All issuances executed before 8.7.2022 were issued in compliance with the Mortgage Banking Act (Hypothekenbankgesetz) and are here stated as “Pfandbriefe”.

Starting with 8.7.2022, the issuance of Mortgage Covered Bonds and Public Covered Bonds (or “gedeckte Schuldverschreibungen”) by UniCredit Bank Austria AG is governed by the provisions of the Austrian Covered Bond Law (Pfandbriefgesetz - PfandBG).
The Covered Bond Law is based on an EU-Directive, which harmonized the rules for Covered Bonds within the EU.

The Austrian Covered Bond Law ensures that investors in Mortgage and Public Covered Bonds have a tightly meshed safety net; Covered Bonds are declared as gilt-edged under Austrian Civil Law.

All rules and regulations regarding the cover pool register, cover pool trustee and reporting of the cover pool are applicable to both Mortgage Covered Bonds and Public Covered Bonds:

  • Each cover pool secures its respective issues equally (i.e. the whole Mortgage Cover Pool secures all Mortgage Covered Bonds and the whole Public Cover Pool secures all Public Covered Bonds). Matching particular Covered Bond issues and parts of cover pools is not allowed.
  • The issuer has to maintain an overcollateralization of at least 2 % of the nominal amount of the Covered Bonds issued at all times.
  • Benefitting investor protection, the credit institution must at any time maintain a liquidity buffer, which covers the net liquidity outflows of the respective Covered Bond Program over the next 180 days.
  • Each credit institution, which issues covered bonds, is obligated to appoint an internal or external Trustee.
  • In case of insolvency of the issuer, the assets in the Cover Pool are being separated from the rest of the assets and the holders of Public Covered Bonds or Mortgage Covered Bonds have a preferential claim on the cover assets. A special cover pool administrator will then be appointed to manage the cover pools.

Eligible for the Public Cover Pool are loans compliant with Article 129 CRR, in particular, loans to central governments, regional governments or local authorities as well as to “Public Sector Entities” acc. to Article 4 No 8 CRR in the Union.
In addition, loans which are guaranteed by the mentioned institutions. Bonds issued or guaranteed by one of the bodies stated before are also eligible assets for the Public Cover Pool. 

The Public Cover Pool of UniCredit Bank Austria AG holds a Triple A rating (Aaa) by Moody's and was granted the ECBC Covered Bond Label.
Covered Bonds Label
The Mortgage Cover Pool only consists of mortgages situated in Austria.

The Mortgage Cover Pool of UniCredit Bank Austria AG holds a Triple A rating (Aaa) by Moody's and was granted the ECBC Covered Bond Label.
Covered Bonds Label
Here you may find details of UniCredit Bank Austria AG's cover pools:
Cover Pool Reporting

Here you may find additional details of UniCredit Bank Austria AG's cover pools:
The Harmonised Transparency Template (HTT) is a world-wide standardised, Excel-based form that issuers who have been granted the Covered Bond Label use to disclose information on their covered bond programs.

Link to HTT for public sector cover pool (XLSX)
Link to HTT for mortgage cover pool (XLSX)

You can find a list of UniCredit Bank Austria AG’s Pfandbriefe and Covered Bonds on the website of the Covered Bond Label.

Link to "Pfandbrief & Covered Bond Forum Austria": www.pfandbriefforum.at