Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism supervision is improving but not always effective yet, finds the EBA

​​​​​​​The EBA published today the findings from its assessment of competent authorities’ approaches to the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision of banks. Since the EBA started those reviews in 2019 and strengthened its AML/CFT guidance, national supervisors have started to adopt meaningful reforms to improve their AML/CFT supervision, but the EBA found that significant challenges remain in important areas such as the identification and assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks.

EBA launches call for papers for its 2022 Policy Research Workshop

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a call for research papers in view of its 11th Policy Research Workshop taking place on 26-27 October 2022 on the topic "Technological Innovation, Climate Finance and Banking Regulation". The paper submission deadline is 24 June 2022.

EBA publishes final draft technical standards on default probabilities and loss given default for default risk model under the internal approach for market risk

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on probabilities of default (PDs) and losses given default (LGDs) for default risk model for institutions using the new Internal Model Approach (IMA) under the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB). These final draft RTS specify the requirements for estimating PDs and LGDs using an institution's internal methodology or external sources. These draft RTS are part of the deliverables included in the roadmap for the new market and counterparty credit risk approaches.

EBA publishes revised Guidelines on common procedures and methodologies for the supervisory review and evaluation process

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final revised Guidelines on common procedures and methodologies for the supervisory review and evaluation process (SREP) and supervisory stress testing.  The revisions aim at implementing the amendments to the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD V) and Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR II) and promoting convergence towards best supervisory practices.

EBA issues Opinion on new measure introduced by the National Bank of Belgium to address macroprudential risk

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published an Opinion following the notification by the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) of its intention to activate a new systemic risk buffer (SyRB). The measure is introduced in light of the macroprudential risks in the Belgian economy related to the substantial level of systemic risk in banks’ mortgage portfolios and the related financial system vulnerabilities. The EBA does not object to the introduction of the measure.

EBA calls on financial institutions to ensure compliance with sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine and to facilitate access to basic payment accounts for refugees

The European Banking Authority (EBA) strongly condemns the recent developments that are taking a heavy toll on the Ukrainian state, society, and economy. Following the invasion of Ukraine, the Council of the EU has adopted restrictive measures against Russia and Belarus which require actions from the financial sector. The EBA is working with relevant authorities to ensure proper implementation by all financial institutions of these restrictive measures. As part of this, the EBA will collect and filter queries related to the scope of the restrictive measures as they apply to banks, and channel them to the EU Commission who will answer them. The EBA will continue to closely monitor and assess the situation to inform decisions and actions needed to mitigate short- and medium-term risks and stands ready to act under its competences.

EBA releases phase 1 of its 3.2 reporting framework and updates on validation rules

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today phase 1 of its 3.2 reporting framework. The technical package supports the implementation of the reporting framework by providing  standard specifications and includes the validation rules, the Data Point Model (DPM) and the XBRL taxonomies for version 3.2. The phase 2 and 3 of the same framework will be published in Q2 and Q3 of this year. The EBA also published today a revised list of validation rules for the reporting frameworks currently in use.

EBA recommends adjustments to the proposed EU Green Bond Standard as regards securitisation transactions

​​​​​​​The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Report which analyses the recent developments and challenges of introducing sustainability in the EU securitisation market. The EU sustainable market is still at an early stage of development and the application of sustainability requirements in securitisation appears to require further clarification. The Report examines how sustainability could be introduced in the specific context of securitisation to foster transparency and credibility in the EU sustainable securitisation market and to support its sound development.

EBA publishes final Guidelines on the limited network exclusion under the Payment Services Directive

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final Guidelines on the limited network exclusion under the Payment Service Directive (PSD2). These Guidelines clarify how national competent authorities should assess whether a network of service providers or a range of goods and services qualify as ‘limited’ and are, therefore, not subject to the Directive. Payment instruments that might benefit from this exclusion include store cards, fuel cards, public transport cards, and meal vouchers. The Guidelines aim at addressing significant inconsistencies on how this exclusion has in the past been applied across the EU, contributing to the Single Market for payment services in the EU and ensuring transparency for supervisors and customers.

EBA publishes annual assessment of banks’ internal approaches for the calculation of capital requirements

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its Reports on the annual market and credit risk benchmarking exercises. These exercises aim at monitoring the consistency of risk weighted assets (RWAs) across all EU institutions authorised to use internal approaches for the calculation of capital requirements. Regarding market risk, for the majority of participating banks, the results confirm low dispersion in the initial market valuation (IMVs) and increased dispersion in the VaR submissions. For credit risk, the variability of RWA remained rather stable, despite the pandemic and banks’ efforts to re-develop or re-calibrate their models to comply with the policies set out in the EBA internal rating-based (IRB) roadmap.  A particular focus has been put on analysing the impact of the pandemic and the compensating public measures on the IRB models.

EBA concludes its Luanda leaks investigation and points to significant differences in competent authorities’ responses to emerging money laundering and terrorist financing risks

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today the findings of its assessment of competent authorities’ responses to the 2020 Luanda leaks. The EBA found that competent authorities across the EU adopted significantly different approaches for identifying and tackling money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) risks highlighted by the leaks. These approaches varied beyond what the EBA would have expected under a risk-based approach.

EBA makes adjustments to the Single Rulebook Q&A process

​​​​​​​The European Banking Authority (EBA), in agreement with the European Commission, is adjusting the Single Rulebook Q&A process to ensure that questions are answered efficiently and within a reasonable time. In addition to these adjustments, other measures are taken to overcome a backlog of older questions received through the Q&A tool prior to 1 January 2020 when the Q&A process was updated as part of the last ESAs Review.

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