Press releases

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 European Banking Authority (EBA) today published a peer review on the supervision of creditors’ treatment of mortgage borrowers in arrears under the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD), assessing the conduct supervisory approaches of competent authorities in this area. The review, which was developed in response to the current economic conditions and high interest rate environment, found that competent authorities’ supervision is overall effective and has been adapted to reflect the current interest rates environment and risks to mortgage borrowers. However, the review found differences in the level of scrutiny which competent authorities apply to MCD creditors, including the identification of risks borrowers are facing. The report sets out some follow-up measures, both for individual competent authorities, and for all competent authorities more generally, to ensure that supervisory measures to mitigate consumer detriment are taken before the detriment materialises. The report also sets out some best practices in this area that might be of benefit for other competent authorities to adopt.

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) today published a Report on innovation facilitators, a term encompassing innovation hubs and regulatory sandboxes. The Report identifies a number of benefits and challenges relating to the operation and design of such innovation facilitators and presents recommendations and considerations towards national competent authorities (NCAs), the ESAs and the European Commission to further enhance the role and efficiency of innovation facilitators in the financial sector across the European Economic Area (EEA).

The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) launched today a public consultation on the second batch of policy mandates under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). Today’s package includes four draft regulatory technical standards (RTS), one set of draft implementing technical standards (ITS) and two sets of guidelines (GL). These policy instruments aim to ensure a consistent and harmonised legal framework in the areas of major ICT-related incident reporting, digital operational resilience testing, ICT third-party risk management and oversight over critical ICT third-party providers. The consultation runs until 4 March 2024.

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) today launched a second consultation related to the joint Guidelines on the system for the exchange of information relevant to fit and proper assessments. The consultation covers amendments extending the scope of the joint Guidelines to legal persons, thus ensuring the complete coverage of data subjects. These Guidelines aim to increase the efficiency of the information exchange between sectoral supervisors by harmonising practices and covering both natural and legal persons. The consultation runs until 15 January 2024.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published a Consultation Paper on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the requirements for policies and procedures on conflicts of interest for issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). These draft RTS aim at strengthening the management of conflicts of interest by issuers of ARTs and ensure convergence of requirements across the European Union.

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) today launched a second consultation related to the joint Guidelines on the system for the exchange of information relevant to fit and proper assessments. The consultation covers amendments extending the scope of the joint Guidelines to legal persons, thus ensuring the complete coverage of data subjects. These Guidelines aim to increase the efficiency of the information exchange between sectoral supervisors by harmonising practices and covering both natural and legal persons. The consultation runs until 15 January 2024.

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) are today publishing their Final Report amending the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) to the Delegated Regulation supplementing the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The ESAs propose adding new social indicators and streamlining the framework for the disclosure of principal adverse impacts of investment decisions on the environment and society.

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) today published an interactive factsheet that answers consumers’ most frequently asked questions about sustainable finance. The factsheet provides tips to consumers considering buying financial products with sustainability features, including loans, investments, insurances and pensions.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its environmental statement in the context of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28). Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) remain one of the EBA’s priorities. The EBA highlighted its effort to integrate sustainability aspects in many areas of its work, including risk management, disclosures, supervisory practices, climate stress testing and the Pillar 1 framework.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published an Opinion following the notification by the Ministry of Business, Industry, and Financial Affairs of Denmark to apply Article 133 of the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) to activate a new systemic risk buffer (SyRB). The proposed measure introduces a systemic risk buffer rate of 7% for a subset of exposure categories located in Denmark to increase banks’ ability to absorb unexpected losses from exposures to real estate companies. The intended date of application of the measure is 30 June 2024.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today launched a public consultation on its draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the conditions for assessing the materiality of extensions and changes to the use of internal models as well as to the subset of the modellable risk factors applicable under the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) rules. These RTS are part of the Phase 4 deliverables of the EBA roadmap for the new market and counterparty credit risk approaches. The consultation runs until 29 February 2023.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today extended its risk-based anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision guidelines to AML/CFT supervisors of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). The new guidelines set clear expectations of the steps supervisors should take to identify and manage money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risks in this sector and are an important step forward in the EU’s fight against financial crime.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today launched a public consultation on new Guidelines on preventing the abuse of funds and certain crypto-assets transfers for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. These ‘travel rule’ Guidelines specify the steps that Payment Service Providers (PSPs), Intermediary PSPs (IPSPs), crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) and Intermediary CASPs (ICASPs) should take to detect missing or incomplete information that accompanies a transfer of funds or crypto-assets. They also detail the procedures all these providers should put in place to manage a transfer of funds or a transfer of crypto-assets that lacks the required information. These Guidelines aim at forging a common understanding to ensure the consistent application of EU law as well as a stronger anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. The consultation runs until 26 February 2024.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the assessment methodology under which competent authorities verify institutions’ compliance with the requirements applicable to their internal models under the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) rules. These RTS are part of the phase 4 deliverables of the EBA roadmap on market risk and counterparty credit risk approaches. Today’s final draft RTS represent a significant milestone in the implementation of the FRTB internal models in the EU.