European Central Bank Banking Supervision published a letter to a Member of the European Parliament clarifying its role in Greek banks’ non-performing loan securitisations under the Hellenic Asset Protection Scheme (HAPS), particularly on the identification of special purpose vehicles’ (SPVs) beneficial owners. It explains that its prudential involvement is limited to case-by-case assessments of significant risk transfer (SRT) under the Capital Requirements Regulation and that it has no supervisory mandate to monitor SPV beneficial ownership or to enforce disclosure obligations under EU anti-money laundering or credit-servicing transparency rules. As part of SRT assessments under Article 244 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, ECB Banking Supervision verifies that credit risk is transferred to third-party investors and checks that SPVs receiving the loans are properly segregated and deconsolidated from the originating banks. It also notes that, under HAPS, the Greek State guarantee applies only to the senior notes, which were purchased entirely by the originating Greek banks and retained on their balance sheets, meaning third-party investors acquiring most mezzanine and junior notes do not benefit from the guarantee. On transparency requirements under Directive (EU) 2021/2167, the ECB points to supervision by national competent authorities and adds that EU credit institutions are largely outside the Directive’s scope; where Article 15 requires information to be provided to prudential supervisors, it covers legal entity identifiers of credit purchasers rather than beneficial owner information as defined in Directive (EU) 2015/849. On requests to ensure disclosure of SPV beneficial owners in the Bank of Greece public register, the ECB refers to the central register requirement in Article 30 of Directive (EU) 2015/849 and states that enforcement falls to the national authorities designated under the Member States’ transposing laws.
European Central Bank - Banking Supervision 2026-03-20
European Central Bank Banking Supervision says it assesses Greek HAPS securitisations for significant risk transfer but does not monitor SPV beneficial owners
The European Central Bank (ECB) clarified its role in Greek banks' non-performing loan securitisations under the Hellenic Asset Protection Scheme, emphasizing limited involvement to case-by-case assessments of significant risk transfer. Monitoring special purpose vehicle ownership and enforcing disclosure obligations fall to national authorities. The Greek State guarantee under HAPS applies only to senior notes retained by originating banks, not mezzanine and junior notes held by third-party investors.