Press releases

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its 2018 EU-wide stress test draft methodology and templates for discussion with the industry. The exercise will cover 70% of the EU banking sector and will assess EU banks' ability to meet relevant supervisory capital ratios during an adverse economic shock. The methodology covers all relevant risk areas and, for the first time, will incorporate IFRS 9 accounting standards. The results will inform the 2018 Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP), challenging banks' capital plans and leading to relevant supervisory outcomes. The exercise will also provide enhanced transparency so that market participants can compare and assess the resilience of EU banks on a consistent basis. The list of institutions participating in the exercise is also released today.

The European Banking Authority launched today a consultation focusing on the scope of its draft Guidelines on connected clients, on which it had already sought the stakeholders’ views in July 2016. In the new consultation, the EBA is proposing to extend the scope of these draft Guidelines to the remaining aspects of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR), the EBA technical standards, and the EBA guidelines where the concept of group of connected client is relevant. The extension of the scope would ensure the consistent application of this concept throughout the CRR and the harmonisation of institutions’ practices. The consultation runs until 26 June 2017.

The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA - ESAs) launched today a public consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) specifying how credit and financial institutions should manage money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks where a third country’s law prevents the implementation in their branches or majority-owned subsidiaries of group-wide policies and procedures on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).‎ These RTS are part of the ESAs' wider work on fostering a common approach to AML/CFT and will contribute to creating a level playing field across the Union’s financial sector. The consultation runs until 11 July 2017.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today an Opinion in response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the operation of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs). The Opinion welcomes the public consultation which acknowledges the results the EBA has obtained since its establishment in 2011. It also points to a possible way forward to confirm its role as guardian of the Single Rulebook and to increase its effectiveness in ensuring supervisory convergence across the EU. Finally, it suggests how the EBA’s role with regards to supervisory reporting could be strengthened and improved.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) announced today that it will publish data for its fourth annual EU-wide transparency exercise in December 2017 together with the Risk Assessment Report (RAR). Nearly 600000 data points in total on more than 130 banks will be released, covering all key balance sheet items. The transparency exercise is part of the EBA's efforts to foster market discipline, improve the understanding of the EU banking system and ensures both a detailed snap shot and consistent time series.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) welcomes the enhancement of the FX Global Code (the Code) and the publication of its May 2017 update. The objective of the Code is to promote a robust, fair, liquid, open, and transparent market underpinned by high ethical standards, which shall benefit all wholesale FX market participants. The Code's guidelines for responsible participation in the FX market are in line with the EBA's work aimed at fostering financial institutions' effective governance and enhanced consumer protection in all areas of financial products and services.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on valuation in resolution. These draft RTS are a crucial piece of regulation for the resolution framework as they aim to provide the independent valuer with common criteria for the valuation, which will inform the decisions made by resolution authorities, thus promoting a consistent approach to such valuations across the EU.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its fifth updated list of capital instruments that Competent Supervisory Authorities (CAs) across the European Union (EU) have classified as Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1). The list is for the first time accompanied by a Report, which includes additional information on the underlying objectives of the monitoring update as well as on the consequences of including or excluding instruments in or from the list. The EBA intends to update this report on a regular basis to give account of new developments in CET1 issuances and market practices.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today an Opinion addressed to the EU institutions expressing its views on a number of aspects related to own funds in the context of the European Commission’s proposal to amend the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and Capital Requirements Directive (CRD). In the Opinion, the EBA calls, in particular, for a possible strengthening of the Authority’s role in assessing issuances of CET1 instruments. In addition, the Opinion elaborates on restrictions on distributions in the context of capital conservation measures and suggests introducing a general anti-circumvention principle. The views expressed in this Opinion are not meant to be exhaustive and focus on the areas deemed to be the most significant ones.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation setting out its guidance for the use of cloud service providers by financial institutions. The EBA Recommendations intend to clarify the EU-wide supervisory expectations if institutions intend to adopt cloud computing, so as to allow them to leverage the benefits of using cloud services, while ensuring that any related risks are adequately identified and managed. The consultation runs until 18 August 2017.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final Guidelines on credit institutions’ credit risk management practices and accounting for expected credit losses. These Guidelines aim at ensuring sound credit risk management practices associated with the implementation and on-going application of the accounting for expected credit losses. The Guidelines are part of the EBA’s work on the implementation of IFRS 9 and its interaction with prudential requirements and build on the Guidance published by the Basel Committee on the same matter.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final Guidelines on the assessment of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) risk in the context of the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP). These Guidelines are addressed to competent authorities and aim at promoting common procedures and methodologies for the assessment of ICT risk.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on its draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) further specifying the eligibility criteria to determine whether institutions should be subject to simplified obligations when drafting their recovery and resolution plans. The consultation runs until 8 August 2017.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation on its draft Guidelines on security measures for operational and security risks under the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The Guidelines have been developed in close cooperation with the European Central Bank (ECB), and are in support of the objectives of PSD2, such as strengthening the integrated payments market in the EU, mitigating the increased security risks arising from electronic payments, and promoting equal conditions for competition.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today an amended version of its Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on benchmarking of internal approaches. These amendments aim at ensuring a better quality of the submitted data and, ultimately will assist the EBA and competent authorities in their 2018 assessment of internal approaches for credit and market risk. The EBA plans to annually update the ITS to ensure future benchmarking exercises are relevant and successful.