ECB Requirement to Mark to Market Loan Collateral Will Reveal Italian Bank
Exposures and Require More Capital
Last Tuesday, the European Central Bank published a technical manual on its asset quality review, which
among its provisions included a requirement to mark to market loan collateral. This requirement affects
Italian banks, because secured collateralised loans, particularly real estate loans, constitute about 45% of
banks’ lending book and real estate market prices have declined in Italy owing to a lack of demand amid the
country’s weak economy. We expect marking loan collateral to market will require that the Italian banks
raise more capital.
The Bank of Italy in a 2012 review of the accounts of the country’s 20 largest banks and in subsequent
inspections urged banks to write down collateral values associated with problem loans in determining
proper problem loan provisioning. The Bank of Italy urged what we believe was up to a 40% write-down of
commercial real estate values. However, we conclude that the gap between the book value and market value
of the banks’ collateral persists.
The effect of valuing collateral at its market value and the resulting need to increase problem-loan coverage
with loan-loss reserves will likely be significant for many banks. There are some banks, such as UniCredit
SpA (Baa2 stable, D+/baa3 negative6
) and Banco Popolare Società Cooperativa (Ba3 positive, E+/b3
positive), that have already made significant loan-loss provisions in their 2013 results, partly as a result of
strengthening coverage, writing down collateral and, more generally, preparing for the asset quality review.
Other banks with weak asset quality, such as Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. (B2 negative, E/caa3
no outlook) and Credito Valtellinese (Ba3 negative, E+/b1 stable), or those with low coverage of problem
loans, such as Unione di Banche Italiane S.c.p.A. (Baa3 negative, D+/ba1 negative) and Banca Popolare di
Milano S.C.a.r.l. (B1 negative, E+/b2 stable), have not yet fully made loan-loss provisions related to
collateral valuation and asset quality review in their 2013 results.7
In anticipation of likely significant capital
effects from the collateral revaluation and the asset quality review, these and other Italian banks are
planning share issues that currently total around €8 billion to avoid any further corrective measures imposed
on them by the European Central Bank.