The CSPP is hereby established. Under the CSPP specified Eurosystem central banks may purchase eligible corporate bonds from eligible counterparties in the primary and secondary markets, while public sector corporate bonds, as defined in Article 3(1), may only be purchased in the secondary markets, under specific conditions.
Decision (EU) 2016/948 of the European Central Bank of 1 June 2016 on the implementation of the corporate sector purchase programme (ECB/2016/16)
Decision (EU) 2016/948 of the European Central Bank of 1 June 2016 on the implementation of the corporate sector purchase programme (ECB/2016/16)
Article 1 Establishment and scope of the outright purchase of corporate bonds
Article 2 Eligibility criteria for corporate bonds
In order to be eligible for outright purchase under the CSPP, marketable debt instruments issued by corporations shall comply with the eligibility criteria for marketable assets for Eurosystem credit operations pursuant to Part 4 of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/60)(1) and the following additional requirements.
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The issuer of the marketable debt instrument:
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is incorporated in a Member State whose currency is the euro;
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is not a credit institution as defined in point (14) of Article 2 of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60);
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does not have a parent undertaking as defined in point (15) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council(2) that is also a credit institution as defined in point (14) of Article 2 of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60);
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does not have a parent company which is subject to banking supervision outside the euro area;
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is not a supervised entity as defined in point (20) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/17)(3) or a member of a supervised group as defined in subpoint (b) of point (21) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17), in each case, as contained in the list published by the ECB on its website in accordance with Article 49(1) of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17), and is not a subsidiary, as defined in point (16) of Article 4(1) of the Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, of any of those supervised entities or supervised groups;
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is not an investment firm as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(4);
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has not issued an asset-backed security within the meaning of point (3) of Article 2 of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60);
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has not issued a multi cédula within the meaning of point (62) of Article 2 of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60);
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has not issued a structured covered bond within the meaning of point (88) of Article 2 of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60);
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is not an entity, whether publicly or privately owned, that: (i) has as its main purpose the gradual divestment of its assets and the cessation of its business; or (ii) is an asset management or divestment entity established to support financial sector restructuring and/or resolution(5), including asset management vehicles resulting from a resolution action in the form of the application of an asset separation tool pursuant to Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council(6) or national legislation implementing Article 42 of Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(7); and
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is not an eligible issuer for the PSPP.
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If a marketable debt instrument has an initial maturity of 365/366 days or less, the minimum remaining maturity shall be 28 days at the time of its purchase by the relevant Eurosystem central bank;
If a marketable debt instrument has an initial maturity of 367 days or more, the minimum remaining maturity shall be 6 months and the maximum remaining maturity shall be 30 years and 364 days at the time of its purchase by the relevant Eurosystem central bank.
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In deviation from Article 59(5) of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 (ECB/2014/60), only credit assessment information that is provided by an external credit assessment institution accepted within the Eurosystem credit assessment framework will be taken into account for the assessment of the credit quality requirements of the marketable debt instrument.
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The marketable debt instrument is denominated in euro.
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Purchases of nominal corporate bonds at a negative yield to maturity (or yield to worst) equal to or above the deposit facility rate are permitted. Purchases of nominal corporate bonds at a negative yield to maturity (or yield to worst) below the deposit facility rate are permitted to the extent necessary.
Article 3 Limitations on the execution of purchases of public sector corporate bonds
1.
For the purposes of this Decision, a ‘public sector corporate bond’ means a corporate bond that fulfils the requirements of Article 2 and is issued by a public undertaking within the meaning of Article 8 of Council Regulation (EC) No 3603/93(9).
2.
To permit the formation of a market price for eligible public sector corporate bonds, no purchases shall be permitted of a newly issued or tapped public sector corporate bond, or of public sector corporate bonds issued by the same entity or by the entities within the issuer's group with maturities that expire close in time to, either just before or after, the maturity of the marketable debt instruments to be issued or tapped, over a period to be determined by the Governing Council.
Article 4 Purchase limits
1.
An issue share limit per international securities identification number (ISIN) shall apply under the CSPP, after consolidating holdings in all of the portfolios of the Eurosystem central banks. The issue share limit shall be 70 % per ISIN for all corporate bonds other than public sector corporate bonds.
A lower issue share limit may apply in specific cases, including for public sector corporate bonds or for risk management reasons. Public sector corporate bonds shall be dealt with in a manner consistent with their treatment under the PSPP.
2.
The Eurosystem shall conduct appropriate credit risk and due diligence procedures on eligible corporate bonds on an ongoing basis.
3.
The Eurosystem shall define additional purchase limits for issuer groups based on a benchmark allocation related to an issuer group's market capitalisation to ensure a diversified allocation of purchases across issuers and issuer groups.
Article 4a Incorporation of climate change considerations into the benchmark allocation
1.
The benchmark allocation referred to in Article 4(3) shall incorporate climate change considerations, in particular in order to manage the Eurosystem’s exposure to climate-related financial risks, in accordance with the methodology approved by the Governing Council, including the elements thereof set out in the Annex.
2.
The Governing Council may, when it considers it necessary to do so, review the methodology referred to in paragraph 1, in particular in order to take into account climate-related financial risks and the advancement in risk assessment capabilities.