New legal regulation of covered bonds: Have we reached the European standard? Abstract The subject matter of this thesis is regulation of covered bonds, as a newly introduced category of debt securities in Czech law. The thesis aims to analyse selected aspects of the new regulatory regime through its fundamentals, as well as shortcomings and imperfections of the previous regulatory regime. In order to answer the question of what the European standard is and whether it can be unequivocally determined on the basis of analysis of the relevant European legislation, it also describes basic features of the European regulation. Besides the European Union's point of view, the thesis also reflects the way in which is the issue of proper regulation dealt with at the national level. The thesis is divided into four main parts. The first part defines the term covered bond and provides with a broader context of securities law, including the history of covered bonds. The thesis further identifies the main differences between covered bonds and other debt securities that are closely similar to covered bonds (i.e. secured notes, asset-backed securities and unsecured senior notes). The second part focuses on the European approach towards regulation and further determines four main features of the regulation of covered bonds....

När en person tar ett lån för att köpa en fastighet så tar denne ett Bolån. I Sverige har det funnits en fungerande bolånemarknad sedan länge, men år 2004 infördes en ny lag som kom att förändra hur den underliggande säkerheten hos lånen disponeras. Den nya typen av bolån benämndes säkerställda obligationer, en typ av obligation som skulle vara säkrare för både de som investerar och ger ut obligationen. Eftersom liknande lagstiftning redan fanns i flera andra länder i övriga världen, syftade även lagstiftningen till att underlätta för investerare internationellt. Lagen togs i bruk 2006 då flera av de stora svenska bankerna byta ut sina gamla obligationer för bolån mot de nya säkerställda obligationerna, och lagstiftningen ledde följaktligen till en del förändringar på den svenska bolånemarknaden. Utifrån den genomförda studien kan vi konstatera att bolånemarknaden inte genomgått några markanta förändringar, men att lagstiftningen öppnat upp nya dörrar för många potentiella investerare. Det verkar även som att marknaden för säkerställda obligationer kommer fortsätta utvecklas positivt, men det fanns en viss meningsskiljaktighet angående marknaden för säkerhetsställda obligationers framtida utveckling. Vi såg i studien, att många i vår omgivning antingen hade ingen eller en mycket begränsad kunskap om säkerställda obligationer. Studien har därför en lärande verkan, den informerar läsaren om en för vårt samhälle och vår vardag så nödvändig typ av obligation, som känns relevant att belysa. Relevansen i studien ligger i att ta reda på om lagstiftningen är det som fört marknaden framåt, detta för att öppna för vidare diskussioner om exempelvis en internationell lagstiftning skulle kunna vidga marknaden ytterligare.

Målet med denna rapport är att undersöka vad bolånefonder är, och hur de skiljer sig mot säkerställda obligationer. Avgränsningar görs till att endast ta upp svenska aktörer, och framförallt bostadskreditinstitutet Stabelo. Arbetet baseras på en kvalitativ metod där skillnader i säkerhet för bolånen, finansieringsstruktur, risk, avkastning samt tillsyn, kapitalkrav och riskhantering analyseras genom att bland annat studera bankers och bostadskreditinstitutet Stabelos belåningsgrad och avkastningskurvor. Skillnaderna mellan de två finansieringsformerna är, sett till vad de åstadkommer, inte stora. En slutsats är däremot att det finns en väsentlig skillnad i hur finansieringssätten är strukturerade, och att denna skillnad kan attrahera olika investerare. / The goal with this bachelor thesis is to examine what an alternative investment fund is, and how it differs from covered bonds. The report is limited to only covering Swedish market participants, and therein especially the alternative investment fund by Stabelo. The report takes a qualitative approach, where differences in financing structure, risk, yield as well as governance, capital requirement and risk management are being analysed, through studying the yield and underlying loan-to-value of banks and Stabelo. The differences between the two forms of financing, in the perspective of what they accomplish, are not immense. However, a major conclusion is that the difference lies in the way they are structured, and that this difference might suits different investors.

This Diploma Thesis describes foreign mortgage covered bonds which can be issued by Czech banks under English law on foreign regulated markets after the amendment to the Czech Act No. 190/2004 Coll., the Bonds Act, as amended took effect in 2012. The Diploma Thesis outlines basic characteristics of foreign mortgage covered bonds, lists reasons for their issuance, and compares them with certain alternative sources of funding for banks. The Diploma Thesis describes the structure of programme and issuance documentation used in the international capital markets. The author points out certain regulatory deficiencies existing under Czech law and proposes amendments in support of the international investment attractiveness of foreign mortgage covered bonds of Czech banks. The Diploma Thesis also analyses selected issuances of foreign mortgage covered bonds by Czech banks.

The thesis tries to explain different nature of the dynamics during the upward and downward part of the last house price cycle in Spain, characterized by important rigidities. Covered bonds are introduced as an instrument which may accelerate a house price boom, while it may also serve as a source of correction to overvalued house prices in downturn. In a serious economic stress, lack of investment opportunities motivates investors to buy the covered bonds due to the strong guarantees provided, which may in turn help to revitalize the credit and housing markets. To address such regime shift, house price dynamics is modelled within a framework of mutually related house price, credit and business cycles using smooth transition vector autoregressive model. Linear behaviour of such system is rejected, indicating the need to model house prices in a nonlinear framework. Also, importance of modelling house prices in the context of credit and business cycles is confirmed. Possible causality from issuance of covered bonds to house price dynamics was identified in this nonlinear structure. Finally, threat to financial stability resulting from rising asset encumbrance both in the upward and downward part of the house price cycle was identified, stressing the need to model impact of the covered bonds on house prices in...