SME “covered bonds” have a political mandate

With 340 delegates, more people than ever attended the European Covered Bond Council’s Plenary meeting, held this year in Hotel Savoyen in Vienna. The welcome remark was delivered by Andy Jobst, a senior economist in the European department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He spoke about the role of covered bonds in expanding the European Central Bank’s balance sheet and the need for SME financing through securitizations, which regulated investors are not incentivised to buy.