Santander Bank (SAN.US) replaces Barclays as Europe's largest issuer of significant risk transfer securities

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to S&P Global Ratings (S&P Global Ratings) data, Spain's Santander Bank (SAN.US) has surpassed Barclays Bank of the United Kingdom (BCS.US) to become the largest issuer of significant risk transfer securities (SRTs) in Europe.

According to a S&P report based on data disclosed by 40 European banks at the end of last year, Santander's reserves of significant risk transfer securities exceeded 70 billion euros, while Barclays retained about 60 billion euros.

Also, according to a report released by S&P in November last year, as of June 2024, Barclays Bank's share of such reserves exceeded 60 billion euros, the highest among European banks at the time.

To estimate the size of such non-publicly negotiated transactions, S&P uses priority share data kept in bank balance sheets and disclosed in regulatory documents. In major risk transfer transactions in Europe, these retained shares usually account for 80%-95% of the reference portfolio.

According to S&P, more and more banks are managing risk and improving solvency ratios by issuing major risk transfer securities, and the market is expected to continue to grow in 2025. By the end of 2024, the remaining share of issuers in the S&P sample increased 15% from about 400 billion euros (455 billion US dollars) at the end of 2023, to about 460 billion euros (523 billion US dollars).

S&P analyst Richard Barnes (Richard Barnes) and others wrote in a report: “Despite geopolitical uncertainty, investor demand is still strong,” which has created opportunities for banks.