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Q&As refer to the provisions in force on the day of their publication. The EBA does not systematically review published Q&As following the amendment of legislative acts. Users of the Q&A tool should therefore check the date of publication of the Q&A and whether the provisions referred to in the answer remain the same.

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List of Q&A's

Applicable provisions for determining deferred tax assets that rely on future profitability that existed before 1.1.2014

Are the provisions of Article 26(2) CRR regarding independently verified financial statements and permission of competent authorities applicable for determining deferred tax asset that rely on future profitability that existed before 1.1.2014?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_259
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as Rejected Q&A: 11/02/2022

Applicable basis for determining deferred tax assets to be deducted from CET1

Is the amount of deferred tax assets and liabilities relevant for the calculation of the amount to be deducted from Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) according to Article 36(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 (CRR) to be determined based on the accounting values of deferred tax assets and liabilities as disclosed in the balance sheet?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_258
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 30/04/2014

Maturity matching

Articles 45, 59 and 69 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) each include a condition that “the maturity of the short position matches the maturity of the long position or has a residual maturity of at least one year”, in order for the short position to be recognized for the calculation of the net long position. Please confirm that maturities are deemed to match for the purposes of these provisions where the maturity of the long and the short positions occur within the same calendar quarter.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_253
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 12/06/2015

Maturity matching

Articles 45(a), 59(a), 69(a) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) each include a condition that “the maturity of the short position matches the maturity of the long position or has a residual maturity of at least one year”, in order for the short position to be recognized for the calculation of the net long position. Please confirm that maturities are deemed to match for the purposes of these provisions where the maturity of the short position is greater than the maturity of the long position. Where the maturity of the short is greater than the maturity of the long the institution will only ever be left with a net short position (economically a forward starting short), all things being equal, and should not therefore have to take a deduction.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_252
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 10/10/2014

Inclusion of incurred (IFRS) CVA in the IRB Provision shortfall calculation

Can the incurred CVA charge related to IRB exposures be treated as an eligible provision for the purposes of calculating the own funds reduction for IRB provision shortfall (per Article 159 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR))?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_245
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 20/12/2013

Tap issues

Article 484 and 486 of Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 (CRR) provide for the grandfathering treatment of Tier 2 instruments that do not meet the criteria of Articles 62 and 63. Article 63 provides that callable Tier 2 should have a first call date not before five years after the date of issuance or raising (except Article 78(4)). When an institution has issued before 31/12/2011 a callable (non step) Lower Tier 2 bond with a first call date at year 5 and then has made a tap on that issue (i.e. increased the amount of the original issue a year later, for example), what is the grandfathering treatment of the amounts raised through the tap? Is it the same as the original bond (i.e. fully eligible) or should the tap be considered non fully eligible Tier 2 because, as of the tap date, the first call was before year 5, in which case the tap should be included in the amortized stock according to Article 86.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_238
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 24/01/2014

Exemptions from deduction for CET1 items

In Article 48(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) it states: 'where an institution has a significant investment in a financial sector entity, the direct, indirect and synthetic holdings of that institution of the CET1 instruments of those entities that in aggregate are equal to or less than 10% of the CET1 items of the instritution calculated after applying the following:' Question: When making the comparison between the amount of investment and CET1 of the reporting institution, does that comparison refer to the aggregate amount of all significant investments in all financial sector entities OR the comparison should be made on an individual entity basis?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_221
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 26/09/2014

Grandfathering of Own Funds Instruments

When an institution has launched an exchange offer, prior to December 31st 2011, that will exchange, on a one for one basis, existing Tier 1 bonds, with or without an incentive to redeem, with bonds that have similar provisions, the same coupons and call dates, but a different issuer (within the same banking group), will the newly issued bonds be considered in the same category as the former bonds (with or without an incentive to redeem)? This seems consistent with the fact that the newly issued bonds obviously do not have a coupon that is priced at fair market value on the issuance date, so assessing whether they have an incentive to redeem the day they are issued does not really make sense, but a clarification would be helpful.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_220
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 06/06/2014

Inclusion of year-end profit in Common Equity Tier1 Capital as of the end of first quarter of the following year.

Can the year-end profit (reduced by the expected burdens and dividends), after verification by persons independent of the institution that are responsible for the auditing of the accounts of that institution, be included in Common Equity Tier1 Capital of the institution as of the end of first quarter of the following year without the prior permission of the competent authority in the situation in which the General Meeting of Shareholders approves the financial statements with the year-end profit (and approves the dividend in the amount reducing the year-end profit in the calculation) before the issuing date of the first quarter financial statements, but after the date of first quarter reporting period?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_208
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 06/12/2013

10% limit for significant investments (for threshold exemptions determination purposes)

Could the EBA confirm that in a situation where the total amount of significant investment in a financial sector entity (the direct, indirect and synthetic holdings by the institution of the Common Equity Tier 1 instruments of that entity) exceed 10% of relevant Common Equity Tier1 items, such amount can be included in 15% threshold exemptions up to 10% of this amount and remaining surplus above 10% limit will be treated as a deduction of CET1. Example in background.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_205
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 08/05/2014

Own funds deduction (granted subordinated loan)

According to Directive 2006/48/EC regarding own funds deduction, a subordinated loan granted by institution ‘A’ to institution ‘B’ in which institution ‘A’ has a significant investments has to be deducted from institution ‘A’s own funds (in 50% from Tier1 and in 50% from Tier2). Simultaneously a received subordinated loan is treated as component of Tier2 of institution ‘B’. In Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 (CRR) there is no clear information regarding deducting such an instrument from own funds. In the light of the above, should a granted subordinated loan be treated as Tier2 deduction - according to the Article 66 of CRR? If not, how should such an instrument be treated?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_182
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 26/09/2014

Eligibility of Tier 2 after contractual change if already in amortisation phase

This is a follow up question to 2013_16, where it is stated that "A material change in the terms and conditions of a pre-existing instrument shall be considered in the same way as the issuance of a new instrument, meaning that the changes shall aim at ensuring a full eligibility...". Does this principle apply only to changes that would lead to inclusion in grandfathering or also to instruments which after a contractual change (removal of call rights) would be fully eligible but already are within the last 5 years of their maturity and therefore recognized according to amortization rules?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_174
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 24/01/2014

Treatment of existing Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruments

This question is a supplement to Question 2013_46. For Tier 1 or Tier 2 instruments with an incentive to redeem and quarterly/semi-annual/annual calls beyond the first call date, would these instruments qualify as Tier 2 capital if the issuer gave an undertaking to its regulator and the market that it would not exercise its call option for at least 5 years after the first call date? This would save the issuer the time and expense of having to modify the actual instrument documentation but would achieve a similar outcome in terms of its capital position/quality.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_105
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 13/12/2013

Transitional provision for deferred tax assets that rely on future profitability

Article 478.2 of the CRR states "By way of derogation from paragraph 1, for the items referred in point (c) of Article 36(1) that existed prior to …, the applicable percentage for the purpose of point (c) of Article 469(1) shall fall within the following ranges" It is not clear to me what to read instead of "..." or how this date will be disclosed.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_67
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:

Grandfathering of own funds instruments

Based on the answer to question 2013_16, if a step-up Tier 2 bond’s terms were changed so that all call options were removed – before the entry in force of the Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) – could it be considered as fully eligible in Tier 2 capital assuming that the capital instrument meets the other conditions laid down in Article 63 of the Regulation?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_61
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 24/01/2014

Grandfathering

Article 486(3)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) states: “the amount of instruments referred to in Article 484(4) which on 31 December 2012 exceeded the limits specified in the national transposition measures for point (a) of Article 66(1) and Article 66(1a) of Directive 2006/48/EC;..” is to be deducted from the amount eligible for inclusion.” This same rule is also applied for Tier 1 grandfathering under CRR. This in effect preserves the current Tier 2 restrictions. Because that amount is at an aggregate level i.e. not by instrument, how then are the individual instruments to be treated under CRR? Each instrument may have different terms including maturity and so how should aggregated restricted amount be spread across instruments?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_60
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 29/11/2013

Grandfathering on own funds instruments

What will be the treatment of the "phased-out" amounts which exceed the applicable percentages according to Article 486 (5)) of grandfathered Additional Tier 1 instruments which are non-eligible due to an incentive to redeem (accord. to Art 489) or a coupon pusher (accord. to Art 53 (a)), during the grandfathering period (accord. to Art. 486 (5)). Will the phased-out amounts flow into grandfathered Tier 2 amounts (subject to applicable limits) or will they lose their regulatory recognition completely (i.e. are these amounts entirely eliminated from regulatory own funds)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_56
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 15/11/2013

Treatment of Upper Tier 2 instruments under CRR

Can existing Upper Tier 2 instruments with a provision such as "the institution has the right to defer the payment of interest because the institution has not paid dividends on ordinary shares (Core Equity Tier 1 – CET1) and on hybrid instruments (Additional Tier 1 – AT1)" qualify as fully eligible Tier 2 instruments under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_54
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 31/10/2013

Grandfathering of Non-Step Tier 1 instruments

A Tier 1 instrument, with no incentive to redeem, was issued prior to 31 December 2011, and, at the time of issue, was not callable for 5 years. It reaches its first call date in May 2014, and is callable quarterly thereafter. It is not called at its first call date. It does not meet all of the requirements as T1 capital under Article 52. Subject to grandfathering limits, does the instrument continue to count as Tier 1 capital? If it does not count toward Tier 1, would it count as Tier 2?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_52
  • Topic: Own funds
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 15/11/2013