Capital Requirements Directive IV

EBA Opinion on Nonbank Financial Intermediaries and Regulatory Perimeter Issues Under CRD IV and CRR

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On November 9, 2017, the European Banking Authority (“EBA“) published an own-initiative opinion (EBA/Op/2017/13) addressed to the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on nonbank financial intermediaries and regulatory perimeter issues under the Capital Requirements Directive IV (2013/36/EU) (“CRD IV Directive“) and the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation 575/2013) (“CRR“).

Publication of the opinion is part of the EBA’s work to regularly monitor credit intermediation activities outside the traditional banking system. This work takes account of other developments, including the emergence of FinTech. The opinion is based on the results of a detailed assessment across the EU of the prudential treatment of “other financial intermediaries” (“OFIs“). (OFIs are entities carrying out credit intermediation activities that are not credit institutions or other specified types of financial entity.) The results of the assessment are set out in a report, which the EBA has published alongside the opinion.

In terms of the overall scope of the CRD IV Directive and the CRR, the EBA observes that Article 2(5) of the CRD IV Directive (which lists entities excluded from the scope) remains valid and requires minor updating. Also, Article 9(2) of the CRD IV Directive (which sets out other exclusions) appears to continue to have relevance in member states, so any amendment should be substantiated by a prior and thorough impact assessment.  READ MORE →

Capital Requirements (Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 Published

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On January 13, 2015, the Capital Requirements (Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 were published.

The Regulations amend the Capital Requirements (Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures) Regulations 2014 to introduce a systemic risk buffer (SRB) that will apply to ring-fenced banks (RFBs) and certain large building societies. This measure implements Articles 133 and 134 of the Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD IV).

The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) will be responsible for setting out the framework for determining which institutions should hold the buffer and, if so, how large the buffer should be. It will need to publish this methodology by May 31, 2016. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will be responsible for applying the framework and will have ultimate discretion over which firms must hold the buffer and its size.

The Regulations were made on January 12, 2015 and come into force, unless otherwise stated, on May 31, 2016. The systemic risk buffer is applicable from January 1, 2019.  Regulations.

European Banking Federation Requests Delay in Implementation of CRD IV

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 The European Banking Federation (EBF) published a letter dated November 21 to Michael Barnier, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, formally requesting a year long delay for the introduction of Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD IV) to implement Basel III.

 The delay has been requested on the grounds that EU banks would be competitively disadvantaged if the rules are introduced in the EU before the US requires compliance with equivalent rules (on 9 November 2012, the U.S. federal banking agencies announced an indefinite delay to the scheduled implementation date of 1 January 2013). The EBF is therefore calling on Mr. Barnier to set a new date of entry for the EU rules contained in CRD IV, in order to coordinate the approach across both the U.S. and EU.