EBA publishes final draft Technical Standards on passport notifications

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on passport notifications. These RTS and ITS aim to specify the information that needs to be notified to competent authorities, as well as forms, templates and procedures underlying the submission of passport notifications.

Following the conclusion of the consultation process in August 2013, the EBA finalised the draft RTS and ITS on passport notifications. Where possible, comments received during the public consultation were considered. The draft RTS and ITS also build to a large extent on the Passporting Guidelines developed by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), the EBA's predecessor.

The draft final RTS specify the information that a credit institution shall provide to competent authorities of its home Member State for the purpose of notifying the exercise of the right of establishment or of the freedom to provide services within the territory of another Member State. The draft RTS also specify the information needed in relation to changes in the branch notification, including termination of a branch operation.

The draft final ITS set common and harmonised templates and procedures, so as to ensure that both home and host competent authorities receive appropriate and consistent information in order to perform their respective tasks and meet their responsibilities. In particular, the draft ITS address issues of language and means of transmission of passport notifications, and also include provisions for improving the content of the passport notifications and ensuring clarity on the date of receipt of submitted (or forwarded) notifications.

Legal basis and next steps

These final draft RTS and ITS have been developed pursuant to Article 35, 36 and 39 of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms (colloquially known as Capital Requirements Directive or CRD).

The final standards have been sent today to the European Commission for their adoption as EU Regulations that will be directly applicable throughout the EU.