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Financial Union: Commission launches risk reduction proposal to enable sovereign bond-backed securities

The Commission is proposing new rules that will allow market-led solutions to support further integration and diversification within Europe's financial sector, leading to a stronger and more resilient Economic and Monetary Union.

Press conference by Valdis Dombrovskis and Jyrki Katainen
European Union, 2018

date:  11/06/2018

See alsoPress release

The Commission is proposing new rules that will allow market-led solutions to support further integration and diversification within Europe's financial sector, leading to a stronger and more resilient Economic and Monetary Union. The proposal made on 24 May will remove unwarranted regulatory obstacles to the market-led development of sovereign bond-backed securities (SBBS). These securities would be issued by private institutions as claims on a portfolio of euro-area government bonds. SBBS would, by design, not involve mutualisation of risks and losses among euro area Member States. Only private investors would share risk and possible losses. Investing in such new instruments would help investors such as investment funds, insurance companies, or banks to diversify their sovereign portfolios, leading to more integrated financial markets. It would also contribute to weakening the link between banks and their home countries, which—despite recent progress—remains strong in some cases. SBBS would not negatively affect existing national bond markets.