Press releases

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is publishing today a consultation paper on its proposals for a common EU definition of Tier 1 hybrids. Hybrid capital instruments may mix features of both debt and equity and can be considered as eligible as original own funds (‘Tier 1’) in the EEA provided that they meet certain criteria. The objective is not to elaborate a brand new definition of eligible hybrids but to provide guidelines for a common and clear interpretation across the EU of the international standards issued by the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision in 1998 (“the Sydney Press Release”). Such standards have not yet been reflected in the EU legislation. CEBS proposals have been elaborated in response to the European Commission’s letter of April 2007. CEBS invites all interested party to examine the proposals and to send their comments to “cp17@c-ebs.org” by 22 February 2008.

Mme Dani?le Nouy, Secretary General of the French Banking Commission (Commission Bancaire), has been elected Chair of the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS).

CEBS has started a second round of public consultation on some aspects of the validation and assessment of the risk management and risk measurement systems used by credit institutions and investment firms to calculate their capital requirements. The consultation runs until 16 February 2006

CEBS has published guidelines on cooperation between supervisors of EU banking groups and investment firms. The guidelines are designed to promote an efficient supervisory framework for groups that operate in several EU jurisdictions, by enhancing the practical operational networking of national supervisors.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) and the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) have published a common cross-sector work programme for 2006. This work programme builds further on the Joint Protocol signed by the three Committees on 24 November 2005.

The introduction of IAS/IFRS has been a source of concern to supervisory authorities, notably because of fears that these standards could jeopardise the criteria that regulatory own funds have to fulfil. CEBS subsequently undertook an analysis of a sample of institutions' financial data to determine whether the supervisory concerns are justified and to what extent the Guidelines on prudential filters are effective.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has published a proposal to amend the Guidelines on Common Reporting (COREP) for the periodic reporting to supervisory authorities in the EU by a supervised entity of its solvency under the recast Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC. This proposal aims at EU-wide harmonisation of the reporting frequency used by supervisory authorities and at the harmonisation of the maximum remittance periods for sending in this information. CEBS is expecting feedback on this proposal by 19 April 2008. Comments should be submitted to CP04rev@c-ebs.org.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has defined its work programme for 2005, with the assistance of its Consultative Panel. CEBS plans to issue a number of public consultations during the coming year. Most of them will be related to the implementation of the proposed Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) which is expected to be adopted by the European Parliament later this year.

At its meeting in London on 18 January 2005, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) agreed to start a formal consultation with the banking industry, market participants and end-users to achieve a common framework for reporting of the solvency ratio by credit institutions. The consultation starts today and the consultation period will be three months.

CEBS has received a call for advice from the European Commission on the review of the large exposures rules in the EU which requests CEBS to undertake a survey of market practices in this respect. This survey is conducted via public questionnaire and responses are requested by 18 May 2006.

By the end of next year, any interested party will be able to access relevant information on the implementation and application of harmonised prudential banking rules for all EU Member States in a single location, a common format and a common language.

The European Commission is conducting a review of existing rules in all financial services Directives to determine their impact on cross-border consolidation in the EU banking sector. As part of that review, the Commission has asked the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) to evaluate the supervisory process for approving acquisitions of qualifying holdings in credit institutions.

ON APPLICATION OF THE SUPERVISORY REVIEW PROCESS CEBS has started a public consultation on additional technical guidance on application of the supervisory review process under the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD). The consultation period runs until 23 June 2006.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is pleased to announce today’s publication of the second of its public consultations on prudential reporting requirements for credit institutions. This consultation focuses on the development of a standardised consolidated financial reporting framework for credit institutions. The first consultation (published January 2005) focussed on defining a common reporting framework for the solvency ratio under the future EU Capital Requirements Directive (CRD).

CEBS has updated the supervisory disclosure framework and its website demo in light of the final version of the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD).