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Marketable assets

Eligibility criteria

Eligibility of debt instruments issued on the basis of DG Bank-Umwandlungsgesetz

In order to be eligible as collateral for Eurosystem credit operations, marketable assets must comply with the eligibility criteria as laid down in the "General framework" . Additional temporary measures on collateral eligibility are laid down in the “Temporary framework” , and are applicable until further notice.

Schematic overview (further details are set out in the General Documentation)
Eligibility criteria Marketable assets
Type of asset ECB debt certificates
Other marketable debt instruments:
e.g. Central government debt instruments, Debt instruments issued by central banks, Local and regional government debt instruments, Supranational debt instruments, Covered bank bonds, Credit institutions debt instruments, Debt instruments issued by corporate and other issuers, Asset-backed securities.
Credit standards The asset must meet credit quality requirements. The credit quality requirements are assessed using Eurosystem credit assessment framework (ECAF) rules for marketable assets.
Place of issue * EEA
Settlement /
handling procedures
Place of settlement: euro area
Instruments must be centrally deposited in book-entry form with NCBs or an eligible SSS.
Type of issuer / debtor / guarantors Central banks
Public sector, Private sector, International and supranational institutions.
Place of establishment of the issuer * / debtor / guarantor Issuer: EEA or non-EEA G10 countries
Debtor: EEA Guarantor: EEA
Acceptable markets Regulated markets
Non-regulated markets accepted by the ECB
Currency* Euro
Cross-border use Yes
* or as further specified in the “Temporary framework”

Eligibility of debt instruments issued on the basis of DG Bank-Umwandlungsgesetz

Debt instruments issued on the basis of the DG Bank-Umwandlungsgesetz do not qualify as European Economic Area legislative covered bonds, as defined in the General Documentation (Article 2 (24a)).

Therefore, on 29 December 2022 the Governing Council decided that these instruments should be removed from the list of eligible assets on 28 February 2023 and, hence, cannot be used as collateral as of 1 March 2023. This period will provide counterparties that have been using the instruments as collateral for Eurosystem credit operations sufficient time to replace them.

Eligibility assessment procedure

Proactive assessment by NCBs once the asset is issued

Prior to the publication on the ECB website in the list of eligible marketable assets, national central banks (NCBs) proactively assess the eligibility of the marketable assets. The NCB of the country where the asset is admitted to trading on a regulated market or traded on a non-regulated market is responsible for the assessment of the eligibility of the marketable asset.

The eligibility assessment process only begins once the asset is issued and all the necessary documentation mentioned below is available to the respective NCB. Both NCBs and ECB do not confirm the eligibility of an asset prior to its issuance.

Once the assessment procedure is completed, the marketable asset will be included in the list of eligible marketable assets provided it complies with the ECB’s eligibility criteria.

If a marketable asset does not appear on the list of eligible marketable assets but you believe it should be there, please contact the NCB of the country where the asset is admitted to trading on a regulated market or on an acceptable non-regulated market. To facilitate the assessment procedure, it might be helpful to provide the responsible NCB with the following information:

  • rating letter from the credit rating agencies;
  • rating agencies’ pre-sale reports (not their web pages);
  • final offering circular for the transaction;
  • ISIN code of the security; Reuters/Bloomberg page codes;
  • confirmation of the form of the notes and the common safekeeper for international debt instruments issued through the international central securities depositories (ICSDs).(1)

(1) International debt instruments in global bearer form which are issued through the ICSDs (in practice, usually with XS ISIN codes) must be issued solely in the form of new global notes (NGNs). However, those in global registered form must be issued under the new safekeeping structure (NSS) for international debt instruments. Securities issued through national CSDs are not subject to NGN or NSS requirements.

Acceptable markets

One eligibility criterion for marketable assets is that the debt instrument must be admitted to trading on a regulated market as defined in the Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on markets in financial instruments, or traded on certain non-regulated markets specified by the ECB.

Regulated markets

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) maintains a list of regulated markets which can be accessed under registers.esma.europa.eu.

Non-regulated markets

The assessment of non-regulated markets is made by the Eurosystem and is based on three principles: safety, transparency, and accessibility.

The three principles are defined by the Eurosystem exclusively in terms of the performance of the Eurosystem’s collateral management function. The selection process is not aimed at assessing the intrinsic quality of the various markets.

  • Safety is taken to mean certainty with regard to transactions, in particular certainty on the validity and enforceability of transactions.
  • Transparency is taken to mean unimpeded access to information on the market’s rules of procedure and operation, the financial features of the assets, the price formation mechanism, and the relevant prices and quantities (quotes, interest rates, trading volumes, outstanding amounts, etc.).
  • Accessibility refers to the Eurosystem’s ability to take part in and have access to the market; a market is accessible for collateral management purposes if its rules of procedure and operation allow the Eurosystem to obtain information and conduct transactions when needed for these purposes. The current list of non-regulated markets which are deemed to comply with these three principles are listed in the table below.
Current list of non-regulated markets accepted by the ECB (updated: 21 July 2021)
Country Name of non-regulated market accepted by the ECB Code for the List of eligible marketable assets
EU STEP market RMEU01
Belgium The OTC market for Belgian Treasury Bills (BTB) RMBE05
The OTC market for Belgian commercial papers RMBE06
The OTC market for Belgian Strips RMBE07
Euronext Growth Brussels RMBE10
Germany The unofficial market (“Freiverkehr”) of a German exchange RMDE11
Estonia The OTC market for Estonian Treasury Bills (ESTB) RMEE02
France Government securities markets (Bons du Trésor: BTF/OAT) RMFR03
Negotiable European Commercial Paper NEU CP market RMFR04
Negotiable European Medium-Term Notes (formerly BMTN) market RMFR05
Euronext Growth Paris RMFR06
Ireland Global Exchange Market (GEM) RMIE02
Italy EuroTLX RMIT08
SSO Bondvision RMIT09
ExtraMOT RMIT10
Hi-MTF RMIT11
Lithuania First North Market RMLT02
Luxembourg EuroMTF RMLU02
Netherlands MTS Netherlands RMNL04
Austria Vienna MTF RMAT03
Austrian Treasury Bill Market (ATB Programme) RMAT05
Austrian Commercial Paper Market (ACP Programme) RMAT06
Portugal Euronext Growth Lisbon RMPT08
Slovenia MTS Slovenia RMSI02
SI ENTER RMSI03
Spain Mercado Alternativo de Renta Fija (MARF, Alternative Fixed-Income Market) RMES07
Finland The money market for treasury bills (Finnish Treasury Bill Programme) RMFI04
MTS Finland RMFI05
First North Bond Market Finland RMFI08

Recognised agencies

Updated: 7 December 2022

Name of agency recognised by the ECB Compliance with quantitative criteria
Action Logement Services (ALS)  
ADIF-Alta Velocidad  
Agence centrale des organismes de sécurité sociale (ACOSS)  
Agence de Promotion Immobilière du Brabant wallon (APIBW)  
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) yes
Agence France Locale (AFL)  
Agenzia nazionale per l’attrazione degli investimenti e lo sviluppo d’impresa S.p.A. (Invitalia)  
Alliade Habitat  
Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP)  
Autobahnen- und Schnellstraßen-Finanzierungs-Aktiengesellschaft (ASFINAG)  
Batigère  
BNG Bank N.V. yes
Bayerischen Landesbodenkreditanstalt (BayernLabo)  
Bpifrance Financement yes
Bremer Aufbau-Bank  
Caisse d'Amortissement de la dette sociale (CADES) yes
Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC)  
Cassa del Trentino S.p.A.  
Cassa Depositi e prestiti S.p.A. (CDP) yes
Caisse Nationale des Autoroutes (CNA)  
CDC Habitat  
Clairsienne  
Clesence  
Družba za avtoceste v Republiki Sloveniji, d.d. (DARS)  
Finlombarda S.p.A.  
Finnvera PLC  
Fondo de Amortización del Déficit Eléctrico, Fondo de Titulización de Activos (FADE)
Fonds Du Logement Des Familles Nombreuses De Wallonie Scrl (FLW)  
Fonds régional bruxellois de refinancement des trésoreries communales (FRTC)  
Grand Delta Habitat  
Groupement des Centres Hospitaliers Universitaires (CHU) / Centres Hospitaliers Régionaux (CHR)  
Halpades Societe Anonyme HLM  
Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank (IFB Hamburg)  
Housing Finance Agency plc (HFA)  
Île-de-France Mobilités (previously STIF)  
Infrabel SA  
Infraestruturas de Portugal S.A. (IP)  
IN'LI  
Instituto Catalán De Finanzas (ICF)  
Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO)  
Instituto de Finanzas de Cantabria (ICAF)  
Investitions und Strukturbank Rheinland-Pfalz  
Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB)  
Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB)  
Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein (IB.SH)  
Investitionsbank Sachsen-Anhalt  
Attistibas finanšu institucija Altum  
Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) yes
Kuntarahoitus Oyj/ Municipality Finance PLC (MuniFin) yes
Landesförderinstitut Mecklenburg-Vorpommern  
Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg - Förderbank  (L-Bank) yes
Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank yes
LfA Förderbank Bayern  yes
Maisons et cites Soginorpa  
Malta Development Bank  
NBank  
Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO)  
Nederlandse Waterschapsbank N.V. (NWB Bank) yes
Néolia  
NRW.BANK yes
ÖBB-Infrastruktur A.G.
Oesterreichische Kontrollbank A.G. (OeKB) yes
PARPÚBLICA - Participações Públicas S.A. (SGPS)  
Saarländische Investitions-kreditbank AG  
Sächsische Aufbaubank – Förderbank (SAB)  
SFIL S.A.  yes
SID – Slovenska izvozna in razvojna banka, d.d., Ljubljana (SID banka)  
Slovenská záručná a rozvojová banka, a.s. (SZRB)  
Slovenski državni holding, d.d. (SDH)  
SNCF Réseau yes
Société du Grand Paris (SGP) yes
Société wallonne du crédit social SA (SWCS)  
Société Wallonne du Logement SA (SWL)  
Thüringer Aufbaubank  
Työllisyysrahasto (previously Työttömyysvakuutusrahasto (TVR))  
UAB Valstybės investicinis kapitalas (VIK)  
Unédic yes
Valloire Habitat  
Vilogia  
Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank)  

Wohnbau Burgenland GmbH

Recognised supranational issuers

Updated: 10 January 2020

  • African Development Bank
  • Asian Development Bank
  • Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
  • Bank for International Settlements
  • Caribbean Development Bank
  • Council of Europe Development Bank
  • European Atomic Energy Community
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • European Financial Stability Facility
  • European Investment Bank
  • European Investment Fund
  • European Stability Mechanism
  • European Union
  • Inter-American Development Bank
  • International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • International Development Association
  • International Finance Corporation
  • International Finance Facility for Immunisation
  • International Monetary Fund
  • Islamic Development Bank
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
  • Nordic Investment Bank

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