ECB streamlining supervisory guidance to improve clarity and transparency

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced a comprehensive review and streamlining of its supervisory guidance as part of a broader reform of European banking supervision. The review covers approximately 130 supervisory publications (including guides, reports, letters and methodologies). Around 40 documents have been discontinued as outdated, superseded or no longer relevant, although the texts will remain accessible for transparency and archival purposes. A list of these publications has been published.

Other publications will be subject to either limited or more substantive revisions. Publications with limited revisions include:

• Clarification of supervisory expectations on the management buffer in the guide to the internal capital adequacy assessment process (ICAAP), emphasising that it reflects a bank's own assessment and is not a supervisory requirement (with the revised guide to be published shortly).
• Removal of supervisory expectations on the credit conversion factor from the guide to internal models pending European Banking Authority (EBA) guidelines on this topic.
• Removal of references to credit valuation adjustment in the guide on assessment methodology and the guide on materiality assessment, to reflect changes under the revised Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR III).

Publications subject to more in-depth revisions, to reflect legislative developments and stakeholder feedback, include updates to guidance on licence applications (expected in Q3), risk data aggregation and reporting (expected in Q4), on-site inspections and internal model investigations (expected by year-end), as well as a review of guidance on leveraged transactions (expected by year-end). In addition, the draft guide on governance and risk culture will be replaced with a report focused on good practices, which is expected in Q1 2027. Public consultations will be launched where substantial changes are needed.

The ECB has also updated the classification of its supervisory publications on its website to clarify the purpose and intended use of different publication types, and ensure consistency across publications and alignment with the EU legal framework.

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