01. How do loans get added to the cover pool
Commercial mortgages are purchased by SpareBank 1 Naeringskreditt from its parents banks in order to provide these banks with covered bond funding. The banks have decided to have a common platform for this type of funding as it then becomes a larger unit and can issue larger amounts in the covered bond market which is beneficial for frequency, recognition and liquidity of the bonds. Commercial mortgages are only purchased from member banks of the SpareBank 1 Alliance and BN Bank which is a bank owned by these banks.
02. Does the loan quality vary form bank to bank which sells loans to the cover pool?
The SpareBank 1 banks have a common credit underwriting model for commercial lending, which is also employed by Naeringskreditt. All loans must be approved according to this model which produces a rating (PD rating) for each loan and provides a model estimate for collateral value. The model is a rental contract cash flow model. This ensures uniformity in the loan portfolio despite the loans being underwritten by potentially all the banks in the Alliance.
03. How often is new information about the cover pool published?
Cover pool statistics are reported on quarterly and made available on our website with a target publishing date around the end of the month following calendar quarter-end. We make the information available in both pdf and excel formats and call the reports "Investor Reports", which also contain details on all covered bonds outstanding and a line-by-line listing of all holdings in our liquidity portfolio.
04. Are loans in the cover pool fixed or variable rate or a mix of the two?
All mortgage loans in the cover pool are floating rate, they are linked to NIBOR, the Norwegian Inter Bank Offered Rate wit resets usually on 3 month basis.
05. What are the LTV limits for commercial mortage loans in the cover pool?
60% as per the Norwegian covered bond legislation
06. Is SpareBank 1 Naeringskreditt a SPV?
SpareBank 1 Naeringskreditt is a covered bond issuer, regulated as a mortgage credit institution, and as such is subject to the same capitalisation requirements as for all banks (as well as all other banking regulations through Basel III and CRD IV). Boligkreditt acquires the commercial mortgage loans from its parent banks in the SpareBank 1 Alliance on a 'true sale' basis. When a parent bank sells mortgages to Boligkreditt, a sufficient amount of capital is required from the selling bank. In addition, the parent banks continue to have an obligation to pay in additional capital should this become necessary, for example if there would be a deterioration in existing capital levels at the covered bond issuer; the commitment is joint and several for all the 15 member banks of the SpareBank 1 Alliance.
07. What is the quality of the commercial mortgages in the cover pool?
Cover pool quality is very good. SpareBank 1 Naeringskreditt has never experienced a loss on a mortgage, nor has there been any issues in the cover pool with regards to arrears levels or foreclosures. Please see the tab "Credit Policy" for details about how we ensure a high quality cover pool.
08. Why aren't the SpareBank 1 banks merging into one legal unit?
The SpareBank 1 Alliance was founded amongst the large regional savings banks in Norway in 1996. The objective was to cooperate in a number of areas and achieve economies of scale. The most important result of this was the founding of a central group entity which manages and develops central competencies (i.e. payment systems, risk management, IT systems) and product development (insurance, savings and other banking products) in common for all of the banks. All SpareBank 1 banks also share a common super-brand, SpareBank 1, in the Norwegian market and has become a 'household brand name' over the years. The continuing decision to remain independent is rooted in the overall very good financial and other results from the cooperation within the Alliance, and the strength of the local anchoring that each bank represent in its regional market.
09. How does Naeringskreditt manage its currency and interest rate risks?
With interest rate and currency swaps. All loans are floating rate thus all debt is either issued as floating rate or swapped into NOK denominated floating rate on the same interest rate basis as the commercial mortgages.
