The EBA publishes its final Guidelines on STS criteria for on-balance-sheet securitisation

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today the final Guidelines on the criteria related to simplicity, standardisation and transparency and additional specific criteria for on-balance-sheet securitisations (so-called STS criteria). These Guidelines will ensure a harmonised interpretation of these STS criteria, in alignment with the EBA Guidelines for asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) and non-asset-backed commercial paper (non-ABCP) securitisation.

The Guidelines on the STS criteria for on-balance-sheet securitisations (OBS) provide a harmonised interpretation of the STS criteria and focus on clarifying those criteria with potential aspects of ambiguity. The Guidelines will ensure a common understanding as well as a harmonised implementation of the criteria throughout the Union.

The Guidelines also include a limited set of targeted amendments to the Guidelines for non-ABCP securitisation and ABCP securitisation to ensure that the interpretation provided by the EBA is, where appropriate, the same and consistent across all three sets of guidelines.

Similar to the Guidelines on STS criteria for ABCP securitisation and non-ABCP securitisation, these Guidelines aim to provide a single point of consistent interpretation of the STS criteria to the relevant stakeholders throughout the Union.

These Guidelines will be applied on a cross-sectoral basis throughout the Union with the aim of facilitating the adoption of the STS criteria for OBS securitisation, which is one of the prerequisites for the preferential risk weight treatment under the CRR, supporting further lending to the real economy and thus contributing further to the objectives of the Capital Markets Union.

Legal basis and next steps

The Guidelines have been developed according to Article 26e(2) of the Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 (Securitisation Regulation) as amended by Regulation (EU) 2021/557, as part of the Capital Markets Recovery Package. The mandate entitles the EBA, in close cooperation with ESMA and EIOPA, to produce guidelines and recommendations on the harmonised interpretation and application of the criteria related to simplicity, transparency, standardisation and additional specific criteria for on-balance-sheet securitisation.