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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.

List of Q&A's

Residence of the counterparty - short positions

Table 20.6 of FINREP contains a geographical breakdown of liabilities by residence of the counterparty. Nonetheless, there is no guidance on how to determine the counterparty in the case of short positions.

  • 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Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 680/2014 - ITS on supervisory reporting of institutions (repealed)

Treatment of Hedges for Equity-Linked Employee Compensation Schemes and Impact on FSE Capital Deductions

As part of their Corporate Equity Derivatives businesses, European banks are often asked to provide Financial Sector Entity (“FSE”) and non-FSE clients with hedges to their equity-linked employee compensation schemes or share savings plans. Typically in these circumstances the client goes long its own equity price risk synthetically, via purchasing call options or buying a total return swap (“TRS”). The TRS is an ISDA-based derivative contract under which the purchaser (in this case the client) receives the dividend and any price appreciation on the underlying equity security, and the seller (in this case the bank) receives a LIBOR / EURIBOR return plus a spread, along with any price depreciation on the underlying equity security. As the bank is short the client’s equity price risk under the TRS contract, it will typically purchase the client’s physical shares in the market in order to hedge the delta exposure under the sold TRS position. These positions are allocated to the regulatory trading book subject to the applicable requirements, and for the purposes of this discussion it is assumed the short position satisfies either the CRR Art 45 maturity matching criteria or the CRR Art 75 exemption. Where the bank has credit risk to the client (under the TRS), the client will, in most circumstances, be asked to provide cash margin on a daily basis to cover any mark-to-market movements in the bank’s favour. The TRS will be documented using standard ISDA documentation, with the cash collateralisation taking place under a CSA or similar arrangement. Would the TRS be considered an eligible hedge for the purposes of Article 45 under those circumstances?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Internal model for correlation trading

For an internal model for incremental default risk and migration risk “an institution may choose to consistently use a one-year constant position assumption.” (Second sentence of Article 374 (4) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)). Does an institution also have this choice for an internal model for correlation trading?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Inclusion of partial write-offs in credit risk adjustments

Are partial write-offs of loans in the banking book, accounted at amortised cost, to be included in the determination of specific and general credit risk adjustments set out in Article 110(4).

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 183/2014 - RTS for the calculation of specific and general credit risk adjustments

Country of transaction, scope of disclosures and intragroup transactions

It is expected that transactions will be attributed to the country of the unit of the group that is party to the transaction. How should intra-group cross-border transactions and consolidation adjustments be treated? How should the impact of associates and joint ventures on the reported figures be dealt with?

  • Legal act: Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Location of disclosures and audit consequences

Should or could the country-by-country reporting requirements be included in the notes to the financial statements, which represent an inherent part of these statements, or does the requirement ask to design a new separate annex to the financial statements?

  • Legal act: Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Definitions of reportable items

The disclosure requirements use terms which need to be defined to ensure consistency of disclosures provided by institutions and audited by their auditors. In this context we seek clarification concerning tax as referred to in Article 89(1)(d) and (e) of Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD). Does it contain only current tax expense or also deferred tax? If deferred tax is included, does it comprise only the profit or loss element, or also changes in deferred tax recognised in other comprehensive income? Alternatively, should it include only the tax cash-flows made in the relevant period?

  • Legal act: Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Article 89 of Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 (CRR) – risk weighting and prohibition of qualifying holdings outside the financial sector

This question is about the valuation of qualifying holdings outside the financial sector in order to determine whether the 15 % cap under Article 89 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) is exceeded or not. It is also in relation with the phase out of unrealized gains measured at fair value under Article 468.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Recognition of contractual netting agreements by the competent authority

Should the provision of Article 296(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) that “competent authorities shall recognise a contractual netting agreement …” be understood as a requirement to have an acceptance made by the supervisory authority, in particular in the course of performing its on-site or off-site activities, or rather to receive a formal permission (e.g. in a form of an administrative decision) of a competent authority?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Excess General Credit Risk Adjustments - Standardised Approach (SA)

Can institutions use the excess of SA general credit risk adjustments over the 1.25% cap to reduce SA exposure value under own funds requirements, or reductions to SA original exposure value are just limited to specific credit risk adjustments? If so, where should the excess of general provisions, not considered as Tier 2 due to the 1.25% cap, be deducted (i.e. Retail class)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 183/2014 - RTS for the calculation of specific and general credit risk adjustments

Reglamento 575/2013 exposiciones garantizadas hipotecas sobre bienes inmuebles/ Exposures secured by mortgages on immovable property

La parte de la exposición que supere el valor hipotecario dice que le será asignada la ponderación de riesgo aplicable a las exposiciones no garantizadas de la contraparte implicada. Si la contraparte es minorista, cómo puede ser que la parte de la exposición que supere el valor hipotecario vaya ponderada al 75% y la parte que va entre el 80% y el 100% del valor hipotecario vaya ponderada al 100%? ENGLISH TRANSLATION: In Article 124 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) it says that the part of the exposure which exceeds the mortgage value shall be assigned the risk weight applicable to the unsecured exposures of the counterparty involved. If the counterparty is retail, can you explain how the part of the exposure which exceeds the mortgage value shall have a weight of 75% and the part which goes from 80% through 100% of the mortgage value shall have a weight of 100%?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Calculation of volatility adjustments where liquidation period not given in CRR tables

Where there is a situation where a volatility adjustment is required that does not have a liquidation period given in the tables under Article 224 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR), how should the volatility adjustment be calculated - by use of the formula per Article 225, using the values from one of the liquidation periods in the tables in Article 224 as a basis to calculate other values? This situation can occur due to the requirements of Article 285 of the CRR.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Financial Difficulties

A clearer definition of the phrase 'Financial Difficulties' is required.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Draft ITS on Supervisory Reporting of Institutions

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

Additional outflow due to a material deterioration in the credit quality of the institution

Article 423(2) stipulates that institutions shall notify to the competent authorities conracts containing conditions which lead, within 30 days following the material deterioration of the credit quality of the institution, to liquidity outflows or additional collateral needs. Article furthermore specifies that the competent authorites shall require an additional outflow if those contract are material but this additional outflow is required only for the additional collateral needs. The row 1150 in C 52.00 also provides only additional outflow for additional collateral needs. Some institutions may have entered into contracts containing conditions which lead to additional outflow in the form of the repayment of the debt outstanding or to a rise of interest rate within 30 days following the material deterioration of the credit quality of the institution (and not additional collateral needs). Does this mean that the additional outflow due to the material deterioration of the credit quality of the institution which is not in the form of additional collateral needs is not considered and not reported as an outflow?

  • 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)

Use of an insitution's own estimates of conversion factors

In applying Article 166(10) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR), may competent authorities grant permission to institutions to use their own estimates of conversion factors (as is permitted for certain exposures under Articles 151(7) and (9)) for off-balance sheet exposures which are not listed under Article 166(8)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Recognition of real estate as commercial property

1. What kind of assets are to be included in the “Residential” and “Commercial” categories within “Mortgage Loans” for the purposes of supervisory reporting? For instance where should institutions assign garages, plots of land, storage rooms and rustic property etc. which are used as collateral? Are there more specific criteria to be used in assigning these assets? 2. Can we recognize as Commercial Real Estate the following types of property: Land for development, factories, plots of land for commercial purposes, slotted houses, schools and quarries etc.?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

What is meant with 'mainly' in the definition of 'financial holding company'?

A 'financial holding company' is defined as a financial institution, the subsidiaries of which are exclusively or mainly institutions or financial institutions, at least one of such subsidiaries being an institution, and which is not a mixed financial holding company. Could you please provide more guidance on what is meant with 'mainly'?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable