ECB to receive instant updates on loan quality
The European Central Bank will obtain direct and in-depth access to banks’ loan portfolios in their entirety through a huge statistical project named “Analytical Credit Dataset” (or “Anacredit” for short), which is currently under development.
Bank officials say that this mechanism will allow the monitoring authorities to keep track of the state of loans – at any point in time – that banks have issued to corporations and in effect constantly check on the quality of loans, instead of the existing Asset Quality Review (AQR).
Through Anacredit, all eurozone lenders will have to upload detailed information on loans worth over 25,000 euros (such as outstanding balances, any forfeiture, overdue arrears etc), on an online platform that will have to be updated on a monthly basis. Therefore, if there is an increase in nonperforming loans or any problems in any particular sector, the ECB will have an instant picture and will be able to intervene accordingly.
To date, there has not been a harmonized pattern of data submission, with banks regularly seeking to present an improved picture of their portfolios to the regulator, which used the AQR to pinpoint any problems.
