Press releases

The European Banking Authority (EBA) issued today an Opinion on the trigger, calculation and transparency of the Maximum Distributable Amount (MDA). The Opinion clarifies that the MDA should be calculated taking into account both minimum (Pillar 1) and additional (Pillar 2) capital requirements which should be met at all times, as well as the combined buffer requirement. The Opinion is designed to support the consistent application of distribution restrictions laid down in the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) in order to promote a level playing field across the Single Market, and to give greater certainty for banks’ capital planning needs. It also calls for transparency in Pillar 2 outcomes for all banks, with a view to providing clarity for investors in banks. The Opinion advises the European Commission to review the CRD text in the future to ensure certainty and more consistency.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation on its draft Guidelines on stress testing. These Guidelines set out expectations for institutions’ stress testing programmes and seek improvements by drawing on lessons from previous stress test exercises. In addition, they aim at promoting convergence of the use of stress testing in the context of the supervisory review and evaluation process (SREP). The consultation runs until 18 March 2016.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a report summarising the findings of its analysis and market practice assessment of the synthetic securitisation market. The EBA supports the limited extension of the prudential treatment granted to simple, standardised and transparent securitisations (STS) to banks that originate and retain certain SME balance sheet synthetic securitisation positions, as in the Commission’s legislative proposal on securitisation. The EBA advises on the criteria that should determine eligibility of balance sheet synthetic transactions, specifying, among others, under which conditions originator banks may transfer the risk of eligible transactions to public or private investors.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today the final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the methodology for the valuation of derivative liabilities for the purpose of bail-in in resolution. These standards, which have been developed within the framework of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) setting procedures for the orderly management of bank failures, provide EU resolution authorities with a methodology for the valuation of derivative liabilities of credit institutions placed under resolution and ensure that the discipline brought in by the new bail-in tool can effectively be extended to these liabilities too.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its report on the impact assessment and calibration of the Net Stable funding Ratio (NSFR), recommending the introduction of the NSFR in the EU to ensure stable funding structures. The analysis did not find strong statistical evidence of significant negative impacts of the NSFR on bank lending, financial assets markets or trading book positions. The EBA also explained that certain EU specificities should be taken into account. The report will inform the work of the European Commission on potential legislative proposals on NSFR.

The European Parliament (EP) confirmed today the extension of the mandate of Andrea Enria as Chairperson of the European Banking Authority (EBA) until February 2021. The confirmation follows a public hearing held at the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) of the European Parliament.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on prudential requirements for Central Securities Depositories (CSDs). These RTS will define a prudential framework for CSDs and harmonise calculations for their capital requirements which currently vary across Member States. These RTS have been developed within the framework of the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR) to increase the safety and efficiency of securities settlement and settlement infrastructures.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final Guidelines regarding limits on institutions’ exposures to ‘shadow banking entities’ that carry out bank-like activities outside a regulated framework. In particular, these Guidelines introduce an approach that will allow EU institutions to set internal limits for their exposures to ‘shadow banking entities’, hence addressing in a proportionate way the risks that these exposures pose to the EU banking sector. The Guidelines were informed by a Report, also published today, on the exposures of a sample of EU institutions to ‘shadow banking entities’ and the impact of setting limits.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Report and an Opinion on the application of legal provisions on cooperation and information sharing between EU and non-EU supervisory authorities. The objective of this report is to identify any issues and areas of improvement and to propose legislative changes, where needed, to better facilitate prudential supervision of institutions on a cross-border basis.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on draft Guidelines on the collection of information related to the internal capital adequacy assessment process (ICAAP) and the internal liquidity adequacy assessment process (ILAAP). These draft Guidelines aim at facilitating the consistent approach to the supervisory assessment of ICAAP and ILAAP frameworks as well as the assessment of reliability of institutions’ own capital and liquidity estimates as part of the supervisory review and evaluation process (SREP) following the criteria and methodologies specified in the EBA Guidelines on common procedures and methodologies for SREP. The public consultation runs until 11 March 2016.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation on its draft technical standards on the framework for cooperation and exchange of information between competent authorities for passporting under Article 28(5) of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The technical standards will ensure that information about those payment institutions that carry out business in one or more EU Member States is exchanged consistently between the national authorities of the home and host Member States. The consultation runs until 11 March 2016.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) issued today a revised list of validation rules in its Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on supervisory reporting, highlighting those which have been deactivated either for incorrectness or for triggering IT problems. Competent Authorities throughout the EU are informed that data submitted in accordance with these ITS should not be formally validated against the set of deactivated rules.

The Board of Supervisors of the European Banking Authority (EBA) has elected its Alternate Chairperson and members to its Management Board.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Discussion Paper on strong customer authentication and secure communication. The revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) will mandate the EBA to deliver Regulatory Technical Standards on this topic, which the EBA is required to deliver by January 2017. Prior to starting the development of these requirements, the EBA is issuing a Discussion Paper, with a view to obtaining early input into the development process. Responses can be submitted until 8 February 2016.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation on its draft technical standards on the separation of payment card schemes and processing entities under Article 7(6) of the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR). The technical standards introduce specific requirements related to the independence of payment card schemes and processing entities. The consultation runs until 8 March 2016.