EBA Publishes Reports on Funding Plans and Asset Encumbrance of Banks

The report on funding plans reveals that total assets are projected to grow, on average, by 6.2% by 2020. The main drivers for asset growth are loans to households and to non-financial corporates. Banks expect to increase client deposits and long-term debt funding while short-term debt and repo funding are expected to fall. The projected data shows a concentration of debt securities issuance in 2019 and 2020. Data also show that the spread between interest rates for client deposits and for loans to clients declined in 2017 and most banks expect the spread to decline even further in 2018. On the cost of funding, banks seem optimistic as they assume their costs of long-term market-based funding in 2018 will remain at 2017 levels. The report suggests that the evolution of banks' interest spread and market-based funding costs should be closely monitored, particularly for banks that are under pressure to increase profitability or without access to market-based funding at reasonable rates.

The report on asset encumbrance shows that in December 2017 the overall weighted average asset encumbrance ratio stood at 27.9%, compared to 26.6% in 2016. The modest increase of the encumbrance ratio is not an issue of immediate concern in the funding structure of EU banks. Additionally, repos, covered bonds, and over-the-counter derivatives are among the main source of asset encumbrance. Banks in countries that were more affected by the sovereign debt crisis still have high levels but have shown a decrease in the volume of encumbrance, which could reflect a general improvement in the funding situation in these countries. These reports aim to provide important information for EU supervisors to assess the sustainability of banks' main sources of funding of banks.

Related Links

• Press Release
• Report on Funding Plans (PDF)
• Report on Asset Encumbrance (PDF)

Keywords: Europe, EU, Banking, Asset Encumbrance, Funding Plans, EBA