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On 10 January 2014, the Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities handed down its decision on an appeal by the appellant, Global Private Rating Company “Standard Rating” Ltd, against the refusal by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to register it as a credit rating agency. This is the first appeal against a decision by ESMA refusing an applicant registration as a credit rating agency.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) issued today a warning on a series of risks deriving from buying, holding or trading virtual currencies such as Bitcoins. The EBA said that consumers are not protected through regulation when using virtual currencies as a means of payment and may be at risk of losing their money. It also added that there is no guarantee that currency values remain stable The warning was issued while the Authority assesses further all relevant aspects associated with virtual currencies, in order to identify whether virtual currencies can and should be regulated and supervised.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on a draft Regulatory Technical Standard (RTS) on the minimum monetary amount of the professional indemnity insurance or comparable guarantee for mortgage credit intermediaries. These RTS refer to Article 29(2)(a) of the proposed Directive on credit agreements relating to immovable residential property (Mortgage Credit Directive - MCD).

The EBA launched today a public consultation on draft Guidelines proposing harmonised definitions and templates for funding plans of credit institutions. These Guidelines aim at harmonising the way the reporting of funding plans is conducted. The consultation runs until 20 March 2014.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the definition of market and its final draft RTS on Credit Valuation Adjustment risk (CVA risk). The latter is supplemented by an Opinion on CVA risk which further elaborates on the approach taken by the EBA in determining a proxy spread. The standards will be part of the Single Rulebook aimed at enhancing regulatory harmonisation in the banking sector in the European Union (EU).

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published its final Guidelines on capital measures for FX lending to unhedged borrowers under the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP). These Guidelines bring forward supervisory convergence across the EU and address the ESRB Recommendation, following their 2011 Report on lending in Foreign Currencies, mandating the EBA to draft Guidelines on this specific aspect.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today two Reports on liquidity, namely (i) on the impact assessment for liquidity coverage requirements and (ii) on appropriate uniform definitions of extremely high quality liquid assets (extremely HQLA) and high quality liquid assets (HQLA) and on operational requirements for liquid assets. These two reports provide the European Commission with specific recommendations for the purpose of its forthcoming delegated act.

The EBA launched today a public consultation on draft Guidelines on disclosure of encumbered and unencumbered assets aimed at providing transparent and harmonised information on the subject across EU Member States. The consultation runs until 20 March 2014.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the method for the identification of the geographical location of the relevant credit exposures. These RTS ensure a consistent EU wide implementation of the countercyclical buffer (CCB) to protect against excess credit growth.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its fourth semi-annual report on risks and vulnerabilities of the EU banking sector. The report identifies improvements in market confidence, funding and capital positions. However, it cautions about ongoing uncertainties on asset valuations and future profitability in a fragile economic environment. The report also draws attention to the risks of detrimental business practices and puts forward possible measures for addressing such vulnerabilities through coordinated policy and supervisory actions.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its technical advice on possible treatments of unrealised gains measured at fair value. The advice provides specific recommendations that will inform the European Commission (EC) as to whether changes to legislation should be introduced in order to sterilise the effect of unrealised gains on regulatory capital (so-called “prudential filters”).

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today final draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) which specify the format, structure, contents list and annual publication date of the supervisory information to be disclosed by competent authorities in the banking sector.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launches today a consultation on draft Guidelines on capital measures for foreign currency lending (FX lending) aimed at providing guidance to national competent authorities on how to deal with the specific risk of FX lending to unhedged borrowers as part of the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP). The consultation runs until 23 August 2013.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on the reporting of the hypothetical capital of a central counterparty (CCP). These final draft ITS specify calculations and reporting frequencies and templates for the information relating to hypothetical capital that a CCP has to deliver to all the credit institutions and investment firms that are clearing members for the purpose of calculating their own capital requirements. The same information has to be reported to the competent authorities.

The EBA published today a discussion paper on the methodology for the assessment of liquidity and funding risk under supervisory review. The document, which contains a preliminary version of the common methodology for assessing liquidity and funding risk, aims at helping competent authorities and colleges of supervisors assess liquidity and funding risk and reach joint decisions on liquidity. This methodology will be part of the final SREP guidelines, which will be published for consultation in mid 2014.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) setting out criteria for identifying the geographical location of all relevant credit exposures, namely credit risk, trading book and securitisation exposures. These RTS will be part of the Single Rulebook aimed at enhancing regulatory harmonisation in the banking sector in the European Union (EU). The consultation runs until 1 November 2013.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) publishes today its final draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on additional liquidity monitoring metrics. The ITS provide supervisors with an adequate toolkit to assess the liquidity risk profile of institutions. The standards will be part of the Single Rulebook aimed at enhancing regulatory harmonisation in the banking sector in the European Union (EU).

In the context of its ongoing work on comparability of RWAs, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published today three reports: (i) an interim report on the consistency of RWAs in SMEs and residential mortgages portfolios; (ii) a report on the comparability of supervisory rules and practices; and (iii) a report on variability of RWAs for market risk portfolios. Furthermore, the EBA also released its report on the pro-cyclicality of banks’ capital requirements, which supplements the work on comparability, together with a summary report that compiles all the work on comparability of RWAs for IRB models.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) related to market risk. In particular, the EBA published (i) RTS on the definition of materiality thresholds for specific risk in the trading book; (ii) ITS on closely correlated currencies; (iii) RTS on non-delta risk of options in the standardised market risk approach; and (iv) ITS on appropriately diversified indices. The standards will be part of the Single Rulebook aimed at enhancing regulatory harmonisation in the banking sector in the European Union (EU).

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on draft Guidelines providing guidance to both originator institutions and competent authorities when assessing significant risk transfer (SRT) for securitisation transactions. These Guidelines will be part of the EU Single Rulebook in the banking sector and will ensure harmonised assessment and treatment of significant risk transfer across all EU Member States. The public consultation runs until 17 March 2014.