EBA · 2014_1530 Final Q&A

Definition of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as Financial Institution

Regulation
Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
Article
Art. 4, para. (27)
Topic
Supervisory reporting - Large Exposures
Submitted by
Consultancy firm
Submitted
2014-10-09
Answered
2019-10-04
Answer provided by
ESAs (EBA, ESMA, EIOPA)

Question

Are Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) which are used for of Asset Backed Securities (ABS) transactions "Financial Institutions" according to Art. 4 (27) CRR? If so, shall the Special Purpose Vehicles Reported as the 10 largest exposures on a consolidated basis to unregulated financial entities according to Art. 394 (2) CRR?

Background

As a Special Purpose Vehicle from pur point of view does not pursue one or more of the activities listed in points 2 to 12 and point 15 of Annex I to Directive 2013/36/EU, we would assume that Special Purpose Vehicles are no financial institutions according to Art. 4 (27). That's why we would not include them into the reporting of the 10 largest exposures on a consolidated basis to unregulated financial entities according to Art. 394 (2) CRR.

Answer

If, according to the competent authority, the SPV is considered to fall under the definition of a Securitisation Special Purpose Vehicle (SSPE) then it should not be considered a financial sector entity. SSPEs do not acquire participations per se and may not be regarded as carrying out any of the activities listed under Annex I to the CRDIV, having regard to the definition of SSPE in point (66) of Article 4(1) CRR, which specifies that the corporate purpose of a SSPE is limited to the achievement of the securitisation purpose (i.e. “to isolate the obligations of the SSPE from those of the originator”) and so they are in principle not allowed to carry out any other financial activities. See also “ EBA Opinion on other financial intermediaries (OFIs) and regulatory perimeter issues ”. As a result, exposures to SSPEs (or SPVs that qualify as SSPEs) should not be counted towards the report of the 10 largest exposures as specified in Article 394(2) CRR. In any case it should be considered that according to Article 390(7) CRR “in order to determine the overall exposure to a client or a Group of connected clients, in respect of clients to which the institution has exposures through transactions referred to in points (m) and (o) of article 112 or through other transactions where there is an exposure to underlying assets, an institution shall assess its underlying exposures taking into account the economic substance of the structure of the transaction and the risks inherent in the structure of the transaction itself, in order to determine whether it constitutes an additional exposure”.

Original source: European Banking Authority, Q&A ID 2014_1530

This Q&A is published by European Banking Authority and is non-binding. It does not constitute legal advice. Updated weekly from official ESA sources.

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