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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

Applying the two different applicable percentages of Articles 478(1) and 478(2) CRR to the amount exceeding the thresholds of Article 470(2) CRR

How should the two different applicable percentages of Articles 478(1) and 478(2) CRR be applied to the total amount required to be deducted according to Article 36(1)(c) and (i) CRR after applying Article. 470 CRR?

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

Applicable provisions for determining deferred tax assets that rely on future profitability that existed before 1.1.2014

Are the provisions of Article 26(2) CRR regarding independently verified financial statements and permission of competent authorities applicable for determining deferred tax asset that rely on future profitability that existed before 1.1.2014?

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

Treatment of subordinated loans in respect of Art 133 (3) CRR

Could you please confirm that subordinated loans according to Art 62.a CRR, which are acknowledged as Tier 2 are not regarded as equity exposures according to Art. 133.3 CRR.

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

Groups including investment firm(s) referred to in Article 95(1) and investment firm(s) referred to in Article 96(1) and not including credit institutions.

What method of calculating the own funds requirement should be used when a group consists of both 95(1) and 96(1) investments firm and no credit institutions?

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

Definition of the term „applicable amount“ with regard to the determination of the deductions from common Equity Tier 1 items of holdings by the institution of instruments of financial sector entities where the institution has a significant investment in those entities in Article 36(1)(i)) CRR

What is the relevant definition of the „applicable amount” in Article 36(1)(i) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) with regard to the determination of the deductions of holdings by the institution of the Common Equity Tier 1 instruments of financial sector entities where the institution has a significant investment in those entities and for those entities the institution used the equity method under Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 on a consolidated basis?

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

Application of different Phase-In Rates for the Deduction of Deferred Tax Assets that Rely on Future Profitability

Article 478(2) of the CRR provides a discretion to competent authorities to apply a slower phase-in rate for the Deduction of Deferred Tax Assets that rely on Future Profitability for DTAs that existed prior to 1 January 2014. A 10% per annum phase in rate is applied for the DTAs that existed prior to 1 January 2014 while all other DTAs that were created post 1 January 2014 are subject to the normal phase in rates of 20% per annum. Clarification is required on how the different phase-in rates should be applied if the amount of DTAs (that rely on Future Profitability) in existence reduces below the initial amount recognised, due not to progressive deduction under the transition rules but rather due to usage against profit ? For example: Assume on 31 December 2014, the DTA balance is 100 which is made up of 60 that existed pre 1 January 2014 and 40 that existed post 1 January 2014. Assume that on 31 March 2015, the DTA balance reduces to 80 due to usage against profits. Should the DTA balance that existed pre 1 January 2014 be adjusted by the negative balances due to the DTA usage against profits i.e. should the slower phase-in rates be applied to the balance of 40?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 - RTS for Own Funds requirements for institutions

Allocations to the funds for general banking risk

Can banks allocate items to their funds for general banking risk without waiting for the annual accounts? If yes, is Art. 26 (2) CRR applicable for allocations during the financial year?

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

Own funds

Article 63 j) of CRR states that "the instruments or subordinated loans, as applicable, may be called, redeemed or repurchased or repaid early only where the conditions laid down in Article 77 are met, and not before five years after the date of issuance or raising, as applicable, except where the conditions laid down in Article 78(4) are met". If an institution has a right of early redemption (not connected to the conditions laid down in Article 78(4)) which is effective five years after issuance but which has to be notified at least two years before redemption, is the instrument eligible as Tier 2 Capital ?

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

Calculation of absolute value that should be considered according to Article 47c CRR as amended by Regulation UE 2019/630- Deduction for non-performing exposure

How to calculate the absolute value attributable to each non-performing exposure “where the absolute value attributable to each non-performing exposure is determined by multiplying the amounts deducted pursuant to point (d) of Article 36(1) by the contribution of the expected loss amount for the non-performing exposure to total expected loss amounts for defaulted or non- defaulted exposures, as applicable" as indicated in the Article 47c 1(b) (iv)

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

Interpretation of articles 36 (1) f and 42 of CRR regarding equity-settled share-based payments.

How should be treated shares that are bought and specifically affected to hedge equity-settled share-based payments (payments in equity instruments) ?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 - RTS for Own Funds requirements for institutions

Non-CET1 Instruments absorbing losses at the same time as CET1 instruments

Article 28(1)(i) requires that "(i) compared to all the capital instruments issued by the institution, the instruments absorb the first and proportionately greatest share of losses as they occur, and each instrument absorbs losses to the same degree as all other Common Equity Tier 1 instruments;". Would it be permitted to have a non-CET1 instrument that absorbs losses at the same time as a proposed CET1 instrument, as long as they both absorbed losses (joint) first? And would it be permitted for a non-CET1 instrument to absorb losses to the same proportion as a proposed CET1 instrument, as long as they were both absorbing the same proportionate greatest share?

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

Goodwill included in the valuation of significant investments

1. For the purposes of Article 37(b) CRR, are the significant investments of the institution limited to the significant investments in financial sector entities (FSE) or should they include all significant investments (i.e. also significant investments in entities that are not financial sector entities)? 2. Should Article 37(b) CRR be applied only when the significant investments outside the prudential perimeter are valued for prudential purposes using the equity method or should it be applied also when the significant investments are valued for prudential purposes at historical cost? 3. Should the amount to be deducted pursuant to Article 37(b) CRR be limited to goodwill or should it include also the other intangible assets included in the valuation of the significant investments of the institution?

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

Fair value changes due to changes in cross-currency basis spread eligible for CET1 capital (cost of hedging)

Are fair value changes due to changes in cross-currency basis spreads recognized in ‘other comprehensive income’, as referred to under IFRS 9 as the ‘cost of hedging’, eligible for CET1 capital under the CRR regulation?

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

Deduction of deferred tax assets

Regarding the phasing-in percentages established in Article 478(2) of the CRR, how should the deduction amount  be calculated during the transitional period when part of the stock of DTAs existed prior to 1 January 2014?

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

Calculation of the amount of holdings of own Common Equity Tier 1 instruments on the basis of the net long position

How should the condition in Article 42 a) i) “(i) the long and short positions are in the same underlying exposure and the short positions involve no counterparty risk” be applied when there are long and short positions on the same underlying reference with the same counterparty under the same master netting agreement ?Are the single net amounts fixed by such contracts to be considered rather than the gross amounts? Explanatory note: The master netting agreement we are considering complies with the conditions required under CRR (Article 206)

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

Calculation of the amount of holdings of own Common Equity Tier 1 instruments on the basis of the net long position

Could it be assumed that short positions maintained with a Qualifying Central Counterparty do not involve counterparty risk according to Article 42 a) i) CRR and thus be netted for the purposes of the calculation of the amount of holdings of own Common Equity Tier I instruments to be deducted under point (f) of Article 36(1)?

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

Own funds instruments passed on to employees of the institution as part of their remuneration

If an authority has already granted permission in advance to buy a certain predetermined amount of shares for “discretionary trading activity over treasury shares” and those shares are the ones that are passed on to employees as part of their remuneration. Under Article 29 of Commission Delegated Regulation 241_2014 is there needed a separate permission to pass on to employees those own shares?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 - RTS for Own Funds requirements for institutions

Minimum loss coverage of non-performing exposures under Article 469a, subparagraph 2 CRR

When does a transaction that falls under the provisions on the minimum loss coverage of non-performing exposures under Article 469a, subparagraph 2 CRR become non-performing within the meaning of Articles 47a to 47c CRR? From the day on which the risk position increases due to a forbearance measure (e.g. 01.06.2019) or from the day on which the risk position actually became non-performing (e.g. 01.12.2018)?

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

Moment of deduction for cooperative shares

In the case of a cooperative institution, should deductions from own funds with regard to a permission to reduce CET1 capital in accordance with Article 77(a) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR) and Article 32 of the RTS on Own Funds be made right after the permission from the competent authority (CA) is granted (as laid down in Article 28 (2) of the RTW on Own Funds ) or could it be later for instance at the time when the institution receives the notification of the intention to redeem from the shareholder?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 - RTS for Own Funds requirements for institutions