Search for Q&As

Enquirers can use various factors to search for a Q&A:

  • These include searching by the Q&A ID; legal reference, date submitted, technical standard / guideline, or by keyword if known.
  • Searches can be extended to more than one legal act, topic, technical standard or guidelines by making multiple selections (i.e. pressing 'Ctrl' on your keyboard, and selecting the relevant ones from the drop-down lists by left mouse-click).

Disclaimer:

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.

Please note that the Q&As related to the supervisory benchmarking exercises have been moved to the dedicated handbook page. You can submit Q&As on this topic here.

Final Q&As Q&As under review Rejected Q&As Archived Q&As All Q&As

List of Q&A's

Use of bona fide estimates for the determination of the size of a corporation

Is it allowed to use bona fide estimates for the determination of the size of a corporation for the purposes of Articles 153(4) or 162(4) CRR (identification of SMEs) analogous to Article 4(3) of the Annex Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC? 

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_3049
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 30/06/2017

Capital requirements deduction for credit risk on exposures to SMEs

Further to Q&A 2135 and Q&A 2268, can the capital requirement deduction (SME factor) be applied for speculative immovable property financing (Corporates) if conditions determined in Article 501(1) and (2) of Regulation No 575/2013 (CRR) are met?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_3012
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 06/10/2017

Risk weighting attributed to gold bullion coins

Are gold bullion coins included in the term ‘gold bullion’ as used in Article 134(4)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_3011
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 21/04/2017

Prudential treatment of extraordinary ex-post contributions to resolution funds pursuant to Article 104 of the BRRD

Can the extraordinary ex-post contributions to resolution funds provided for by Article 104 of the BRRD be considered as any of the off-balance sheet items mentioned in Annex I of the CRR ?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2985
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as Rejected Q&A: 11/02/2022

Treatment of an institution’s guarantees for investments into CIUs

In case of an institution’s guaranteeing the amount of a customer’s original investment into a CIU and a minimum yield:1. To which risk category for off-balance sheet items in Annex I CRR shall these guarantees be assigned, in particular shall this assignment depend on any risk mitigation techniques used by the CIU?2. Shall these guarantees be treated as an exposure in the form of units or shares in a CIU, which would in particular allow the institution to look-through to the underlying exposures of the CIU, provided the conditions for looking-through are met?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2971
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 06/10/2017

Implementation of default definition - retail portfolio

In the case of retail exposures, can the default definition be implemented in a way that the default of an exposure secured by mortgage extends to unsecured facilities, but not the other way round?Alternatively, should a bank implement the default definition within the retail non SME portfolio consistently at the level of facility, i.e. at the level of product type without extending the default to other facilities?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2968
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 12/05/2017

Other items

Does the approach specified in Article 134(5) CRR regarding the risk weight to be applied to assets purchased on a forward basis also apply to assets sold on a forward basis?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2935
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 21/04/2017

Contingent liabilities within the Merchant Services Industry

Does the contingent liability to which an acquiring bank is subject in the course of the merchant acquirer business qualify as an off-balance sheet item according to Annex I  CRR? 

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2916
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 30/06/2017

Obligation to carry out analysis and to consult with EBA on planned increase of risk weights before RTS on this matter are finally adopted and published in the Official Journal of the European Union

Is there an obligation to carry out appropriate analysis and to consult with EBA on planned increase of risk weights since RTS on this matter are not finally adopted and published in the Official Journal of the European Union?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2894
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 17/02/2017

Standardised approach risk weighting

In the scenario below, if the repayment of a retail depends on the client's business (and not the performance of the property), could a loan secured by immovable commercial property have a higher RW than a similar loan which is unsecured?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2891
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as Rejected Q&A: 11/02/2022

Rating of subsidiaries

Is “separately rated” in Article 172(1)(d) to be interpreted as “rated on individual information” or as ”having own rating based on a separate rating process”? Alternatively put: How is “separately rated” in Article 172(1)(d) to be interpreted?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2864
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as Rejected Q&A: 11/02/2022

Items associated with particular high risk

Does the term "investments" in letters (a) investments in venture capital firms, (b) investments in AIFs (...) and (c) investments in private equity include only exposures in the form of shares or units in (equity of) venture capital firms, AIFs, and private equity, or it is related to all forms of exposures (e.g. debt and equity instruments, units and shares in CIUs, etc.)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2845
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as Rejected Q&A: 11/02/2022

Treatment of irrevocable payment commitments according to Article 103(3) BRRD

How should payment commitments pursuant to Article 103(3) BRRD (Directive 2014/59/EU) be treated in the capital requirements for credit risk?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2831
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as Rejected Q&A: 11/02/2022

Assignment of exposures to exposure class of Public Sector Entities

Can only the entities having legal forms of non-profit associations and foundations qualify as PSE-s and be assigned to exposure class of PSEs, or could PSEs also include legal forms of either public or private limited liability companies, which are either owned by or set up and sponsored by central governments, regional governments or local authorities and are under public supervision?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2811
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as Rejected Q&A: 11/02/2022

Treatment of negative accrued interests in the credit risk

Do negative accrued interests reduce the exposure value, whereas positive accrued interests increase the exposure value?In particular, are negative accrued interests deducted from CET1 and should a reduction be done, if the negative accrued interests are already included in the retained earnings, according to article 26(1)(c), or in the losses for the current financial year, according to Article 36 (1) a of CRR?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 680/2014 - ITS on supervisory reporting of institutions (repealed)
  • ID: 2016_2795
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 31/03/2017

Treatment of exposures to non-EU equivalent investment firms, non-EU equivalent credit institutions and non-EU equivalent exchanges.

1. With reference to EBA Q&A 677, what is the regulatory basis/rationale in your decision to treat a non-EU equivalent third country exposure to recognised exchange as an exposure to a corporate? Please reference the CRR/ Single RuleBook in your response.2. Does the treatment describer in Q&A 677 or non-EU equivalent recognised exchanges also apply to exposures to non-EU equivalent investment firms and non-EU equivalent credit institutions so that they will also be treated as exposures to corporates? Please reference the CRR/ Single RuleBook in your response.3. Should these exposures be reported (C07 CRSA) in the exposure classes Institutions or Corporates?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2739
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:

Monitoring and evaluation of mortgages in cases of portfolio-wholesale transactions

Is it possible to assign the preferential risk weight of 35% according to Article 125 (1) (a) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) to exposures that have been purchased at a wholesale price based on a) samples as to whether the conditions laid down in Art 208 and 229 CRR are fulfilled and b) a warranty guaranteeing full compensation in case any of these exposures default?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2726
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 17/03/2017

Classifications of loans to SPVs as to SME

How should the repayment of loans to SPV's (classified as SME) be considered for the purpose of Article 501 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)? Should the original exposure amount be taken into account? 

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2711
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 11/11/2016

Application of Article 159 on the level of total own funds

Can the excess of provisions for non-defaulted exposures be used to cover the shortfall of provisions on defaulted exposures?On the reporting side, which of the two options is the correct way for the own funds reporting (C 04.00) in the following case?Option 1 – netting in C.01.00 row 380 “(-) IRB shortfall of credit risk adjustments to expected losses“ – (1000) row 910 „IRB Excess of provisions over expected losses eligible“ – 600 Effect to the total capital – minus 400Option 2 – no netting at all (no recognition of any excess because it is on defaulted exposures) row 380 “(-) IRB shortfall of credit risk adjustments to expected losses“ – (1000) row 910 „IRB Excess of provisions over expected losses eligible“ – 0 Effect to total capital – minus 1000 

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2702
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 10/03/2017

ECAI ratings

1) For the determination of the risk-weight applicable to an exposure, is a “Bank Deposit Rating” an issue rating as per Article 139 of the CRR? 2) For the determination of the risk-weight applicable to an exposure, should a “Bank Deposit Rating” be used instead of an “Issuer rating” for exposures to institutions which are in the form of deposits (i.e. bank deposits)? What would be the treatment in accordance with Article 139 of the CRR?3) For instance, which Moody’s rating should be used to risk-weight an exposure to an institution which is in the form of a deposit (i.e. bank deposit): - the “Issuer Rating”? - the “Bank Deposit Rating”? - the “Obligation rating”? - one of the other ratings described in Moody’s methodology? Similar considerations apply to ratings issued by other ECAIs.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2016_2698
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 24/02/2017