Covered bonds

A covered bond is a registered or bearer debt security whereby a mortgage bank commits itself in relation to the eligible person (covered bond holder) to pay certain cash amounts, i.e. to redeem a covered bond and to pay out interest in accordance with the agreed terms of bond issue.

In the event of the issuer’s bankruptcy, the claims of investors are secured with segregated assets of the mortgage bank, i.e. mortgage loans (in the case of mortgage covered bonds) or claims under loans granted to public sector entities (in the case of public covered bonds).

Mortgage banks in Poland issue covered bonds under the Act of 29 August 1997 on Covered Bonds and Mortgage Banks (Journal of Laws of 2016, item 1771).

Mortgage bonds have a long tradition in Poland. The first issues appeared in Silesia at the end of the 18th century.

The reason for the market success of covered bonds is their exceptional security, which results in certain privileges specified in banking, insurance or investment regulations.

The guarantee of timely and full payment of covered bonds is derived from:

• A particularly safe organisation of a mortgage bank as a credit institution that is specially licensed and supervised by a cover pool monitor, with a strictly defined business profile, excluding any speculation,
• High quality assets that form the basis for the issue of covered bonds and the source of their servicing in the event of the bank’s insolvency.

The ratings from Moody's Investors Service confirm the high security of mortgage bonds issued by us. 

Debt securities issued by mBank Hipoteczny meet the requirements of:

• UCITS directive regarding the operation of investment funds,
• Solvency II directive regarding insurance business,
• BRRD directive regarding the recovery and resolution of banks and investment companies,
• CRR regulation regarding the solvency of banks,
• LCR delegated regulation regarding the liquidity of banks,
• guidelines of the National Bank of Poland and the European Central Bank regarding the use of covered bonds as security for a lombard loan or in repo transactions.

We provide investors with full access to information through:

• quarterly Harmonised Transparency Template reports,
• compliance with information requirements imposed on issuers by exchanges in Warsaw and Luxembourg.