ECB Said to Relax Requirements for Mortgage-Backed Collateral
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The European Central Bank will relax some rules on the collateral that banks can offer in exchange for ECB funds, said a central bank official.
The Frankfurt-based central bank’s Governing Council decided yesterday to lower the minimum rating threshold for mortgage-backed securities to BBB- from A-, said the official, who declined to be identified because the discussions were private. Spanish banks have been unable to use some securities as collateral because the rating is too low, the person said.