Article 26
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Path:
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) > PART TWO > TITLE I > CHAPTER 2 > Section 1 > Article 26
Title:
Article 26
Description: 
Common Equity Tier 1 items
Main content: 

1.  Common Equity Tier 1 items of institutions consist of the following:

(a)    capital instruments, provided that the conditions laid down in Article 28 or, where applicable, Article 29 are met;

(b)    share premium accounts related to the instruments referred to in point (a);

(c)    retained earnings;

(d)    accumulated other comprehensive income;

(e)    other reserves;

(f)    funds for general banking risk.

The items referred to in points (c) to (f) shall be recognised as Common Equity Tier 1 only where they are available to the institution for unrestricted and immediate use to cover risks or losses as soon as these occur.

2.  For the purposes of point (c) of paragraph 1, institutions may include interim or year-end profits in Common Equity Tier 1 capital before the institution has taken a formal decision confirming the final profit or loss of the institution for the year only with the prior permission of the competent authority. The competent authority shall grant permission where the following conditions are met:

(a)    those profits have been verified by persons independent of the institution that are responsible for the auditing of the accounts of that institution;

(b)    the institution has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the competent authority that any foreseeable charge or dividend has been deducted from the amount of those profits.

A verification of the interim or year-end profits of the institution shall provide an adequate level of assurance that those profits have been evaluated in accordance with the principles set out in the applicable accounting framework.

3.  Competent authorities shall evaluate whether issuances of capital instruments meet the criteria set out in Article 28 or, where applicable, Article 29. Institutions shall classify issuances of capital instruments as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments only after permission is granted by the competent authorities.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, institutions may classify as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments subsequent issuances of a form of Common Equity Tier 1 instruments for which they have already received that permission, provided that both of the following conditions are met:

(a)    the provisions governing those subsequent issuances are substantially the same as the provisions governing those issuances for which the institutions have already received permission;

(b)    institutions have notified those subsequent issuances to the competent authorities sufficiently in advance of their classification as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments.

Competent authorities shall consult EBA before granting permission for new forms of capital instruments to be classified as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments. Competent authorities shall have due regard to EBA's opinion and, where they decide to deviate from it, shall write to EBA within three months from the date of receipt of EBA's opinion setting out the rationale for deviating from the relevant opinion. This subparagraph does not apply to the capital instruments referred to in Article 31.

On the basis of information collected from competent authorities, EBA shall establish, maintain and publish a list of all forms of capital instruments in each Member State that qualify as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments. In accordance with Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, EBA may collect any information in connection with Common Equity Tier 1 instruments that it considers necessary to establish compliance with the criteria set out in Article 28 or, where applicable, Article 29 of this Regulation and for the purpose of maintaining and updating the list referred to in this subparagraph.

Following the review process set out in Article 80 and where there is sufficient evidence that the relevant capital instruments do not meet or have ceased to meet the criteria set out in Article 28 or, where applicable, Article 29, EBA may decide not to add those instruments to the list referred to in the fourth subparagraph or remove them from that list, as the case may be. EBA shall make an announcement to that effect that shall also refer to the relevant competent authority's position on the matter. This subparagraph does not apply to the capital instruments referred to in Article 31.

4.  EBA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify the meaning of foreseeable when determining whether any foreseeable charge or dividend has been deducted.

EBA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 28 July 2013.

Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010.

Topic: 
Own funds