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Deutsche Bank Prepares €2 Billion Project-Finance SRT to Hedge AI Data-Center Loans

September 7, 2026 at 07:10 EDT

Finance
Infra & Chips

Deutsche Bank AG is working on a significant risk transfer tied to about €2 billion ($2.3 billion) of project-finance debt, including loans for data centers, as the German lender joins a growing group of European and North American banks hedging exposure to artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The transaction would be the bank’s first SRT linked to a project-finance portfolio, though people familiar with the matter said the terms may still change as investors review the structure.

September 7, 2026 · Deutsche Bank

Hedging the AI build-out

Deutsche Bank is working on its first project-finance significant risk transfer, tied to about €2 billion of debt that includes data-center loans, as lenders try to keep funding AI infrastructure without holding all of the risk.

Typical protection on the pool

Banks usually buy default cover on a junior slice equal to 5% to 15% of the reference loans — three times as much protection at the top of that range as at the bottom.

Low end of cover

15%

High end of cover

On a €2 billion pool, that slice is about €100 million to €300 million of protection sold to investors.

€2B

Project-finance reference pool ($2.3B)

€7.3B

Data-centre loans at end-2025, up from €5.7B

$18B

Global SRT sales in H1 2026, vs $15B a year earlier

>10%

Coupons SRT buyers can earn for taking first losses

How the hedge recycles lending capacity

Originate

Project-finance loans, including data centers

→

Transfer

Sell junior SRT protection; keep the loans

→

Free capital

Lower risk-weighted assets on the pool

→

Relend

Capacity for new AI infrastructure loans

Bank case

Exposure is described as high-single digits and within appetite, concentrated on large, diversified sponsors with hyperscaler leases rather than pure-play AI borrowers.

Investor caution

Some buyers say data-center SRTs price at 7%–9% even when construction-stage risk is 50%–70% of the pool, and warn the notes can double as asset gathering rather than a clean risk shift.

Still in discussion

Terms may change as investors review Deutsche Bank’s first project-finance SRT.

Peers including Societe Generale, Toronto-Dominion Bank, BNP Paribas, BBVA and ING have already used or weighed similar hedges on AI-linked and digital-infrastructure loans.

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