Germany wins ECB collateral respite but debate far from over

摘要

German banks scored a major coup last week after the ECB confirmed that their senior unsecured debt will remain eligible as collateral even after changes to insolvency rankings kick in from January 2017. The ECB's statement on Wednesday cleared up a key question hanging over the sector since Germany first proposed subordinating senior unsecured bonds to other senior liabilities to help its banks tackle new loss-absorbing requirements. European countries have been grappling with how best to implement bail-in rules in local laws, resulting in a wide range of solutions and vastly different looks for the new style of senior debt.