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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.

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.

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List of Q&A's

Applicability of the transitional period under Article 124(3) of Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013

According to Article 124(3) of Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 (CRR), institutions should have a 6-month transitional period to apply higher risk weights set by the competent or designated authorities to exposures secured by mortgages on immovable property.Should this transitional period also apply if the national authority decides under CRR to set risk weights at the same level and to the same extent, i.e. for the same kind of exposures that are currently set under CRD (so in fact such decision would not result in a higher capital requirements for banks in comparison to current national legislation)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_361
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 31/01/2014

Discounts on balance sheet exposures purchased when not in default

In Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) Article 159 it states: "......Discounts on balance sheet exposures purchased when in default in accordance with Article 166(1) shall be treated in the same manner as specific credit risk adjustments." In respect of this how should one treat discounts on purchased exposures that were not in default at the time of purchase and discounts that were not calculated on single exposure level, but instead calculated on a whole portfolio of exposures which are not in default.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_354
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 11/04/2014

Definition of SME

SMEs are defined by turnover alone (EUR 50 million according to OJ L 124, 20.05.2003). Our question concerns when turnover is recorded. Is it (i) at inception of the loan or (ii) on an on-going basis? We would also like to know what level of documentation/proof is required, if any.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_343
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 31/01/2014

Artikel 115 (3) Zuordnung von Religiongemeinschaften zu Forderungsklasse/ Attribution of religious communities to an exposure class

Was ist mit der Aussage im 3. Satz gemeint: In diesem Fall gilt Absatz 2 nicht..." ? English translation: What does the statement ‘In this case, paragraph 2 shall not apply…’ in Article 115(3) mean?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_327
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 08/11/2013

Use of Core Market Participants Rule

This question regards the use of the Core Market Participants rule (Article 227 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)) in the context of Master Netting Agreements with Own Estimates of Volatility (Article 220). The rule detailed under Article 227 of CRR specifically excludes only the Internal Models Approach for Master Netting Agreements (Article 221), and is consistent with the Basel II text (June 2006) in which paragraph 170 excludes the same approach in paragraphs 178-181. However, paragraph 177 of the June 2006 text provides for repo-style transactions under master netting agreements to have haircuts calculated in accordance with paragraphs 147-172, inclusive of the core market participant rules. This is in contrast to the CRR, where article 220(1) is only inclusive of the volatility adjustments detailed in Articles 223-226, thereby excluding the core market participant rule. The question is whether this exclusion in the final CRR was intentional or an oversight.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_269
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 08/11/2013

Calculation of capital requirements for SME under Article 501 of CRR

How should the capital requirements be calculated for SME exposures according to Article 501 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)? In essence we are asking if the risk weighted assets for qualifying SMEs should be reduced or only the capital requirements for qualifying SMEs.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_257
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:

Off-balance sheet items and definition of default

Please confirm that indeed the off-balance sheet part of a facility (e.g. undrawn amount) or any other off-balance sheet items e.g. acceptances, guarantees, etc should not be categorised in the "in default" exposure class even if the customer is classified as "in default".

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_239
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 06/12/2013

Deviations between the definition of SA exposure value for securitisation exposures and for other exposure classes

The exposure value for all other exposure classes corresponds to the accounting value after SCRA, Prudent Valuation and other own funds reductions that relate to the asset item (Article 111(1) Regulation (EU) No 575/2013). The exposure value for securitisation exposures corresponds to the accounting value after SCRA based on article 110 CRR, without taking into account Prudent Valuation or other own funds reductions related to the asset item. Is this deviation intended?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_230
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 28/11/2014

Items associated with particular high risk secured with eligible real estate

How do we treat the exposures that would have been otherwise categorised as "Items associated with particular high risk" and which at the same time are secures with mortgages on immovable property? a) Ignore the collateral which opposes the spirit of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) and Credit risk mitigation (CRM) i.e. CRM is recognised when it decreases the Credit risk? b) Recognise them in the exposure class "Secured with mortgages on immovable property"? Additionally, if these items are also in default, should they be recognised in the "In default" exposure class? c) Recognise them in the exposure class "Items associated with particular high risk" and apply the lower RW that are associated with the exposures secures with mortgages on immovable property?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_215
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 14/08/2014

IRB Approach

Regarding the IRB approach for the calculation of capital requirements for preventing credit risk, where should the weighting formula be applied? Is it contract by contract, or is it a weighted average of the probability of default (PD) and loss given default (LGD) for each pool and then apply the risk weight formula to this mean?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_144
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 29/11/2013

IRB exposure value - Recognition of specific credit risk adjustment for positions measured at fair-value (e.g. IFRS category FVO, HfT and AfS)

Which is the exposure value according to Article 166 (1) of Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 (CRR) for IRB positions measured at fair value (to p+l or OCI) in the relevant accounting standard, when a separation of credit risk and market risk related fair value changes (e.g. revaluation reserve) for these positions is not possible and therefore not used to cover expected loss in accordance with Article 159 of the CRR?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_101
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 14/03/2014

Applicable risk weights for agricultural properties.

Should exposures fully secured by agricultural properties be assigned a risk weight of 100% according to article 124 or can they be considered as residential or commercial properties according to article 125 and 126 and, thus, have a lower risk weight?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_94
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 27/08/2013

SA - Retail Classification - EUR1 million limit

In the definition of the retail exposures it states "...excluding exposures fully and completely secured on residential property collateral that have been assigned to the exposure class laid down in point (i) of Article 112..." of Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 (CRR). Does this mean that exposures that are in default but fully secured on residential property (meeting all minimum requirements and limits) are not excluded?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_72
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 29/11/2013

Alternative calculation of own funds requirement for exposures to a Qualifying Central Counterparty (QCCP)

In the formula given in Article 310 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) the trade exposure is referenced. According to article 306(1)(c) CRR and Article 306(2) CRR exemptions for the calculation of trade exposure exist, e.g. trade exposure can be set to zero under certain circumstance given in Article 306 CRR. Do these exemptions also hold when using Article 310 CRR?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_69
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 16/04/2014

Immovable property risk weights under the standardised approach (commercial)

Is the 50% standardised risk weight applicable to exposures fully and completely secured by mortgages on commercial property outside the Union?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_66
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 31/10/2013

Immovable property risk weights under the standardised approach (residential)

Is the 35% standardised risk weight applicable to exposures fully and completely secured by mortgages on residential property outside the Union?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_65
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:
  • Published as final Q&A: 31/10/2013

Definition of default in terms of days

Is it correct that the 180 day definition is only available for other purposes linked to the referenced defaulted loans under the standardised approach – but not for the 100% risk weight? Could this represent a discrimination of SA banks against IRB banks which might be allowed to apply a 180 day definition for the risk weight of defaulted residential/SME commercial/public sector loans under their internal rating systems?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_58
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:

Definición de PYME - SME definition

¿Qué criterios debe reunir una empresa para considerarse que es "PyME"? Translation to EN: SMEs - What are the defining criteria?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_27
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission:

Credit risk mitigation techniques - independent, written and reasoned legal opinions

Must lending institutions always obtain a written reasoned legal opinion in order to rely on their credit protection techniques for the purposes of Article 194(1) of the CRR? If so : a) must such opinion be obtained from external legal counsel? b) must such opinion be specific to the relevant transaction and techniques in respect of which the institution seeks to rely upon such opinion, or can lending institutions rely on generic opinions for particular types of transactions? If the latter, how often should the generic opinions be updated?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable
  • ID: 2013_23
  • Topic: Credit risk
  • Date of submission: