EBA discloses first list of O-SIIs in the EU

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today the first list of Other Systemically Important Institutions (O-SIIs) in the EU. The institutions have been identified by relevant authorities across the Union according to harmonised criteria provided by the EBA in its Guidelines for the assessment of O-SIIs, which in turn build on the global framework for dealing with Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) published by the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision (BCBS). This list, together with the EBA Guidelines, will inform the work of relevant authorities across the EU in setting capital buffers for the O-SIIs they have identified.

The EBA disclosed today the first list of all the O-SIIs in the EU, which have been identified on the basis of uniform criteria for the first time. Relevant authorities across the EU jurisdictions have drawn up the list on the basis of the criteria provided by the EBA Guidelines, which define the size, importance (substitutability or financial system infrastructure), complexity (or cross-border activities) and interconnectedness of such institutions.

The EBA Guidelines provide additional flexibility for relevant authorities to apply their supervisory judgment, when deciding to include other institutions, which might have not been automatically identified as O-SIIs. This approach allows for the assessment of all financial systems across the EU in a comparable way, whilst still not excluding those institutions which may be relevant on the basis of specific peculiarities of one EU jurisdiction. The EBA acts as the single point of disclosure for the list of O-SIIs across the EU, while each relevant authorities discloses this information for their respective jurisdictions, along with further details on their rationale and identification process. This additional information is key for understanding the specific features of each O-SII and how they have been identified in terms of supervisory judgment, optional indicators used, buffer decisions and phase-in implementation dates.

The identification of institutions as O-SIIs in the EU took place in 2015 and going forward, updated lists of O-SIIs will be disclosed on an annual basis, along with the definition of any CET1 capital buffer requirements which may need to be set. Any higher capital requirements will become applicable at least one year after the publication of the list of O-SIIs as a way to give institutions enough time to adjust to the new buffer requirements.

Legal basis and next steps

The EBA's Guidelines on the identification of O-SIIs (EBA/GL/2014/10) have been developed in accordance with Directive 2013/36/EU (Capital Requirements Directive - CRD IV), and on the basis of internationally agreed standards, including the framework established by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and standards developed by the BCBS.