Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

SECTION 2 U.K. Requirements for simple, transparent and standardised ABCP securitisation

Article 23 U.K. Simple, transparent and standardised ABCP securitisation

1. An ABCP transaction shall be considered STS where it complies with the transaction-level requirements provided for in Article 24.

2. An ABCP programme shall be considered STS where it complies with the requirements provided for in Article 26 and the sponsor of the ABCP programme complies with the requirements provided for in Article 25.

For the purpose of this Section, a ‘seller’ means ‘originator’ or ‘original lender’.

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Textual Amendments

F1 Art. 23(3) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Securitisation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/660), regs. 1(2), 21 (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Article 24 U.K. Transaction-level requirements

1. The title to the underlying exposures shall be acquired by the SSPE by means of a true sale or assignment or transfer with the same legal effect in a manner that is enforceable against the seller or any other third party. The transfer of the title to the SSPE shall not be subject to severe clawback provisions in the event of the seller’s insolvency.

2. For the purpose of paragraph 1, any of the following shall constitute severe clawback provisions:

(a) provisions which allow the liquidator of the seller to invalidate the sale of the underlying exposures solely on the basis that it was concluded within a certain period before the declaration of the seller’s insolvency;

(b) provisions where the SSPE can only prevent the invalidation referred to in point (a) if it can prove that it was not aware of the insolvency of the seller at the time of sale.

3. For the purpose of paragraph 1, clawback provisions in national insolvency laws that allow the liquidator or a court to invalidate the sale of underlying exposures in the case of fraudulent transfers, unfair prejudice to creditors or transfers intended to improperly favour particular creditors over others shall not constitute severe clawback provisions.

4. Where the seller is not the original lender, the true sale or assignment or transfer with the same legal effect of the underlying exposures to the seller, whether that true sale or assignment or transfer with the same legal effect is direct or through one or more intermediate steps, shall meet the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 to 3.

5. Where the transfer of the underlying exposures is performed by means of an assignment and perfected at a later stage than at the closing of the transaction, the triggers to effect such perfection shall include at least the following events:

(a) severe deterioration in the seller credit quality standing;

(b) insolvency of the seller; and

(c) unremedied breaches of contractual obligations by the seller, including the seller’s default.

6. The seller shall provide representations and warranties that, to the best of its knowledge, the underlying exposures included in the securitisation are not encumbered or otherwise in a condition that can be foreseen to adversely affect the enforceability of the true sale or assignment or transfer with the same legal effect.

7. The underlying exposures transferred from, or assigned by, the seller to the SSPE shall meet predetermined, clear and documented eligibility criteria which do not allow for active portfolio management of those exposures on a discretionary basis. For the purpose of this paragraph, substitution of exposures that are in breach of representations and warranties shall not be considered active portfolio management. Exposures transferred to the SSPE after the closing of the transaction shall meet the eligibility criteria applied to the initial underlying exposures.

8. The underlying exposures shall not include any securitisation position.

9. The underlying exposures shall be transferred to the SSPE after selection without undue delay and shall not include, at the time of selection, exposures in default within the meaning of Article 178(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or exposures to a credit-impaired debtor or guarantor, who, to the best of the originator’s or original lender’s knowledge:

(a) has been declared insolvent or had a court grant his creditors a final non-appealable right of enforcement or material damages as a result of a missed payment within three years prior to the date of origination or has undergone a debt restructuring process with regard to his non-performing exposures within three years prior to the date of transfer or assignment of the underlying exposures to the SSPE, except if:

(i)

a restructured underlying exposure has not presented new arrears since the date of the restructuring, which must have taken place at least one year prior to the date of transfer or assignment of the underlying exposures to the SSPE; and

(ii)

the information provided by the originator, sponsor and SSPE in accordance with points (a) and (e)(i) of the first subparagraph of Article 7(1) explicitly sets out the proportion of restructured underlying exposures, the time and details of the restructuring as well as their performance since the date of the restructuring;

(b) was, at the time of origination, where applicable, on a public credit registry of persons with adverse credit history or, where there is no such public credit registry, another credit registry that is available to the originator or original lender; or

(c) has a credit assessment or a credit score indicating that the risk of contractually agreed payments not being made is significantly higher than for comparable exposures held by the originator which are not securitised.

10. The debtors shall, at the time of transfer of the exposures, have made at least one payment, except in the case of revolving securitisations backed by exposures payable in a single instalment or having a maturity of less than one year, including without limitation monthly payments on revolving credits.

11. The repayment of the holders of the securitisation positions shall not have been structured to depend predominantly on the sale of assets securing the underlying exposures. This shall not prevent such assets from being subsequently rolled over or refinanced.

The repayment of the holders of the securitisation positions whose underlying exposures are secured by assets the value of which is guaranteed or fully mitigated by a repurchase obligation by the seller of the assets securing the underlying exposures or by another third party shall not be considered to depend on the sale of assets securing those underlying exposures.

12. The interest-rate and currency risks arising from the securitisation shall be appropriately mitigated and any measures taken to that effect shall be disclosed. Except for the purpose of hedging interest-rate or currency risk, the SSPE shall not enter into derivative contracts and shall ensure that the pool of underlying exposures does not include derivatives. Those derivatives shall be underwritten and documented according to common standards in international finance.

13. The transaction documentation shall set out, in clear and consistent terms, definitions, remedies and actions relating to delinquency and default of debtors, debt restructuring, debt forgiveness, forbearance, payment holidays, losses, charge-offs, recoveries and other asset-performance remedies. The transaction documentation shall clearly specify the priorities of payment, events which trigger changes in such priorities of payment as well as the obligation to report such events. Any change in the priorities of payments which will materially adversely affect the repayment of the securitisation position shall be reported to investors without undue delay.

14. The originator and the sponsor shall make available data on static and dynamic historical default and loss performance, such as delinquency and default data, for substantially similar exposures to those being securitised, and the sources of those data and the basis for claiming similarity, to potential investors before pricing. Where the sponsor does not have access to such data, it shall obtain from the seller access to data, on a static or dynamic basis, on the historical performance, such as delinquency and default data, for exposures substantially similar to those being securitised. All such data shall cover a period no shorter than five years, except for data relating to trade receivables and other short-term receivables, for which the historical period shall be no shorter than three years.

15. ABCP transactions shall be backed by a pool of underlying exposures that are homogeneous in terms of asset type, taking into account the characteristics relating to the cash flows of different asset types including their contractual, credit-risk and prepayment characteristics. A pool of underlying exposures shall only comprise one asset type.

The pool of underlying exposures shall have a remaining weighted average life of not more than one year, and none of the underlying exposures shall have a residual maturity of more than three years.

By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, pools of auto loans, auto leases and equipment lease transactions shall have a remaining weighted average life of not more than three and a half years, and none of the underlying exposures shall have a residual maturity of more than six years.

The underlying exposures shall not include loans secured by residential or commercial mortgages or fully guaranteed residential loans, as referred to in point (e) of the first subparagraph of Article 129(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013. The underlying exposures shall contain obligations that are contractually binding and enforceable, with full recourse to debtors with defined payment streams relating to rental, principal, interest, or related to any other right to receive income from assets warranting such payments. The underlying exposures may also generate proceeds from the sale of any financed or leased assets. The underlying exposures shall not include transferable securities as defined in point [F2 (24) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, other than corporate bonds] that are not listed on a trading venue.

[F3 In the fourth subparagraph the reference to Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 is a reference to Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, as it had effect immediately before IP completion day.]

16. Any referenced interest payments under the ABCP transaction’s assets and liabilities shall be based on generally used market interest rates, or generally used sectoral rates reflective of the cost of funds, but shall not reference complex formulae or derivatives. Referenced interest payments under the ABCP transaction’s liabilities may be based on interest rates reflective of an ABCP programme’s cost of funds.

17. Following the seller’s default or an acceleration event:

(a) no amount of cash shall be trapped in the SSPE beyond what is necessary to ensure the operational functioning of the SSPE or the orderly repayment of investors in accordance with the contractual terms of the securitisation unless exceptional circumstances require that an amount be trapped to be used, in the best interests of investors, for expenses in order to avoid the deterioration in the credit quality of the underlying exposures;

(b) principal receipts from the underlying exposures shall be passed to investors holding a securitisation position via sequential payment of the securitisation positions, as determined by the seniority of the securitisation position; and

(c) no provisions shall require automatic liquidation of the underlying exposures at market value.

18. The underlying exposures shall be originated in the ordinary course of the seller’s business pursuant to underwriting standards that are no less stringent than those that the seller applies at the time of origination to similar exposures that are not securitised. The underwriting standards pursuant to which the underlying exposures are originated and any material changes from prior underwriting standards shall be fully disclosed to the sponsor and other parties directly exposed to the ABCP transaction without undue delay. The seller shall have expertise in originating exposures of a similar nature to those securitised.

19. Where an ABCP transaction is a revolving securitisation, the transaction documentation shall include triggers for termination of the revolving period, including at least the following:

(a) a deterioration in the credit quality of the underlying exposures to or below a predetermined threshold; and

(b) the occurrence of an insolvency-related event with regard to the seller or the servicer.

20. The transaction documentation shall clearly specify:

(a) the contractual obligations, duties and responsibilities of the sponsor, the servicer and the trustee, if any, and other ancillary service providers;

(b) the processes and responsibilities necessary to ensure that a default or insolvency of the servicer does not result in a termination of servicing;

(c) provisions that ensure the replacement of derivative counterparties and the account bank upon their default, insolvency and other specified events, where applicable; and

(d) how the sponsor meets the requirements of Article 25(3).

21. [F4 The FCA may make] technical standards further specifying which underlying exposures referred to in paragraph 15 are deemed to be homogeneous.

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Textual Amendments

F2 Words in Art. 24(15) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Securitisation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/660), regs. 1(2), 22(a)(i) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F3 Words in Art. 24(15) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Securitisation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/660), regs. 1(2), 22(a)(ii) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1301, regs. 1, 3, Sch. para. 35(d)) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F4 Words in Art. 24(21) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Securitisation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/660), regs. 1(2), 22(b)(i) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F5 Words in Art. 24(21) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Securitisation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/660), regs. 1(2), 22(b)(ii) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Article 25 U.K. Sponsor of an ABCP programme

1. The sponsor of the ABCP programme shall be a [F6 person who is a CRR firm as defined by Article 4(1)(2A) of the Capital Requirements Regulation, but is not an investment firm as defined by Article 4(1)(2) of that Regulation].

2. The sponsor of an ABCP programme shall be a liquidity facility provider and shall support all securitisation positions on an ABCP programme level by covering all liquidity and credit risks and any material dilution risks of the securitised exposures as well as any other transaction- and programme-level costs if necessary to guarantee to the investor the full payment of any amount under the ABCP with such support. The sponsor shall disclose a description of the support provided at transaction level to the investors including a description of the liquidity facilities provided.

3. Before being able to sponsor an STS ABCP programme, the credit institution shall demonstrate to [F7 the PRA] that its role under paragraph 2 does not endanger its solvency and liquidity, even in an extreme stress situation in the market.

The requirement referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be considered to be fulfilled where [F8 the PRA] has determined on the basis of the review and evaluation referred to Article 97(3) of Directive 2013/36/EU that the arrangements, strategies, processes and mechanisms implemented by that credit institution and the own funds and liquidity held by it ensure the sound management and coverage of its risks.

4. The sponsor shall perform its own due diligence and shall verify compliance with the requirements set out in Article 5(1) and (3) of this Regulation, as applicable. It shall also verify that the seller has in place servicing capabilities and collection processes that meet the requirements specified in points (h) to (p) of Article 265(2) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or equivalent requirements in third countries.

5. The seller, at the level of a transaction, or the sponsor, at the level of the ABCP programme, shall satisfy the risk-retention requirement referred to in Article 6.

6. The sponsor shall be responsible for compliance with Article 7 at ABCP programme level and for making available to potential investors before pricing upon their request:

(a) the aggregate information required by point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 7(1); and

(b) the information required by points (b) to (e) of the first subparagraph of Article 7(1), at least in draft or initial form.

7. In the event that the sponsor does not renew the funding commitment of the liquidity facility before its expiry, the liquidity facility shall be drawn down and the maturing securities shall be repaid.

Textual Amendments

F6 Words in Art. 25(1) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Securitisation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/660), regs. 1(2), 23(a) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F7 Words in Art. 25(3) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Securitisation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/660), regs. 1(2), 23(b)(i) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F8 Words in Art. 25(3) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Securitisation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/660), regs. 1(2), 23(b)(ii) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Article 26 U.K. Programme-level requirements

1. All ABCP transactions within an ABCP programme shall fulfil the requirements of Article 24(1) to (8) and (12) to (20).

A maximum of 5 % of the aggregate amount of the exposures underlying the ABCP transactions and which are funded by the ABCP programme may temporarily be non-compliant with the requirements of Article 24(9), (10) and (11) without affecting the STS status of the ABCP programme.

For the purpose of the second subparagraph of this paragraph, a sample of the underlying exposures shall regularly be subject to external verification of compliance by an appropriate and independent party.

2. The remaining weighted average life of the underlying exposures of an ABCP programme shall not be more than two years.

3. The ABCP programme shall be fully supported by a sponsor in accordance with Article 25(2).

4. The ABCP programme shall not contain any resecuritisation and the credit enhancement shall not establish a second layer of tranching at the programme level.

5. The securities issued by an ABCP programme shall not include call options, extension clauses or other clauses that have an effect on their final maturity, where such options or clauses may be exercised at the discretion of the seller, sponsor or SSPE.

6. The interest-rate and currency risks arising at ABCP programme level shall be appropriately mitigated and any measures taken to that effect shall be disclosed. Except for the purpose of hedging interest-rate or currency risk, the SSPE shall not enter into derivative contracts and shall ensure that the pool of underlying exposures does not include derivatives. Those derivatives shall be underwritten and documented according to common standards in international finance.

7. The documentation relating to the ABCP programme shall clearly specify:

(a) the responsibilities of the trustee and other entities with fiduciary duties, if any, to investors;

(b) the contractual obligations, duties and responsibilities of the sponsor, who shall have expertise in credit underwriting, the trustee, if any, and other ancillary service providers;

(c) the processes and responsibilities necessary to ensure that a default or insolvency of the servicer does not result in a termination of servicing;

(d) the provisions for replacement of derivative counterparties, and the account bank at ABCP programme level upon their default, insolvency and other specified events, where the liquidity facility does not cover such events;

(e) that, upon specified events, default or insolvency of the sponsor, remedial steps shall be provided for to achieve, as appropriate, collateralisation of the funding commitment or replacement of the liquidity facility provider; and

(f) that the liquidity facility shall be drawn down and the maturing securities shall be repaid in the event that the sponsor does not renew the funding commitment of the liquidity facility before its expiry.

8. The servicer shall have expertise in servicing exposures of a similar nature to those securitised and shall have well-documented policies, procedures and risk-management controls relating to the servicing of exposures.