Search for Q&As

Enquirers can use various factors to search for a Q&A:

  • These include searching by the Q&A ID; legal reference, date submitted, technical standard / guideline, or by keyword if known.
  • Searches can be extended to more than one legal act, topic, technical standard or guidelines by making multiple selections (i.e. pressing 'Ctrl' on your keyboard, and selecting the relevant ones from the drop-down lists by left mouse-click).

Disclaimer:

Q&As refer to the provisions in force on the day of their publication. The EBA does not systematically review published Q&As following the amendment of legislative acts. Users of the Q&A tool should therefore check the date of publication of the Q&A and whether the provisions referred to in the answer remain the same.

Please note that the Q&As related to the supervisory benchmarking exercises have been moved to the dedicated handbook page. You can submit Q&As on this topic here.

List of Q&A's

Specification and operationalisation of the phrase "at all times"

How is the wording in Article 92 (1) CRR to be understood with regard to compliance with own funds requirements “at all times” in terms of verifiability?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

List of IEA Sectors in Column a vs List of IEA Sectors in the EBA3.3 Annotated Table Layout for ESG

Based on the Excel version of Template 3 (Annex XXXIX), there are 8 sectors explicitly listed in column a (Sector / IEA Sector): Power Fossil fuel combustion Automative Aviation Maritime transport Cement, clinker and lime production Iron and steel, coke, and metal ore production Chemicals And referring to the ITS Annex XL - Instructions for disclosure of ESG risks - Paragraph 19(a), it also mentions that there are 8 mandatory minimum set of sectors: 19. Institutions shall disclose in this template: a. Columns a and b: these columns include the sectors (IEA sectors in column a) under which rows 1-8 lists the mandatory minimum set of sectors, and ..... However, in the "Annotated Table Layout 330-P1-ESG 3.3.xlsx" and in the data dictionary / DPM, downloaded from EBA's website, there are only 7 values mentioned for the IEA sector -  The <Key value> (combination of all <Key value> columns when more than one) must uniquely specify each row. Value restricted to subset [CT55]: (CT:x83) Carbon intensive firms (CT:x84) 1. Power (CT:x85) 2. Fossil fuel combustion (CT:x86) 3. Automotive (CT:x87) 4. Aviation (CT:x88) 5. Maritime transport (CT:x89) 6. Cement, clinker and lime production (CT:x90) 7. Iron and steel, coke, and metal ore production   The IEA Sector named "Chemicals" is not included in the EBA 3.3 list of values. Will either the Excel version and ITS be updated to remove "Chemicals" from the list of mandatory minimum set of sectors or the "Annotated Table Layout for ESG" be updated to include "Chemicals"?  

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) 2022/2453 - ITS on ESG disclosures

Template 8 – GAR (%)

In "Annex XL - Instructions for disclosure of ESG risk", the denominator of column "Proportion of new assets funding taxonomy relevant sectors" in Template 8 - GAR (%) "shall be the gross carrying amount of new covered assets from those assets, as defined in the instructions corresponding to column ‘a’ of Template 7". But in the document "Annex I - KPIs for credit institutions (Article 8 Taxonomy)" from EBA advises the Commission on KPIs for transparency on institutions’ environmentally sustainable activities, including a green asset ratio | European Banking Authority (europa.eu), the column "Proportion of new assets funding taxonomy relevant sectors" (sheet "4. GAR KPIs flow") has formulas with a difference of stocks in the denominator. What should be considered in the denominator? The gross carrying amount of new covered assets or the difference between gross carrying amount in current disclosure period (t) and previous disclosure period (t-1)? If it is "new covered assets", what exactly does it mean? Are these the exposures considered in current disclosure period (t), but not in previous disclosure period (t-1)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) 2022/2453 - ITS on ESG disclosures

Template 5 - Reporting of gross carrying amount of exposures sensitive to chronic, acute, chronic and acute climate change events

In Template 5, should the gross carrying amount of exposures in column j (of which exposures sensitive to impact from both from chronic and acute climate change events) be reported also in column h (Of which exposures sensitive to impact from chronic climate change events) and column i (Of which exposures sensitive to impact from acute climate change events) or is the gross carrying amount of exposures reported in these 3 columns mutually exclusive?  

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) 2022/2453 - ITS on ESG disclosures

Interpretation of ‘ The degree of correlation between the value of the assets relied upon for protection and the credit quality of the obligor shall not be too high.’

In Article 194, Quote Institutions may recognise funded credit protection in the calculation of the effect of credit risk mitigation only where the lending institution has the right to liquidate or retain, in a timely manner, the assets from which the protection derives in the event of the default, insolvency or bankruptcy — or other credit event set out in the transaction documentation — of the obligor and, where applicable, of the custodian holding the collateral. The degree of correlation between the value of the assets relied upon for protection and the credit quality of the obligor shall not be too high. Unquote My question is about the aforementioned correlation. If a obligor’s major asset is a very valuable mine asset, and the mine asset is collateralized by a bank as security for a loan, is it eligible for the bank to consider the value of the mine asset for calculating the ‘risk-weighted asset’? The value of the mine asset is valued by independent & renowned evalution agency and it meets with all other regulatory requirements for eligible collateral.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: EBA/GL/2016/09 - Guidelines on corrections to modified duration for debt instruments under Article 340(3) CRR

Issuers of EMTs and scope of application AML requirements

To what extent should electronic money institutions (EMIs) that issue e-money tokens (EMTs) under MiCAR comply with the obligations in relation to anti-money laundering and terrorist financing under Directive 2015/849/EU (as amended, AMLD5)? More specifically, should holders of EMTs be considered as clients of the EMI within the meaning of AMLD5, so that the relevant KYC requirements apply on an ongoing basis in respect of holders of EMTs (not only at the time of issuing but also following trading on the secondary market)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 2023/1114 (MiCAR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Validation rules in Reporting Framework 3.4

The question concerns the EBA Reporting Framework 3.4, Validation Rules (March 22, 2024), rule v22161_m. This rule applies to the calculation of 'Net interest rate position with derivatives', {r0560}, in the context of 'ITS on Supervisory Reporting with Regard to IRRBB', Annex 28, form J02.00. It defines {r0560} to be {r0560} = {r0010} + {r0190} + {r0200} + {r0520} + {r0530}, the sum of 'Total Assets', 'Off-balance sheet assets: contingent assets', 'Total liabilities', 'Off-balance sheet liabilities: Contingent liabilities', and 'Other derivatives (Net asset/liability)'. Are the signs in front of {r0200} and {r0520} correct in this formulation? We would appreciate affirmation by EBA. Similar observations may also apply to rules v22159_m and v22160_m.

  • Legal act: Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Draft ITS on Supervisory Reporting of Institutions (for benchmarking the internal approaches)

Trading desk requirements for Standardized approach perimeter

Could you please confirm whether all desks in the prudential perimeter, independently from the internal model or standardized approach, should respect the requirements for trading desks reported in Article 104b and other provisions for trading desks?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Trading and Banking book positions within a Trading desk

Could an A-IMA eligible Trading desk have trading and banking book positions segregated in different portfolios within the same desk, given that non-trading book positions are carve-out from A-IMA calculations?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Classification of Repo Transaction

How can internal repo transactions be managed in the calculation of the regulatory capital requirement in the A-IMA trading desk? Can these transactions be carved out from the scope of regulatory capital requirement of the A-IMA trading desk? Does the regulation prescribe that the funding in repos should be allocated to the trading/banking book accordingly to the funding strategy purpose? (if the funding is for banking book positions, the repos are non-trading instruments, if the funding is for trading book strategy the repos are trading book instruments). Is it possible to have different prudential classification of internal repos and external repo transactions on the market?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Treatment of two-leg derivatives with respect to rate type and currency

What is the expected representation for two-legs derivatives in the templates "BREAKDOWN OF SENSITIVITY ESTIMATES (J 02.00, J 03.00 and J 04.00)" and REPRICING CASH FLOWS (J 05.00, J 06.00 and J 07.00)?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) 2021/451 – ITS on supervisory reporting of institutions

Reporting Requirements per type of institution

Are small and non-complex/other institutions required to use the simplified set of templates, or can they use the Large format if they already have to produce it, for example, for their holding/parent company?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) 2021/451 – ITS on supervisory reporting of institutions

Prudential Classification of Repo Transaction

What treatment for market risk capital requirement should be adopted for repos included in an A-IMA trading desk where those repos are used for funding of trading positions and valued at accrual and thus excluded from the regulatory trading book, following Basel Committee’s provision?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Validation rules of templates F 24.01 and F 24.02 specifically EGDQ_0665, EGDG_0666, XBRL v8035_m and XBRL v8052_m. These validations impose that the closing figures of the prior financial year end should tally with the opening figures of the current reporting quarter without allowing for reclassifications or changes of the counterparties’ reporting criteria segregated in F 24.01 and F 24.02, namely collateral type, and SME criteria.

For accounts which do not have a change in non-performing status, how are changes in collateral and/or SME status of the counterparty are to be reported in F 24.01 and F 24.02, since validation rules of templates F 24.01 and F 24.02, specifically EGDQ_0665, EGDG_0666, XBRL v8035_m and XBRL v8052_m, cannot all be complied with simultaneously when such changes occur after the previous financial year end?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) 2021/451 – ITS on supervisory reporting of institutions

Scope of application of recital 54 of MICAR

Question 1: Recital 54 MiCAR seems to presume that the same ART may be issued by EU and third country entity, when speaking of "Issuers of asset-referenced tokens that are marketed both in the Union and in third countries". Does recital 54 mean a technically same fungible token not (externally) attributable to a particular issuer or does this only mean that the token has the same rights attached and is marketed under the same name but is not technically identical and should be attributable to one issuer (in Union or in third countries)? Question 2: Does Recital 54 MiCAR, while referring to ART issuers and their reserve of assets requirements, also apply to EMT issuers (including cases where no reserve requirements under MiCAR apply) and should it be used to interpret prudential requirements for EMT issuers (including Article 54 MiCAR and EMD)? Question 3: if ever recital 54 was to be extended to all EMT issuers, how would this recital have to be interpreted in relation with article 54, which foresees that EMT issuers should safeguard funds received by issuers of e-money tokens in exchange for e-money tokens in accordance with Article 7(1) of Directive 2009/110/EC? 

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 2023/1114 (MiCAR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

One leg out Multi EMT issuance – legal possibility and related issues

Question 1: Can a technically identical and fully fungible EMT based on a non EU currency be issued by, on one hand, a EU-based entity licensed as an electronic money institution or credit institution (therefore complying with MICAR) and, on the other hand, by an entity based in another non EU jurisdiction and non regulated under EU law?  Question 2: If ever the preceding arrangement was possible under MICAR, then would it be compliant with Article 48(1) MiCAR in case a person on the EU territory was to offer or seek admission to trading on EU markets for tokens issued by the entity not authorised as an electronic money institution or credit institution?  Question 3: [This question is to be read in light of associated QA on scope of recital 54] If ever the preceding arrangement was possible under MICAR, given that this technically identical and fully fungible EMT would freely circulate on the secondary market and would actually be marketed both in the EU and in non EU jurisdictions, should competent authorities apply to this arrangement provisions set by recital 54?  Question 4: [This question is to be read in light of associated QA on scope of recital 54] If ever the preceding arrangement was possible under MICAR and recital 54 could be applied, then would competent authorities have to apply safeguarding requirements for the EU licensed entity based on the volume of tokens this entity issued (as per MICAR article 54) or on the “issuers’ liability towards Union holders”, based on “the share of […] tokens that is expected to be marketed in the Union” (as per MICAR recital 54)? Question 5: In order to mitigate potential regulatory arbitrage and capital flight in the context of a one leg out multi EMT issuance, would it be compliant with MICAR to allow only EU-based residents to present redemption requests to the EU-based entity

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 2023/1114 (MiCAR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Powers of MiCAR authority to obtain the information needed to assess recovery and redemption plans and possible mechanism for exchange of information with the prudential authority

In cases where the MiCAR authority differs from the prudential authority under CRD, respectively the competent authority for recovery plans under BRRD, does the Regulation ensure that the MiCAR authority is provided with the powers to gather from the supervised entities (in the course of the ongoing supervision) all information that is necessary in order to duly assess the recovery and redemption plans of banks and investment firms? If there is a risk of insufficiency of information at the disposal of the MiCAR authority, what will be the mechanisms ensuring proper access of information by the MiCAR authority to the information available within the prudential authority on the financial indicators and other key metrics for the purposes of assessment of the recovery and redemption plans, as well as whether Member States are expected to implement special measures to ensure the protection of sensitive information? How the flow of information towards the CRD competent authority from the MICAR supervisors should be assured in order for CRD authority to be able to perform on their tasks? 

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 2023/1114 (MiCAR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Liabilities related to the reserve of assets managed by issuers of asset-referenced tokens in case of resolution of the issuer

Please clarify whether liabilities related to the reserve of assets under Article 36 (2) MiCAR have to be treated as secured liabilities and therefore cannot be subject to write-down and conversion or bail-in in case of resolution in the meaning of the BRRD.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 2023/1114 (MiCAR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Provision of external payroll accounting services to an employer

Does the activity of external payroll processing for an employer constitute a payment service under PSD2, if it consists of receiving funds for wages and related deductions (taxes, health and social insurance) in the payroll processor’s payment account from the employer, and transferring these to employees, tax authorities, insurance companies etc.? Would the answer change depending on whether the payroll processor  maintains an account separately for each employer?   

  • Legal act: Directive 2015/2366/EU (PSD2)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable