Secretariat of the Interministerial Committee for Credit and Savings

The Minister of Economy and Finance

President of the Interministerial Committee for Credit and Savings

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HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree 1 September 1993, No. 385, and subsequent amendments and additions, containing the Consolidated Law on Banking and Credit (TUB);

HAVING REGARD TO Article 7-bis of Law 30 April 1999, No. 130, containing "Provisions on the securitization of credits," introduced by Decree-Law 14 March 2005, No. 35, converted with modifications by Law 14 May 2005, No. 80, and in particular:

• paragraph 1, which regulates operations involving the assignment of real estate and mortgage credits, credits against public administrations or guaranteed by them, also identifiable in bulk, as well as securities issued within the scope of securitization operations involving credits of the same nature, carried out by banks in favor of companies whose exclusive object is the purchase of such credits and securities, through the assumption of financing granted or guaranteed also by the assigning banks, and the provision of guarantees for the obligations issued by the same banks or by others;

• paragraph 2, pursuant to which the credits and securities purchased by the company referred to in paragraph 1 and the sums paid by the related debtors are destined to satisfy the rights, also pursuant to Article 1180 of the Civil Code, of the holders of the obligations referred to in paragraph 1 and the counterparties of derivative contracts with the purpose of covering the risks inherent in the assigned credits and securities and other accessory contracts, as well as for the payment of other costs of the operation, on a priority basis with respect to the repayment of the financing referred to in paragraph 1;

HAVING REGARD TO paragraph 6 of Article 7-bis of Law 30 April 1999, No. 130, pursuant to which implementation provisions are issued, pursuant to Article 53 of the TUB, concerning also the requirements of issuing banks, the criteria adopted by assigning banks for the evaluation of assigned credits and securities and their related integration methods, as well as the controls performed by banks to ensure compliance with the obligations provided by the same article, also through audit firms commissioned for this purpose;

HAVING REGARD TO, in particular, the following provisions of the TUB:

• Articles 53, paragraph 1, and 67, paragraph 1, pursuant to which the Bank of Italy, in conformity with the resolutions of the CICR, issues provisions concerning, among other things, capital adequacy, risk containment in its various configurations, administrative and accounting organization, and internal controls, respectively, for banks and banking groups;

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The Minister of Economy and Finance President of the Interministerial Committee for Credit and Savings

• Article 12, paragraph 5, pursuant to which the Bank of Italy, in conformity with the resolutions of the CICR, regulates the issuance by banks of bonds and financial instruments other than shares;

• Article 65, paragraph 1, which identifies the subjects included in the scope of consolidated supervision;

HAVING REGARD TO the Decree of the Minister of Economy and Finance 14 December 2006, No. 310, issued after consulting the Bank of Italy and published in the Official Gazette of 31 January 2007, by which implementation provisions pursuant to paragraph 5 of Article 7-bis of Law 30 April 1999, No. 130, were established, concerning the maximum ratio between guaranteed bonds and assigned assets, the type of such assets and those with equivalent risk profiles usable for their subsequent integration, as well as the characteristics of the guarantee provided by the assignee company;

HAVING REGARD TO Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006, on the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions and on the capital adequacy of credit institutions and investment firms;

HAVING REGARD TO the Decree of the Minister of Economy and Finance – President of the CICR 27 December 2006, containing "Transposition of the new regulation on bank capital";

ON PROPOSAL formulated by the Bank of Italy;

DEEMING the urgency, pursuant to Art. 3, paragraph 2, TUB;

D E C R E E S

Article 1 (Definitions)

1. For the purposes of this decree, the following terms are understood to mean:

• "law", Law 30 April 1999, No. 130, and subsequent amendments and additions;

• "regulation", the Decree of the Minister of Economy and Finance 14 December 2006, No. 310, issued, after consulting the Bank of Italy, pursuant to Art. 7-bis, paragraph 5, of the law;

• "covered bonds", the bonds issued pursuant to Article 7-bis of the law;

• "issuing bank", the bank that issues covered bonds;

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The Minister of Economy and Finance President of the Interministerial Committee for Credit and Savings

• "assigning bank", the bank that assigns assets to the assignee company pursuant to Article 7-bis of the law;

• "assignee company", the company that, pursuant to Art. 7-bis of the law, has as its exclusive object the purchase of credits and securities, through the assumption of financing granted or guaranteed also by the assigning banks, and the provision of guarantees for the obligations issued by the same banks or by others;

• "eligible assets", the assets (credits and securities) identified by the regulation as suitable to be assigned to the assignee company, also for the purpose of subsequent integration of the segregated portfolio.

Article 2 (Regulation)

1. The issuance of covered bonds is permitted to banks in compliance with the law, the regulation, and the supervisory provisions issued by the Bank of Italy. The supervisory provisions, in particular, regulate:

• the requirements of the issuing banks and banking groups and, if different, the assigning banks and banking groups, taking into account the amount of equity means and the capacity to absorb risks;

• the limits on the assignment of eligible assets, also in the case of subsequent integration, keeping in mind, for the protection of other creditors and in particular depositors, the technical situation of the bank or group;

• the methods of integration of assigned assets, identifying the cases and limits in which integration is permitted;

• the controls on operations, with particular regard to the organization and activity of the internal controls of the banks and the assignee company, as well as the coordination between the system of internal controls and the audit firm commissioned for this purpose;

• the organization and information flows related to operations, in order to ensure the availability of information and data useful for carrying out controls on the operations themselves and for knowing the risk situation of the banks, the banking group, and the system as a whole.

This decree shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic.

Rome, 12.04.2007

THE MINISTER T. Padoa Schioppa