Sector developments and company hires

Homogeneity RTS released for STS synthetics
The EBA has published its final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) setting out the conditions for the assessment of the homogeneity of underlying exposures in STS on-balance sheet securitisation pools. At the same time, the authority has extended the existing work on the RTS on homogeneity for both ABCP and non-ABCP securitisations to ensure consistency for on-balance sheet securitisation to the overall STS framework.

These draft RTS amend the Delegated Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/1851 by extending the scope to on-balance sheet securitisations, considering the specificities of these securitisations. The existing provisions set out in the 2019 Commission Delegated Regulation are maintained, albeit with minor modifications to ensure consistency with the new mandate for on-balance sheet securitisations.

In particular, these RTS clarify that for on-balance sheet securitisations, homogeneous exposures need to be underwritten according to similar underwriting standards and serviced according to similar servicing procedures. In addition, they need to fall within the same asset category specified therein and be further assessed with reference to at least one of the homogeneity factors, such as type of obligor, ranking of security rights, jurisdiction or type of immovable property.

Finally, in order to ensure a continuation of existing securitisation transactions, transitional provisions have been introduced for securitisations that have been notified as STS and whose securities were issued before its application date. The aim is to ensure that existing transactions will continue to remain STS-compliant.

In other news…

EMEA
Groupe BPCE has joined the ranks of Scope Group's institutional shareholders. This latest investment follows the recent investment by AXA and reflects the growing relevance of the French market for Scope, with its Paris office – led by Marc Lefèvre – now the largest hub outside Germany. Indeed, French nationals hold some of the top positions at the rating agency, including chief analytical officer Guillaume Jolivet and supervisory board chair Inès de Dinechin.

Scope’s shareholders include several other European financial institutions - such as B&C Beteiligungsmanagement, Foyer, HDI/Talanx, Signal Iduna, SV SparkassenVersicherung and Swiss Mobiliar - as well as Germany’s largest foundation, RAG-Stiftung. The anchor shareholders of the Scope Group remain Florian Schoeller and Stefan Quandt.