f)credit card receivables.

• A new paragraph 73.7 is added: The issuer of an ABS must not be subject to residual value risk.
• Article 78 (Availability of loan-level data for asset-backed securities) is replaced with:

  1. In order for ABSs to become or remain eligible, comprehensive and standardised loan-level data on the pool of cash-flow generating assets backing the ABSs shall be made available by the relevant parties to a securitisation repository in accordance with this Article.

  1a. Loan-level data shall be submitted for each individual transaction using the relevant templates specified in the implementing technical standards adopted by the Commission as referred to in Article 7(4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2402. The relevant template to be submitted depends on the type of asset that backs the ABS, as specified in Article 73(1), points (a) to (f).

  1b. Loan-level data shall be reported at least on a quarterly basis, but no later than one month following a due date for the payment of interest on the relevant ABSs. For the purpose of the templates referred to in paragraph 1a, the “pool cut-off date” shall be the date on which a snapshot of the performance of the underlying assets was captured for the respective report that is required to be submitted and the respective “date of submission of report” shall be no more than two months after such pool cut-off date.

  1c. To ensure compliance with the requirements in paragraphs 1, 1a and 1b, automated consistency and accuracy checks on reports shall be conducted on all new and updated loan-level data for each transaction by the loan-level data repository.

• A new Article 79b (Additional eligibility criteria for asset-backed securities with a credit assessment equal to credit quality step 3) is included:

  Additional eligibility criteria for asset-backed securities with a credit assessment equal to credit quality step 3
  1. In order to be eligible, ABSs with a credit assessment equal to credit quality step 3 on the Eurosystem’s harmonised rating scale shall comply with the following additional specific eligibility criteria:
  (a) the pool of cash-flow generating assets backing the ABS shall not contain, at the time of issuance of the ABS or when added to the pool subsequently – for example by means of a substitution or replacement of the cash-flow generating assets – loans in respect of which payment of interest or principal is more than 90 days past due and the obligor is in default as defined in Article 178 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, or when there are good reasons to doubt that payment of such interest or principal will be made in full;
  (b) the pool of cash-flow generating assets shall not contain loans that are, or have at any point in time been, structured loans, syndicated loans or leveraged loans;
  (c) the ABS transaction documentation shall contain servicing continuity provisions.

  2. A counterparty may not submit as collateral an ABS that complies with the additional specific eligibility criteria set out in paragraph 1 if the counterparty, or any third party with which it has close links, acts as an interest rate hedge provider in relation to the ABS.

  3. For the purposes of this Article the following definitions shall apply:

  (a) “structured loan” means a loan whose structure includes subordinated credit claims;
  (b) “syndicated loan” means a loan provided by a group of lenders in a lending syndicate;
  (c) “leveraged loan” means a loan provided to a company that already has a considerable degree of indebtedness, such as buy-out or take-over-financing, where the loan is used for the purpose of acquiring the equity of a company which is also the obligor of the loan;
  (d) “servicing continuity provisions” means provisions in the legal documentation of an ABS that contain back-up servicer provisions or, if there is no back-up servicer, back-up servicer facilitator provisions;
  (e) “back-up servicer facilitator provisions” means provisions that: (i) require the nomination and mandating of a back-up servicer facilitator to find a suitable back-up servicer within 60 days of the occurrence of a trigger event in order to ensure timely payment and servicing of the ABS; and (ii) provide that there shall be no close links between each of the servicer, the back-up servicer facilitator and the issuer account bank at the same time.
  (f) “back-up servicer provisions” means provisions that: (i) provide for triggers for the replacement of the servicer that are linked to changes in the rating of the servicer, non-performance of obligations by the servicer, and/or any other industry-standard triggers for servicer replacement; and (ii) provide that there shall be no close links between the back-up servicer and the servicer.

The Guideline is addressed to all Eurosystem central banks and shall take effect on the day of its notification to the national central banks (NCBs). The NCBs shall take the necessary measures to comply with this Guideline and apply them from 30 March 2026.
They shall notify the ECB of the texts and means relating to those measures by 4 March 2026 at the latest. 

The climate factor should be applied from 15 June 2026.

To read the ECB Guideline, please click the button below.