Guideline (EU) 2015/732 of the European Central Bank of 16 April 2015 amending Guideline (EU) 2015/510 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework (ECB/2014/60) (ECB/2015/20)

1 In order to be eligible, debt instruments shall have either of the following coupon structures until final redemption: (a) fixed, zero or multi-step coupons with a pre-defined coupon schedule and pre-defined coupon values that may not result in a negative cash flow; or (b) floating coupons that may not result in a negative cash flow and that have the following structure: coupon rate = (reference rate * l) ± x, with f ≤ coupon rate ≤ c, where: (i) the reference rate is only one of the following at a single point in time: a euro money market rate, e.g. Euribor, LIBOR or similar indices, a constant maturity swap rate, e.g. CMS, EIISDA, EUSA, the yield of one or an index of several euro area government bonds that have a maturity of one year or less, a euro area inflation index; and (ii) f (floor), c (ceiling), l (leveraging/deleveraging factor) and x (margin) are, if present, numbers that are either pre-defined at issuance, or may change over time only according to a path pre-defined at issuance, where f and c are greater than or equal to zero and l is greater than zero throughout the entire lifetime of the asset. For floating coupons with an inflation index reference rate, l shall be equal to one.

2 Any coupon structure that does not comply with paragraph 1 shall not be eligible, including instances where only part of the remuneration structure, such as a premium, is non-compliant.

3 For the purpose of this Article, if the coupon is either of a fixed multi-step type or of a floating multi-step type, the assessment of the relevant coupon structure shall be based on the entire lifetime of the asset with both a forward- and backward-looking perspective.

4 Acceptable coupon structures shall have no issuer optionalities, i.e. during the entire lifetime of the asset, based on a forward- and backward-looking perspective, changes in the coupon structure that are contingent on an issuer's decision shall not be acceptable.’

1 This Guideline shall take effect on the day of its notification to the NCBs.

2 The NCBs shall take the necessary measures to comply with this Guideline and apply them from 1 May 2015. They shall notify the ECB of the texts and means relating to those measures by 24 April 2015 at the latest.

This Guideline is addressed to all Eurosystem central banks.