Linklaters has advised the Belgian Belfius Bank NV/SA in relation to the establishment of a Programme for the issuance of German registered covered bonds (Namensschuldverschreibungen or “N-bonds”) under Belfius' €10,000,000,000 Mortgage Pandbrieven Programme. Investors in the N-bonds benefit from a dual recourse: on the one hand, they have recourse against a pool of cover assets segregated for the benefit of the investors under the Programme; on the other hand, they have recourse against the general estate of the Issuer. The N-bonds are registered covered bonds governed by German law, which also take advantage of the Belgian covered bond regime.

“As the terms and conditions of the N-bonds deviate from those set out in the Programme’s base prospectus, to the extent necessary to cater for certain German-specific requirements, German and Belgian laws were applicable to the issuance. This approach required close – and successful – cooperation between our office in Frankfurt and our colleagues in the Brussels office, in order to reconcile the differences in various legal concepts”, commented Linklaters partner Dr Christian Storck.

Belfius Bank, with registered office in Brussels, is a Belgian bank and credit institution which emerged from the Dexia Group in 2012.

Linklaters’ team was led by Dr Christian Storck (Capital Markets, Frankfurt) and David Ballegeer (Banking & Capital Markets, Brussels). Other team members included Sophie Peeters (Banking & Capital Markets, Brussels), Olga Bergmann (Capital Markets, Frankfurt) and Konrad Uhink (Capital Markets, Frankfurt).