Friday, Sep 11, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
IsThis

EU rules bar EMIs from distributing unrealized bond revaluation gains to clients.

The Claim

A European electronic money institution is permitted to distribute unrealized profits from positive mark-to-market appreciation of its investment grade bond portfolio to clients.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

EU law directly prohibits this practice. Directive 2009/110/EC (EMD2) requires electronic money institutions to safeguard client funds and explicitly bars investing those funds in securities for profit-sharing purposes. ECB accounting guidance further confirms that unrealized mark-to-market gains are recorded under revaluation accounts and are not recognized as distributable profit. No authoritative source supports the existence of any compliant structure permitting an EMI to distribute unrealized bond portfolio appreciation to clients.

Caveats

  • Directive 2009/110/EC (EMD2) explicitly prohibits EMIs from investing client money in securities for profit-sharing purposes — distributing unrealized gains to clients would violate this safeguarding requirement.
  • Unrealized mark-to-market gains are not recognized as distributable profit under EU accounting frameworks; they are recorded under revaluation accounts and cannot be passed through to clients.
  • The claim conflates regulatory debates about distributing realized interest income from pooled safeguarding accounts with distributing unrealized mark-to-market appreciation — these are fundamentally different activities with different legal treatments.

The Receipts

  1. Overall amount of unrealised losses in euro area banks' bond portfolios

    European Central Bank (ECB)

  2. FAQs on the ECB's Annual Accounts

    FAQs on the ECB's Annual Accounts - European Union

  3. Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the taking up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions

    EUR-Lex (Official Journal of the European Union)

  4. The state of the European investment-grade corporate bond secondary market

    ICMA

  5. FTSE Euro FRN Investment Grade Bond Index (EuroFIG)

    LSEG FTSE Russell

  6. Electronic Money Institution Regulation in the EU – E-Money Directive (EMD2) | Advapay

    advapay.eu

  7. E-Money Regulation & Supervision

    E-Money Regulation & Supervision - Inclusive Digital Financial Services

  8. How euro corporate bonds offer stability in volatile markets

    T. Rowe Price

  9. European Investment Grade Fixed Income Capabilities

    M&G Investments

  10. EU regulatory review of prop trader capital requirements under scrutiny

    EU regulatory review of prop trader capital requirements under scrutiny - raid .tech

+ 5 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

European electronic money institution