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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

Notification of model changes

Does an alignment of the quantification of default to the default frequency based on an approved method (i.e. an update to the PD scale to better mirror the default frequency) require a notification? 

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 529/2014 - RTS on materiality of extensions and changes in the advanced approaches (IRB and AMA)

Deposits received and deposits posted as margin collateral for derivative exposures

Under Article 21 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/61: 1. Is the treatment of cash collateral received and cash collateral posted symmetrical in C73.00 and C74.00 in line with the answer given in Single Rulebook Q&A 2014_1089, which specifically referred to LCR C52.00 and C53.00? 2. Does the phrase “…collateral to be received” mean collateral already received at the reporting date?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/61 - DR with regard to liquidity coverage requirement

Qualifying own funds included in consolidated own funds

Should an institution which has issued Additional Tier 1 (AT1) and Tier 2 (T2) instruments to external investors, and which is subject to consolidated supervision on the basis of the consolidated situation of its immediate parent financial holding company, apply the restrictions on the consolidated inclusion of AT1/T2 instruments issued by subsidiaries as provided for in Articles 82 and 85-88 of the CRR, where the parent holding company’s only assets are the shares in the institution?

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

Commitment to buy newly issued shares and synthetic holding deduction

What would be the prudential treatment applicable to a financial instrument where a bank commits itself to buy newly issued shares of an insurance company for a given amount should certain events occur?

  • 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

Section 3(a)(2) guarantees - eligibility for MREL

Can debt securities issued under a Section 3(a)(2) bank note program where the guarantor is a branch of the issuer be deemed to meet the criteria of article 45 of the BRRD in order to be included in the amount of own funds and eligible liabilities?

  • Legal act: Directive 2014/59/EU (BRRD)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Sliding scale method

We would prefer to apply the "sliding scale" method mentioned in EBA/GL/2015/10, but a strict interpretation of the methodology within the guidelines prevents the use of the whole defined scale.Would it be in compliance with the Guidelines to adjust the formulas in order to achieve ARW along the whole defined scale? And what adjustment would be preferable?

  • Legal act: Directive 2014/49/EU (DGSD)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: EBA/GL/2015/10 - Guidelines on methods for calculating contributions to deposit guarantee schemes

Cost of living of legal persons

Do legal persons (for instance businesses like SMEs) have a “cost of living”?

  • Legal act: Directive 2014/49/EU (DGSD)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

The question relates to systemic risk buffers and whether they can be additive

According to Article 134 CRD can two systemic risk buffers (SRBs) be additive e.g. in situations where a home country already has a SRB in place and wants to reciprocate a SRB from another Member State?

  • Legal act: Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Not applicable

Minority Interests

In relation to the calculations mentioned in Article 81 CRR, does the information relating to a subsidiary have to be calculated before or after the consolidation process of that subsidiary in the group?

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

Capital requirements deduction for credit risk on exposures to SMEs

Further to Q&A 2135 and Q&A 2268, can the capital requirement deduction (SME factor) be applied for speculative immovable property financing (Corporates) if conditions determined in Article 501(1) and (2) of Regulation No 575/2013 (CRR) are met?

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

Deduction from own funds of items entered as assets that are not yet included within equity

If an institution enters an asset (e.g. at Equity valuation of a holding in a Financial Sector Entity (FSE) or increasing the amount of a deferred tax asset) through the profit and loss statement (P&L), the corresponding profit is not eligible for own funds before it is audited and officially approved (or in case of interim or year-end profits before it is audited and recognition is approved by the competent authority).However, the deduction amount (e.g. holdings in FSE or DTAs) has formally increased and would lead to an immediate higher deduction amount. If this was the case, it would represent the deduction of gains that are not yet recognized in the own funds of the institution. 

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

Documentary credits in which underlying shipment acts as collateral and other self-liquidating transactions

Does a documentary credit secured by an assignment, assignment for security and/or pledge of the underlying sales contracts with payment to be effected to an account pledged in favour of either the lender (i.e. L/C issuing bank) or the security agent (especially in case of a syndicate) satisfy the condition of Annex 1 (3) (a) (i) CRR that “the underlying shipment acts as collateral or that the transaction is otherwise self-liquidating”?

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

Treatment of an institution’s guarantees for investments into CIUs

In case of an institution’s guaranteeing the amount of a customer’s original investment into a CIU and a minimum yield:1. To which risk category for off-balance sheet items in Annex I CRR shall these guarantees be assigned, in particular shall this assignment depend on any risk mitigation techniques used by the CIU?2. Shall these guarantees be treated as an exposure in the form of units or shares in a CIU, which would in particular allow the institution to look-through to the underlying exposures of the CIU, provided the conditions for looking-through are met?

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

Reporting of Pillar 2 requirements in C 03.00 (follow-up to Q&As 2015_2302 and 2016_2699)

For 2017, the competent authority distinguished the Pillar 2 requirements in two slices: P2R (Pillar 2 requirement) and P2G (Pillar 2 Guidance).The EBA Pillar 2 Roadmap of 11 April 2017 explains in page 5 ‘.... competent authorities would not require institutions to disclose capital guidance publicly. It should be noted, however, that competent authorities under the CRD do not have the legal powers to actively prevent institutions from disclosing P2G. Institutions are generally expected not to disclose P2G...’. Moreover, an institution underlined the confidentiality of the P2R, and claims that some regulatory data, among them some COREP ones like those in template CA3 (C 03.00), are regularly transmitted to CCPs in purposes of certification.Question 1Do you confirm that the P2G is not expected in COREP CA3 (C 03.00)?Question 2For 2017, an example of requirements whose formulation is approximately standard for institutions:‘The [competent authority] requires [the institution] to maintain, on a consolidated basis, a total SREP capital requirement (TSCR) of 9.25% as that ratio is defined in section 1.2 of Guidelines EBA/GL/2014/13. The TSCR of 9.25% includes:(i) the minimum own funds requirement of 8% to be maintained at all times in accordance with Article 92(1) of Regulation (EU) N) 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council; and(ii) an own funds requirement of 1.25% required to be held in excess of the minimum own funds requirement and to be maintained at all times in accordance with [the national transposition measures of Article 104 of Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD)], to be made up entirely of Common Equity Tier 1 capital.[The institution] is hereby reminded that it is also subject to the overall capital requirement (OCR), as that ratio is defined in section 1.2 of Guidelines EBA/GL/2014/13, which includes, in addition to the TSCR, the combined buffer requirement as defined in point (6) of Article 128 of Directive 2013/36/EU, to the extent it is legally applicable.’‘[The competent authority] expects that [the institution] complies, on a consolidated basis, with Pillar 2 capital guidance of Y% to be made up entirely of Common Equity Tier 1 capital and to be held over and above:(i) the minimum Common Equity Tier 1 ratio required under Article 92 (1) (a) of Regulation (EU) N) 575/2013;(ii) the own funds requirement of 1.25% required to be held in excess of the minimum own funds requirement and to be maintained at all times in accordance with [the national transposition measures of Article 104 of Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD)], to be made up entirely of Common Equity Tier 1 capital;(iii) the combined buffer requirement as defined in point (6) of Article 128 of Directive 2013/36/EU, to the extent it is legally applicable.'How do these requirements of the competent authority have to be reported in COREP CA3?Option 1:CA3 r080: Target CET1 capital ratio due to Pillar II adjustments = 5.75% (i.e. 4.5% -regulatory minimum- + 1.25% -P2R of CET1-),CA3 r100: Target T1 capital ratio due to Pillar II adjustments = nothing,CA3 r120: Target Total capital ratio due to Pillar II adjustments = 9.25% (i.e. 8% -regulatory minimum- + 1.25% -P2R of CET1-).Option 2:CA3 r080: 9.25% (i.e. 4.5% -regulatory minimum- + 4.75% -P2R-)CA3 r100: nothing,CA3 r120: 9.25% (i.e. 8% -regulatory minimum- + 1.25% -P2R-).Others?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 680/2014 - ITS on supervisory reporting of institutions (repealed)

Validation rule v0786_m

Validation v0786_m seems to be incorrect.The rule compares profit or loss for the year attributable to owners in P&L with the corresponding position in equity: {F 01.03, r250,c010} = {F 02.00, r690,c010}.Despite the comparable wording and reference the comprehension is different. The P&L contains the profit or loss for the reporting year while the Equity position contains the profit or loss available for distribution.This could be illustrated by three examples:1.)profit or loss for the year attributable to owners of the parent (template F 02.00, row 690): 500 €transfer to legal reserve (according legal standards): – 200 €results in profit or loss attributable to owners of the parent (template F 01.03, row 250): 300 €results in other reserves - other (template F 01.03, row 230): 200 €2.)profit or loss for the year attributable to owners of the parent (template F 02.00, row690): 500 €retained profit from previous periods (no decision of distribution or transfer until now): 200 €results in profit or loss attributable to owners of the parent (template F 01.03, row 250): 700 €3.)profit or loss for the year attributable to owners of the parent (template F 02.00, row690): 500 €effects from distribution obligation for equity-similar obligations transfer to other liabilities (according legal standards): – 200 €results in profit or loss attributable to owners of the parent (template F 01.03, row 250): 300 €results in other liabilities (template F 01.02, row 280): 200 €The effects of the above mentioned examples will be published accordingly in the audited financial statements. Therefore it is not possible to reference these two positions from the validation rule.

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Regulation (EU) No 680/2014 - ITS on supervisory reporting of institutions (repealed)

LCR treatment of cash pooling services

Due to limitations on the withdrawal of deposits, should individual deposits covered by a single cash pooling agreement be treated as individual deposits to which the outflow rates specified in Article 28 of the Delegated Regulation 2015/61 apply, or rather as a new type of product that would be covered by Article 23 of the Delegated Regulation? Alternatively, could inflows and outflows from cash pooling services be treated as interdependent inflows and outflows as per Article 26 of the Delegated Regulation? Or could the individual positive and negative balances covered by a single cash pooling agreement be considered on a net basis in order to determine the applicable outflows or inflows?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/61 - DR with regard to liquidity coverage requirement

Aircraft loans as collateral for covered bonds

Are aircraft loans eligible as collateral and as a consequence credit quality step 1 in the case explained in the background or do they not receive the preferential treatment or otherwise are they non-eligible for LCR in every case?

  • Legal act: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR)
  • COM Delegated or Implementing Acts/RTS/ITS/GLs: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/61 - DR with regard to liquidity coverage requirement

Risk weight for the credit risk for third countries with supervisory and regulatory arrangements at least equivalent to those applied in the Union according to Article 114(7) CRR

If a third country has supervisory and regulatory arrangements at least equivalent to those applied in the Union (such as Turkey) what risk weight for the credit risk is assigned to the exposure of this country?For example, when the Turkish competent authority assigns a 0% risk weight to the credit risk of Turkey, can this risk weight be used by a German bank? What happens when Turkey issued bonds in EUR, USD, JPY and TKY? How is the difference in the risk weight in the case the Turkish competent authority assigns a 0% risk weight to all bonds?

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

Permission for delta models for back-to-back positions

Does the requirement to obtain competent authorities’ permission for delta models (Articles 329(1), 352(1), 358(3) of the CRR) for the purposes of market risk capital requirements apply also to back-to-back positions? 

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

Netting between depositary receipts and underlying equities

With regards to the equities and depositary receipts (DRs) issued is the net position in a combination of equity and related DR determined by taken into account the existence, availability and direction of the conversion programme?

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