Press releases

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Consultation Paper on its Guidelines on a common assessment methodology for granting authorisation as a credit institution. The draft Guidelines are addressed to all competent authorities across the EU in charge of granting authorisation as a credit institution, and cover the authorisation requirements set out in the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD). The draft Guidelines complement the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on authorization of credit institutions and contribute to the convergence of supervisory practices around market access for credit institutions across the single market. The consultation runs until 10 June 2021.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has established that the scope of the event caused by the recently widely notified vulnerabilities was limited and that the confidentiality of the EBA systems and data has not been compromised.

The EBA investigation is still ongoing and we are deploying additional security measures and close monitoring in view of restoring the full functionality of the email servers.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has been the subject of a cyber-attack against its Microsoft Exchange Servers, which is affecting many organisations worldwide. The Agency has swiftly launched a full investigation, in close cooperation with its ICT provider, a team of forensic experts and other relevant entities.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on the supervisory reporting and disclosures of investment firms. These final draft ITS, which are part of the phase 1 mandates of the EBA roadmap on investment firms, will ensure a proportionate implementation of the new prudential framework for investment firms taking into account the different activities, sizes and complexity of investments firms.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published its biennial Opinion on risks of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) affecting the European Union's financial sector. The ML/TF risks identified by the EBA include those that are applicable to the entire financial system, for instance the use of innovative financial services, while others affect specific sectors, such as de-risking. The list also includes ML/TF risks that emerge from wider developments such as the COVID-19 pandemic that has an impact on both firms’ AML/CFT compliance and competent authorities’ supervision. The Opinion, therefore, sets out recommendations to competent authorities aimed at closing these gaps.

The EBA published today its final revised Guidelines on ML/TF risk factors. The revisions take into account changes to the EU Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) legal framework and address new ML/TF risks, including those identified by the EBA’s implementation reviews. In addition to strengthening financial institutions’ risk-based approaches to AML/CFT, the revision supports the development of more effective and consistent supervisory approaches where evidence suggested that divergent approaches continue to exist. The Guidelines are central to the EBA’s work to lead, coordinate and monitor the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today an Opinion in response to the Commission’s call for advice on KPIs and related methodology for the disclosure by credit institutions and by investment firms of information on how and to what extent their activities qualify as environmentally sustainable in accordance with the EU Taxonomy. In the advice, the EBA underlines the importance of the green asset ratio, supported by other KPIs, as a key means to understand how institutions are financing sustainable activities and meeting the Paris agreement targets.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a consultation paper on draft implementing technical standards (ITS) on Pillar 3 disclosures on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks. The draft ITS put forward comparable disclosures that show how climate change may exacerbate other risks within institutions’ balance sheets, how institutions are mitigating those risks, and their green asset ratio on exposures financing taxonomy-aligned activities, such as those consistent with the Paris agreement goals.

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) have today published a joint supervisory statement on the effective and consistent application and national supervision of the Regulation on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector (SFDR). The statement aims to achieve an effective and consistent application and national supervision of the SFDR, promoting a level playing field and protecting investors.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today two public consultations on regulatory technical standards (RTS) and Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on cooperation and information exchange between competent authorities involved in prudential supervision of investment firms. These draft standards provide a solid framework for (i) cooperation in the supervision of investment firm groups though colleges of supervisors and (ii) for information exchange for investment firms operating through branches or the free provision of services. These draft standards are part of the phase 2 mandates of the EBA roadmap on investment firms, and aim at improving cooperation and information exchanges between the supervisors of investment firms. Both consultations run until 23 April 2021.

​​​​​​​The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today an Opinion on supervisory actions national competent authorities (NCAs) should take to ensure banks remove any remaining obstacles that prevent third party providers from accessing payment accounts, which restrict EU consumers’ choice of payment services.  The Opinion will contribute to a level playing field across the EU and to a consistent application and supervision of relevant requirements under the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the EBA Regulatory Technical Standards on strong customer authentication and common and secure communication (RTS on SCA&CSC).

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying how institutions should determine exposures arising from derivative and credit derivative contracts not entered directly into with a client but whose underlying debt or equity instrument was issued by a client. These draft RTS will ensure appropriate levels of consistency through different pieces of the regulatory framework for the calculation of large exposures.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on the disclosure of indicators of global systemically important institutions (G-SIIs). These standards help to identify which banks are GSIIIs and specify the formats and instructions in accordance with which G-SIIs disclose the information required under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and aim at ensuring consistency of information.

​​​​​​​The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation on the criteria that competent authorities should use to assess a breach of the large exposure limits. The consultation paper also details the criteria to determine the period of time and the measures for institutions to return to compliance with those limits. The consultation runs until 17 May 2021.