The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on draft templates for collecting climate related data from EU banks. This effort is part of the one-off Fit-for-55 climate risk scenario analysis, which the EBA will carry out together with the other European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and with the support of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). The draft templates are accompanied by a template guidance, which includes definitions and rules for compiling the templates. The consultation runs until 11 October 2023.
The draft templates are designed to collect climate-related and financial information on credit risk, market and real estate risks. Banks are asked to report aggregated and counterparty level data as of December 2022. Collecting counterparty level data will allow to assess concentration risk of large climate exposures, as well as to capture amplification mechanisms and assess second round effects. Aggregated data will inform on the climate-related risks of the banking sector more broadly.
Comments to this consultation can be sent to the EBA by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the consultation page. Please note that the deadline for the submission of comments is 11 October 2023.
A public hearing will be organised in the form of a workshop on 28 September 2023. The EBA will share the dial-in details with interested stakeholders in due course.
Following this consultation, the EBA will launch a data collection at the end of November with the support of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and other competent authorities.
70 banks will take part in this exercise (same banks as those included in the 2023 EU-wide stress test). In addition, Competent authorities might request other banks in their respective jurisdictions to participate.
The one-off Fit-for-55 climate risk scenario analysis is expected to start by the end of 2023, with publication of results envisaged by Q1 2025.
On 6 July 2021, the European Commission announced its Strategy for Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy. In this strategy, the Commission laid out its plans for ensuring the resilience of the financial sector to climate risks and an orderly transition towards the EU’s climate targets of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
As part of the Strategy, the Commission announced future work for the EBA on climate stress testing including a one-off Fit-for-55 climate risk scenario analysis.
On 8 March 2023, the EBA, the ECB and the other ESAs received a letter from the Commission detailing the mandate of the one-off exercise, which aims to:
As a first step, the exercise requires each ESA, with the support of the ECB, if needed, to produce sector-specific results, based on three ad-hoc climate scenarios (i.e., one baseline and two adverse scenarios) implemented by the ESRB. These results will then be used by the ECB to produce cross-sectoral results and to model second round effects.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) today consulted on two sets of draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and one set of implementing technical standards (ITS) relating to the authorisation as issuer of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and the assessment of acquisition of qualifying holdings in issuers of ARTs under the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCAR). With these technical standards, the EBA aims to regulate access to the EU market of ARTs by applicant issuers and persons intending to exercise significant influence on these undertakings via the acquisition of qualifying holdings.
Under MiCAR, the offer to the public or the admission to the trading of an ART is reserved to legal persons or other undertakings established in the EU subject to the authorisation and approval of the publication of a white paper. The draft RTS on information for authorisation lay down the information requirements to be included when applying for such an authorisation. The information requirements cover the business model, internal governance, including ICT risk management, liquidity, reserve of assets, sufficiently good repute of the members of the management body and of shareholders with qualifying holdings.
The draft ITS set out the standard application letter, the application template and clarify the process relating to the assessment of completeness of the application by the competent authority. As credit institutions are only required to receive approval to publish a white paper, the draft RTS and ITS do not apply to credit institutions.
Consistent with the general regime applicable in the financial sector, MiCAR envisages a prudential assessment by competent authorities for the acquisition of qualifying holdings in issuers of ARTs that are not credit institutions. The draft RTS on the detailed content of the information to be included in the notification for of the proposed acquisition clarify the information requirements that are necessary for such an assessment.
This information covers five criteria relating to (a) the reputation of the proposed acquirer, (b) the suitability of any person who will direct the target undertaking, (c) the financial soundness of the proposed acquirer, (d) the sound and prudent management of the target undertaking following the acquisition and (e) suspicion that money laundering of terrorist financing is committed or attempted or that it may increase following the acquisition.
Comments to the consultation paper can be sent by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the EBA's consultation page. The deadline for the submission of comments is 12 October 2023.
The EBA will hold a virtual public hearing on the consultation paper on 21 September 2023 from 11:30 to 13:30 CEST. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register using this link by 19 September 2023 at 16:00 CEST. The dial-in details will be communicated to those who have registered for the meeting.
All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.
The scope of the consultation, and of the consultation questions, is limited to the amendments and additions.
The EBA has developed the draft RTS on information for authorisation in accordance with Article 18(7) of MiCAR and in close cooperation with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The draft ITS on standard forms, templates and procedures for the information to be included in the application has been developed by the EBA in accordance with Article 18(6) of MiCAR and in close cooperation with ESMA.
The draft RTS on the detailed content of the information that is necessary to carry out the assessment for the acquisitions of qualifying holdings in ART issuers has been developed in accordance with Article 42(4) of MiCAR and in close cooperation with ESMA.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-assets establishes a regime for the regulation and supervision of crypto-asset issuance and crypto-asset service provision in the European Union (EU). It came into force on 29 June 2023, and the provisions relating to ARTs will be applicable from 30 June 2024.
Among the activities within the scope of MiCAR are the activities of offering to the public or seeking admission to trading of ARTs and electronic money tokens (EMTs) and issuing such tokens. Supervision tasks are conferred on the EBA for ARTs and EMTs that are determined by the EBA to be significant. Additionally, the EBA is mandated to develop 17 technical standards and guidelines under MiCAR to further specify the requirements for ARTs and EMTs, and an additional 3 mandates jointly with ESMA (and, in one case, also with EIOPA).
The consultation papers on authorisations and qualifying holdings relate only to ARTs and are published on the same date as a consultation paper on complaints handling.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) today consulted on two sets of draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and one set of implementing technical standards (ITS) relating to the authorisation as issuer of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and the assessment of acquisition of qualifying holdings in issuers of ARTs under the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCAR). With these technical standards, the EBA aims to regulate access to the EU market of ARTs by applicant issuers and persons intending to exercise significant influence on these undertakings via the acquisition of qualifying holdings.
Under MiCAR, the offer to the public or the admission to the trading of an ART is reserved to legal persons or other undertakings established in the EU subject to the authorisation and approval of the publication of a white paper. The draft RTS on information for authorisation lay down the information requirements to be included when applying for such an authorisation. The information requirements cover the business model, internal governance, including ICT risk management, liquidity, reserve of assets, sufficiently good repute of the members of the management body and of shareholders with qualifying holdings.
The draft ITS set out the standard application letter, the application template and clarify the process relating to the assessment of completeness of the application by the competent authority. As credit institutions are only required to receive approval to publish a white paper, the draft RTS and ITS do not apply to credit institutions.
Consistent with the general regime applicable in the financial sector, MiCAR envisages a prudential assessment by competent authorities for the acquisition of qualifying holdings in issuers of ARTs that are not credit institutions. The draft RTS on the detailed content of the information to be included in the notification for of the proposed acquisition clarify the information requirements that are necessary for such an assessment.
This information covers five criteria relating to (a) the reputation of the proposed acquirer, (b) the suitability of any person who will direct the target undertaking, (c) the financial soundness of the proposed acquirer, (d) the sound and prudent management of the target undertaking following the acquisition and (e) suspicion that money laundering of terrorist financing is committed or attempted or that it may increase following the acquisition.
Comments to the consultation paper can be sent by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the EBA's consultation page. The deadline for the submission of comments is 12 October 2023.
The EBA will hold a virtual public hearing on the consultation paper on 21 September 2023 from 11:30 to 13:30 CEST. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register using this link by 19 September 2023 at 16:00 CEST. The dial-in details will be communicated to those who have registered for the meeting.
All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.
The scope of the consultation, and of the consultation questions, is limited to the amendments and additions.
The EBA has developed the draft RTS on information for authorisation in accordance with Article 18(7) of MiCAR and in close cooperation with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The draft ITS on standard forms, templates and procedures for the information to be included in the application has been developed by the EBA in accordance with Article 18(6) of MiCAR and in close cooperation with ESMA.
The draft RTS on the detailed content of the information that is necessary to carry out the assessment for the acquisitions of qualifying holdings in ART issuers has been developed in accordance with Article 42(4) of MiCAR and in close cooperation with ESMA.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-assets establishes a regime for the regulation and supervision of crypto-asset issuance and crypto-asset service provision in the European Union (EU). It came into force on 29 June 2023, and the provisions relating to ARTs will be applicable from 30 June 2024.
Among the activities within the scope of MiCAR are the activities of offering to the public or seeking admission to trading of ARTs and electronic money tokens (EMTs) and issuing such tokens. Supervision tasks are conferred on the EBA for ARTs and EMTs that are determined by the EBA to be significant. Additionally, the EBA is mandated to develop 17 technical standards and guidelines under MiCAR to further specify the requirements for ARTs and EMTs, and an additional 3 mandates jointly with ESMA (and, in one case, also with EIOPA).
The consultation papers on authorisations and qualifying holdings relate only to ARTs and are published on the same date as a consultation paper on complaints handling.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Consultation Paper on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) on complaints handling procedures for issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). These draft RTS aim at ensuring prompt, fair and consistent handling of complaints by holders of ARTs and other interested parties.
The EBA is mandated to develop, in close cooperation with the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA), draft RTS on the complaints handling procedures of issuers of ARTs. The RTS must further specify the requirements, templates and procedures for handling complaints received from holders of ARTs and other interested parties, (including consumer associations that represent those holders), and procedures to facilitate the handling of complaints between holders of ARTs and third-party entities, where applicable.
The draft RTS proposed in this consultation paper set out definitions of complaints and complainants, requirements related to the complaints management policy and function, provision of information to holders of ARTs and on templates and recording. They then proceed with requirements about the procedure to investigate complaints and to communicate the outcome of the investigations to complainants and specific provisions for complaints handling involving third-party entities.
The requirements proposed in the consultation paper have been strongly informed by the existing Joint Committee (JC) Guidelines on complaints handling which apply uniformly to all financial institutions across the banking, insurance and investments sector since 2014 and assessed as fit for purpose during a recent review of the JC in 2021. Where the MiCAR RTS mandate requires the EBA to include additional requirements going beyond the JC GLs, these have also been informed by the approach proposed by ESMA in relation to the MiCAR RTS on complaints handling procedures for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) in Article 71 to bring about a desirable degree of consistency.
Comments to the consultation paper can be sent by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the EBA's consultation page. The deadline for the submission of comments is 12 October 2023.
The EBA will hold a virtual public hearing on the consultation paper on 21 September 2023 from 14:30 to 16:00 CEST. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register using this link by 19 September 2023 at 16:00 CEST. The dial-in details will be communicated to those who have registered for the meeting.
All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.
The scope of the consultation, and of the consultation questions, is limited to the amendments and additions.
The EBA has developed these draft RTS in accordance with Article 31 of MiCAR and in close cooperation with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-assets establishes a regime for the regulation and supervision of crypto-asset issuance and crypto-asset service provision in the European Union (EU). It came into force on 29 June 2023, and the provisions relating to ARTs will be applicable from 30 June 2024.
Among the activities within the scope of MiCAR are the activities of offering to the public or seeking admission to trading ARTs and electronic money tokens (EMTs) and issuing such tokens. Supervision tasks are conferred on the EBA for ARTs and EMTs that are determined by the EBA to be significant. Additionally, the EBA is mandated to develop 17 technical standards and guidelines under MiCAR to further specify the requirements for ARTs and EMTs, and an additional 3 mandates jointly with ESMA (and, in one case, also EIOPA).
The consultation paper on complaints handling is published on the same date as consultation papers on authorisations and qualifying holdings.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on amendments to the draft Implementing Technical Standard (ITS) on disclosure and reporting of the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) and the total loss absorbency requirement (TLAC). These amendments aim to reflect changes to the prudential framework that came or will soon come into force and provide clarifications on the information to be reported in the insolvency ranking templates. The consultation paper also includes an updated mapping between disclosure and reporting requirements. The consultation runs until 18 August 2023.
The ITS introduce amendments to (i) information on the requirement to deduct investments in eligible liabilities instruments of entities belonging to the same resolution group (‘daisy chain’ framework), (ii) information on the prior permission regime for buying back eligible liabilities instruments issued by the reporting entities and groups, and (iii) the breakdown by insolvency ranking.
As the amendments are limited and deemed to be of lower impact, the consultation period has been shortened.
The amendments are envisaged to apply for the reference date of June 2024.
Comments to this consultation can be sent to the EBA by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the consultation page. Please note that the deadline for the submission of comments is 18 August 2023. All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.
A public hearing will be organised in the form of a webinar on 21 July 2023 from 10:00 to 11:00 CEST. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register using this link by 19 July at 16:00 CEST.
The dial-in details will be communicated in due course.
The EBA expects to submit these draft ITS to the European Commission in August/September 2023.
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) launched today a public consultation on the first batch of policy products under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). This includes four draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and one set of draft implementing technical standards (ITS). These technical standards aim to ensure a consistent and harmonised legal framework in the areas of ICT risk management, major ICT-related incident reporting and ICT third-party risk management. The consultation runs until 11 September 2023.
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which entered into force on 16 January 2023 and will apply from 17 January 2025, aims to enhance the digital operational resilience of entities across the EU financial sector and to further harmonise key digital operational resilience requirements for all EU financial entities. This regulatory framework covers key areas such as ICT risk management, ICT-related incident management and reporting, digital operational resilience testing and the management of ICT third-party risk.
DORA has mandated the ESAs to jointly develop altogether 13 policy instruments in two batches. The first batch of technical standards, on which the ESAs launched a public consultation today and which are to be submitted by 17 January 2024, are the following:
Further information on the draft technical standards can be found in the introductory note.
Comments to this consultation can be sent to the ESAs by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the consultation page. Please note that the deadline for the submission of comments is 11 September 2023. All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.
A public hearing will be organised in the form of a webinar on 13 July 2023 from 09:00 to 18:00 CET. The ESAs invite interested stakeholders to register using the Registration form by 16:00 CET on 10 July 2023. The dial-in details will be communicated to the registered participants in due time.
These draft technical standards have been developed in accordance with Articles 15, 16(3), 18(3), 28(9) and 28(10) of DORA (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554). The ESAs expect to submit these draft technical standards to the European Commission by 17 January 2024.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on amendments to its Guidelines on money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risk factors. The proposed changes extend the scope of these Guidelines to crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). The consultation runs until 31 August 2023.
CASPs as well as other credit and financial institutions are exposed to ML/TF risks. For CASPs, these risks can be increased, due to, for example, the use of innovative technologies, instant transfers of crypto assets across the world and services that contain privacy-enhancing features.
The EBA is proposing to amend its ML/TF risk factors guidelines to set common, regulatory expectations of the steps CASPs should take to identify and mitigate these risks effectively.
The amendments introduce new sector-specific guidance for CASPs, which highlights factors that may indicate the CASP’s exposure to the higher or lower ML/TF risk. CASPs should consider these factors when carrying out the ML/TF risk assessments of their business and customers at the outset and during the business relationship. The Guidelines also explain how they should adjust their customer due diligence (CDD) in line with those risks. Furthermore, the amendments include guidance to other credit and financial institutions on risks to consider when engaging in a business relationship with a CASP or when they are otherwise exposed to crypto assets.
Specific guidance for AML/CFT supervisors of CASPs will be delivered through the amendments to the EBA risk-based supervision Guidelines, which are under consultation until 29 June 2023. They will be further complemented with amendments to the Guidelines to prevent the abuse of fund transfers for ML/TF purposes, and new Guidelines on policies and procedures for compliance with restrictive measures. Through these products, the EBA continues its work on strengthening the EU’s AML/CFT defences.
Comments to the consultation paper can be sent by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the EBA's consultation page. The deadline for the submission of comments is 31 August 2023.
The EBA will hold a virtual public hearing on the consultation paper on 7 June 2023 from 14:00 to 16:00 Paris time. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register using this link by 5 June 2023 at 16:00 CEST. The dial-in details will be communicated to those who have registered for the meeting.
All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.
The scope of the consultation, and of the consultation questions, is limited to the amendments and additions.
Directive (EU) 2015/849 puts the risk-based approach at the centre of the EU’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. The requirements in this Directive were complemented by the mandate given to the EBA under Articles 17 and 18(4) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 on customer due diligence and the factors credit and financial institutions should consider when assessing the money laundering and terrorist financing risk associated with individual business relationships and occasional transactions.
In July 2021, the European Commission published a legislative package with four proposals to reform the EU legal and institutional AML/CFT framework. One of these proposals, the recast Transfer of Funds Regulation, has already been agreed provisionally. The Provisional Agreement Resulting from Interinstitutional Negotiations of 5 October 2022 (2021/0241 (COD)) includes a number of mandates for the EBA. One of these mandates, laid down in Article 38, mandates the EBA to issue guidelines on the risk variables and risk factors to be taken into account by crypt-asset service providers when entering into business relationship or carrying out transactions in crypto assets.
Once adopted, the Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) Regulation will bring crypto-asset services and activities within the EU regulatory scope. At the same time, CASPs will become subject to EU AML/CFT obligations and supervision. This will ensure that the AML/CTF regulatory and supervisory framework is aligned with international recommendations and that ML/TF risks associated with this sector are addressed and effectively managed.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on the functioning of supervisory colleges under the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD). These new technical standards will ensure that the Level 2 framework for the functioning of supervisory colleges is better aligned with the Level 1 regulation and able to promote a more efficient and effective supervision of cross-border banking groups. The consultation runs until 30 August 2023.
The RTS and the ITS on colleges of supervisors are being updated by 1) implementing the requirements laid down in the CRD V and CRR 2 as well as 2) reflecting the observations from the EBA’s ongoing college monitoring activity on the functioning of supervisory colleges.
The main updates covered the following areas:
Comments to this consultation can be sent to the EBA by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the consultation page. Please note that the deadline for the submission of comments is 30 August 2023. All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.
A public hearing will be organised in the form of a webinar on 28 June 2023 from 13:00 to 14:00 CET. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register using this link by 26 June 2023 at 16:00 CET. The dial-in details will be communicated to the registered participants.
These draft technical standards (TS) have been developed in accordance with Article 51(4) and Article 116(4) of Directive 2013/36/EU, which mandates the EBA to develop draft RTS specifying the general conditions of functioning of the colleges of supervisors, as well as draft ITS determining the operational functioning of the colleges of supervisors.
The EBA expects to submit these draft TS to the European Commission in Q4 2023.
In view of the considerable changes, the current RTS and ITS on colleges of supervisors issued by the European Commission in 2016 will be repealed as soon as the new ones are issued.
The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA - ESAs) launched today a public consultation to amend the Implementing Regulations on the mapping of credit assessments of External Credit Assessment Institutions (ECAIs) for credit risk. The Implementing Regulations are part of the EU Single Rulebook for banking and insurance aimed at creating a safe and sound regulatory framework consistently applicable across the European Union (EU). The consultation runs until 26 June 2023.
The proposed amendments reflect the outcome of a monitoring exercise on the adequacy of existing mappings, namely those to the credit quality steps (CQS) allocation for four ECAIs and the introduction of new credit rating scales for seven ECAIs as well as the withdrawal of the registration of one ECAI.
In the Implementing Regulations on the mapping of ECAIs, adopted by the European Commission on 11 October 2016, the three ESAs specified an approach that establishes the correspondence between credit ratings and the credit quality steps defined in the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and in the Solvency II Directive.
The ESAs also published individual draft mapping reports illustrating how the methodology was applied to produce the amended mappings in line with the CRR mandate.
Comments to the Consultation Paper on the mapping under Article 136 of the CRR can be sent by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the EBA's consultation page. Comments to the Consultation Paper on the mapping under Article 109 (a) of the Solvency II Directive can be provided by sending an e-mail to 2023Public.Consultation.ECAI.Mapping@eiopa.europa.eu. Please note that the deadline for the submission of comments is 26 June 2023.Next steps
All contributions received will be published following the close of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.
A public hearing on this consultation will take place on the 7 June 2023 from 14:00 to 15:00 CEST. The deadline for registration is 5 June 2023 at 16:00 CEST.
The proposed revised draft ITSs have been developed according to Article 136 (1) and (3) of Regulation 575/2013 (Capital Requirements Regulation) and of Article 109 (a) of Directive 2009/138/EC (Solvency II Directive), which state that revised draft ITS shall be submitted by the ESAs, where necessary.
This change follows a third amendment to the Implementing Regulations, which was proposed by the ESAs in June 2021 and adopted by the European Commission on 16 November 2021. The first amendment reflected the withdrawal of the registration of one ECAI and the recognition of five additional ECAIs since the adoption of the Implementing Regulations in October 2016. The second amendment reflected the outcomes of a monitoring exercise on the adequacy of existing mappings, namely changes to the CQS allocation for two ECAIs and the introduction of new credit rating scales for ten ECAIs. Finally, the third amendment reflected the production of mappings for two newly established ECAIs and the outcomes of a monitoring exercise on the adequacy of existing mappings, namely changes to the CQS allocation for two ECAIs and the introduction of new credit rating scales for nine ECAIs.