Brexit: European Banking Authority Warns Against Letter-Box Entities

The European Banking Authority has published an Opinion on issues relating to Brexit where a UK firm seeks to establish an entity within the EU27. The Opinion is addressed to the European Commission, national regulators of member states, the European Central Bank in its role as bank prudential supervisor for entities established in the eurozone and to national regulators in Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland (as per the EEA Agreement). The Opinion is intended to provide guidance on supervisory expectations and to address regulatory and supervisory arbitrage issues that may arise as firms consider establishing entities within the EU27 before the date of the UK's exit from the EU. The Opinion covers areas such as the authorization process, equivalence access for investment services, internal model approvals, resolution and deposit scheme issues and internal governance and risk management. In particular, the Opinion addresses outsourcing and risk transfers using back-to-back or intragroup transactions. The EBA states that 'letter-box' or 'empty shell' entities do not meet the existing regulatory requirements and that national regulators should assess whether outsourcing is being used solely as a means of obtaining an EU passport. The EBA also considers that a group with a new EU27 entity that uses back-to-back or intragroup transactions to transfer risk must have enough capital, risk management and operational capabilities to absorb any material unhedged or unsecured portfolio in the event of the default of the group entity to which the risks have been transferred.

View the EBA's Opinion.