European Banking Authority Requests Extension for Delivery of Draft Technical Standards under EU Capital Requirements Legislation

The European Banking Authority published a letter, dated December 23, 2016, in which it requests an extension of time from the European Commission for delivering certain draft technical standards which were due to be delivered by December 31, 2016 under the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive. The EBA is requesting an extension for the Regulatory Technical Standards and the Implementing Technical Standards on the authorization of banks because of a combination of its significant workload and considerable resource constraints and issues arising in respect of new entrants and FinTech companies in addition to the need to achieve a balance between allowing Member States to retain their own authorization processes whilst harmonizing the information required. The EBA expects to be able to deliver the ITS and RTS by mid-2017. 

The EBA is also requesting an extension for the RTS on consolidation methods which it has experienced difficulties with because of the interactions with the Basel framework and with the European Commission's recent adoption of legislation to amend CRR. The EBA expects to be able to finalize the draft RTS by the end of 2017. 

The RTS on the exclusion of transactions with non-financial counterparties established in third countries and the RTS on the disclosure of encumbered and unencumbered assets have been subject to delay because of the EBA prioritizing its work in response to the Commission's Call for Evidence for its legislative proposals to amend CRD and CRR. The EBA expects to finalize both RTS in Q1 2017. 

In addition, the letter addresses some of the other remaining mandates given to the EBA under CRD and CRR, which the EBA has reprioritized due to a lack of resources and in light of EU and international developments, such as the RTS on the combined use of different approaches in the operational risk area.

View the letter.