Cap. 345 Art. 31DRequirement of a covered bond programme.

(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of Part III and to article 54, no covered bonds shall be issued in Malta by a credit institution unless and until a covered bond programme is approved by the competent authority.

(2) An application for the approval of a covered bond programme shall be in such form and accompanied by such documents and information and shall conform with such requirements as shall be specified in Covered Bonds Rules.

(3) The competent authority shall not approve a covered bond programme unless it is satisfied that –

(a) the credit institution has an adequate programme of operations setting out the issue of covered bonds;

(b) the credit institution has adequate policies, processes and methodologies aimed at investor protection for the approval, amendment, renewal and refinancing of loans included in the cover pool;

(c) the credit institution has management and staff dedicated to the covered bond programme which have adequate qualifications and knowledge regarding the issue of covered bonds and the administration of the covered bond programme;

(d) the administrative set-up of the credit institution’s cover pool and the monitoring thereof meets the applicable requirements laid down in this Act and any regulations and Covered Bonds Rules issued thereunder;

(e) the credit institution satisfies the requirements of this Act, and any regulations and Covered Bonds Rules issued thereunder; and

(f) the credit institution satisfies any other requirements that may be imposed by the competent authority.

(4) For the purposes of sub-regulation (3), a credit institution shall provide the competent authority with all the information necessary to enable the competent authority to satisfy itself of the credit institution’s compliance with the requirements of this Act and any regulations and Covered Bonds Rules issued thereunder.

(5) Information which the competent authority may require in connection with an application shall be provided in such form, and shall be verified in such manner, as the competent authority may direct.

(6) In determining an application, the competent authority may consider any information which it deems relevant to the application.

(7) The competent authority shall issue and publish Covered Bonds Rules as may be required in order to better implement the provisions of this article.