The European Banking Authority has published guidelines on bank reporting and disclosure of exposures subject to measures designed to protect borrowers from the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The measures include payment moratoria, which are exempt from prudential treatment as forbearance measures and therefore not subject to the usual supervisory reporting framework. Public guarantee schemes introduced in many Member States are also not captured by existing reporting frameworks. This has created a data gap, which has implications for the risk-analysis of individual institutions and for overall financial stability in the EU.

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The European Banking Authority has published a report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial health of EU banks. The report is mostly based on supervisory data submitted by banks in Q4 2019 and Q1 2020. The EBA's report confirms that banks have activated their contingency plans in response to the crisis, however, their operational capabilities remain under pressure. In addition, some banks have used parts of their capital and liquidity buffers and are expected to continue to do so in the coming months. The report also confirms that the asset quality of banks is likely to continue deteriorating as non-performing loan volumes increase.

View the EBA's report.

Details of other regulatory responses to COVID-19 are available on our COVID-19 Research Center.

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a new statement on the application of regulatory capital and IFRS 9 requirements to payment holidays granted or extended to address COVID-19. The statement follows the announcements made by the PRA, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and the U.K. Financial Reporting Council in March 2020 on financial reporting and audit requirements in light of COVID-19. Those announcements included a letter from the PRA to banks on the application of IFRS 9 (including expected credit loss accounting) to loan arrangements during the pandemic.

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The EU Single Resolution Board has published a revised policy on minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities. The policy is applicable to Eurozone banks and reflects the changes made in 2019 to the EU Banking Package (which includes the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive).

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The EU Single Resolution Board has published a revised policy on minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities. The policy is applicable to Eurozone banks and reflects the changes made in 2019 to the EU Banking Package (which includes the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive). 

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The European Central Bank has launched a consultation on its proposed guide on how Eurozone banks should manage and disclose climate-related and environmental risks in accordance with the EU prudential framework. The guide is not legally binding, but aims to raise awareness within the Eurozone banking industry of climate-related and environmental risks and to improve the management of such risks. The consultation closes on September 25, 2020.
 
The guide applies to significant institutions directly supervised by the ECB, although national regulators in Eurozone member states are expected to apply the guide’s expectations proportionately when supervising less significant Eurozone banks. It should be read in the context of the wider EU bank prudential framework, with particular reference to the Capital Requirements Regulation, the Capital Requirements Directive and relevant ECB guidelines. The guide includes an overview of the nature and characteristics of climate-related and environmental risks as well as the ECB’s supervisory expectations of banks’ business models and strategies, governance and risk appetite and integration of climate-related and environment risks into their credit, operational, market and liquidity risk management frameworks.
 
View the ECB's consultation on its Climate-Related and Environmental Risks Guide.

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a Policy Statement on its approach to implementing the European Banking Authority's Technical Standards and Guidelines on Probability of Default estimation, Loss Given Default estimation and the treatment of defaulted exposures in the Internal Ratings Based approach to credit risk. The EBA's regulatory products are designed to address concerns about the variability of own funds requirements arising from the internal models that firms use to calculate their minimum credit risk capital requirements under the Capital Requirements Regulation. The Policy Statement is relevant to U.K. banks, building societies and PRA-designated U.K. investment firms.

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The European Systemic Risk Board has established five priority areas on which it intends to take action to combat the impact of COVID-19 on the EU financial system. In determining its actions, the ESRB hopes to ensure an effective response to the pandemic across the EU that prevents individual Member State actions from negatively impacting the EU Single Market and to take advantage of flexibility in regulatory standards to support financial institutions in providing financial services and liquidity.

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In response to the November 2018 request of the European Parliament to conduct an enquiry into dividend arbitrage trading schemes, the European Banking Authority has published a report (dated April 28, 2020) on the approach of national regulators across the EU to tackle market integrity risks associated with dividend arbitrage trading schemes. The EBA has also published a ten-point Action Plan to address the risks arising from such schemes. Both the report and Action Plan accompanied the EBA's letter to the European Parliament that describes its actions and the steps it intends to take in the future on this issue.

The report sets out the findings arising from the enquiry, which consisted of surveys of national authorities responsible for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing and of national prudential regulators. The EBA found that dividend arbitrage trading schemes are not possible in all EU member states and that, where they are possible, they are not always regarded as a tax crime. The EBA concluded that AML and prudential authorities approach dividend arbitrage trading schemes in different ways and there are variations in the extent to which the handling of the proceeds from these schemes by financial institutions constitutes money laundering.

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The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a statement announcing its decision to set all Pillar 2A requirements to a nominal amount for the purposes of the 2020 and 2021 Supervisory Review and Evaluation Processes, instead of their usual percentage of Risk Weighted Assets. The statement applies to all firms subject to the Capital Requirements Regulation and Capital Requirements Directive. The PRA has said that it is making the change as it does not consider that RWAs are a useful measure for the evolution of risks in the stressed situation that the pandemic represents. The outcome of the change is that banks are freed up to use their Pillar 2A capital to fund lending and other activities.

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The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee and Monetary Policy Committee have published reports focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on the U.K. economy and banking sector, together with the minutes of their May Committee meetings and a transcript of the BoE’s joint FPC and MPC press conference, discussing the findings of the Committee reports.

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The European Banking Authority has published a report on the feasibility of developing a framework for simple, transparent and standardized synthetic securitization that is limited to balance-sheet securitization under the EU Securitization Regulation.

The EBA is recommending:

• The establishment of a cross-sectoral framework for STS synthetic securitization that is limited to balance-sheet securitization;
• To be eligible for 'STS' status, a synthetic securitization must comply with the proposed STS criteria, including the criteria adapted appropriately for synthetic securitization;
• The European Commission should consider the potential for a differentiated capital treatment for STS balance-sheet synthetic securitization; and
• Any proposal for STS synthetic securitization should include a mandate to the EBA to monitor the functioning of the STS synthetic market.

The European Commission will consider the report and recommendations in preparing its own report and, if appropriate, legislative proposal.

View the EBA's report on a STS framework for synthetic securitization.

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a statement on credit risk mitigation eligibility and the leverage ratio treatment of loans made under HM Treasury's Bounce Back Loan Scheme and a separate modification by consent of the exclusion of loans under the BBLS from the calculation of the total exposure measure of the leverage ratio.

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The Bank of England and U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority have issued a statement on changes to the resolution measures applicable to the major U.K. banks and building societies, designed to ease the operational burden on firms in the wake of COVID-19.

The dates by which firms must submit their first reports describing their preparations for resolution, and publish summaries of those reports, under the BoE and PRA’s new Resolvability Assessment Framework have been extended by one year. The first reports should be submitted to the PRA by October 2021 and public disclosures should be made by June 2022.

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The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority have published guidance for firms on the implications of HM Treasury's amendments to the U.K. Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the introduction of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

HM Treasury has announced the new BBLS which will run alongside the existing CBILS and CLBILS, providing government guarantees for loans to small businesses of between £2,000 and £50,000. The minimum threshold for CBILS loans will be increased to £50,001, and firms with existing CBILS loans of £50,000 or less will be entitled to switch their facility to the BBLS. The BBLS will launch for applications from May 4, 2020.

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The European Banking Authority has published guidance on its supervisory flexibility for certain aspects of the European bank prudential regulatory framework, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a Q&A guide on how banks should use their capital and liquidity buffers during the COVID-19 crisis. The PRA and Financial Policy Committee have stressed the important role that banks must play in providing liquidity to the economy in the wake of the pandemic, using all tools at their disposal, including the buffers built up in the years since the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a statement on its intended approach to prudential regulation of FCA solo-regulated firms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Firms are expected to plan ahead and prudently manage their financial resources. Firms that have been set capital buffers are permitted to use them to support the continuation of their activities, but should contact the FCA if they intend to draw down a buffer. Firms should also maintain up-to-date wind-down plans taking account of the impact of COVID-19 and should contact the FCA if they are concerned about their ability to meet debts as they fall due or their wind-down plans identify material execution risks. Boards should be satisfied that any discretionary distributions of capital to fund share buy-backs, dividends, or upstream cash are prudent.
 
View the FCA's statement on financial resilience for solo-regulated firms.

The European Central Bank has announced its decision to temporarily reduce capital requirements for market risk in response to high levels of volatility arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction will be effected via the reduction of the qualitative market risk multiplier, a supervisory measure that is set by regulators and used to compensate for underestimation of market risk capital requirements. The ECB's decision will be reviewed after six months.
 
View the ECB's announcement on capital requirements relief for market risk.

The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors have published an Action Plan for the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Action Plan covers the healthcare, economic and fiscal responses that G20 members have agreed to undertake, as well as measures to ensure a return to a strong and sustainable global economy, the provision of support to countries in need and the learning of lessons in preparation for future crises.

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The European Central Bank, Banking Supervision has published a letter addressed to the significant Eurozone banks that it directly prudentially supervises under the Single Supervisory Mechanism. The ECB, Banking Supervision, expresses its support of the EBA's statement dated March 31, 2020 on supervisory reporting and Pillar 3 disclosures. In line with the EBA's statement, the ECB: (i) confirms that significant Eurozone banks may delay by one month the submission of supervisory data for remittance dates between March 2020 and May 2020; (ii) excludes information on the liquidity coverage ratio; and (iii) is allowing firms an additional two months to submit information on funding plans.

The ECB recommends that Eurozone national regulators should apply the same delays to the smaller Eurozone banks.

View the ECB's letter to significant banks.

View details of the EBA's statement on supervisory reporting and Pillar 3 disclosures.

Details of other regulatory responses to COVID-19 are available on our COVID-19 Research Center.

The European Banking Authority has published updated Guidelines on the equivalence of confidentiality regimes under the Capital Requirements Directive. The EBA has added one new third-country national regulator—the New York State Department of Financial Services—to the current list of third-country national regulators whose confidentiality regimes can be regarded as equivalent to those in the EU, following an assessment of the professional secrecy and confidentiality frameworks under which they operate. The updated recommendations apply from April 16, 2020. The Guidelines are intended to assist national regulators in the EU in their assessment of third-country equivalence with the aim of facilitating cooperation with third-country supervisory authorities and their participation in supervisory colleges overseeing international banks.

View the updated Guidelines.

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has announced a series of amendments to regulatory reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to U.K. banks, building societies, designated investment firms and credit unions, in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The PRA’s changes follow recent statements and recommendations made by the European Banking Authority, providing clarity on measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the EU banking sector.

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The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published its Business Plan for 2020/2021, which sets out its strategic goals for the next 12 months and its work plan to deliver them. The PRA has had to tailor its intended Business Plan to take account of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, it has elected to cancel its 2020 annual cyclical scenario stress tests, delay the publication of the results of the 2019 biennial exploratory scenario, postpone less critical aspects of its supervisory program for individual firms and extend consultation periods and implementation timeframes for new initiatives where possible.

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The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has announced two further measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The first is the PRA's decision to maintain the systemic risk buffer rates at the rate set in December 2019. The rates determine the amount of additional regulatory capital that must be held by "systemic risk buffer institutions" (i.e. U.K. financial institutions deemed to be systemically important). In scope firms are the so-called "ring-fenced bodies" within the meaning in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and include banks and large building societies holding more than £25bn in deposits. The buffer applicable to each institution is intended to reflect the relative costs to the U.K. economy if the institution in question were to fall into distress. In December 2019, the PRA maintained the rates that had first been set in May 2019. The SRB rates will be re-assessed in December 2021 and the decision taken then will take effect in January 2023.

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The European Banking Authority has published two reports on the impact of the Basel III liquidity coverage ratio, as implemented in the EU, and the estimated impact of the Basel III credit and market risk, and credit valuation adjustment reforms, which are yet to be implemented by the EU. The reports are based on 2019 data that was collected prior to the outbreak of COVID-19.

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The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has announced a series of measures designed to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the global banking sector. The latest measures are designed to facilitate bank lending to the real economy and boost banks’ operational capacity to the financial strain of COVID-19. They follow the extension to Basel III implementation deadlines announced by the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision on March 27, 2020.

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HM Treasury and the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority have published a joint statement welcoming the delay to implementation of certain aspects of the Basel III regulatory reforms, announced by the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision. The GHOS has delayed the deadlines for introducing certain Basel III standards by one year until 2023 (or, in the case of the output flow, 2028). The Treasury and PRA intend to work together to produce a U.K. implementation timetable that is consistent with the GHOS’s delay.

View the PRA's statement on the delayed implementation of Basel III.

View details of the GHOS's delays to the implementation of Basel III.

Details of other regulatory responses to COVID-19 are available at our COVID-19 Research Center.

The European Banking Authority has published guidelines on legislative and non-legislative moratoria on loan repayments applied in light of the COVID-19 crisis. The Guidelines state that, where payment moratoria are based on national law or a private-sector initiative broadly applied by credit institutions in response to COVID-19, they will not be classified as forbearance or distressed restructuring measures. 

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The EU Single Resolution Board has written to Eurozone banks about potential COVID-19 relief measures. It is united with the European Supervisory Authorities and national regulators in aiming to alleviate operational burdens on banks to enable them to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. The SRB intends to apply a pragmatic and flexible approach to 2020 resolution plans and MREL decisions and will consider postponing less urgent information requests where necessary. It does, however, confirm that Eurozone banks still need to submit the following reports: Liability Data Report, Additional Liability Report and MREL quarterly template.

View the SRB's letter to Eurozone banks.

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a statement supporting the decisions of the U.K.'s largest banks to suspend dividends and buybacks on ordinary shares until the end of 2020 and to cancel outstanding 2019 dividends. The PRA also makes it clear that it expects banks to refrain from paying cash bonuses to senior staff, including material risk takers. In parallel, the PRA has written to the CEOs of the largest U.K. banks (HSBC, Nationwide, Santander, Standard Chartered, Barclays, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group), notifying them of the PRA's expectation that they should not pay cash bonuses to senior staff.

View the PRA's statement.

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published two statements addressed to U.K. firms on the application of certain requirements of the EU Capital Requirements Regulation.
 
The first statement sets out the PRA's approach to calculating exposure under the internal models method for counterparty credit risk in light of the significant moves in counterparty credit risk exposures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Firms are reminded of their notification obligations in relation to any changes they make to their internal models method models as a result of the PRA's guidance.

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The European Banking Authority has published three statements providing clarity on measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the EU banking sector. The statements are: Statement on supervisory reporting and Pillar 3 disclosures in light of COVID-19: referring to its statement issued on March 12, 2020, the EBA outlines further details on actions that firms, national regulators and resolution authorities can take to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. The EBA stresses the importance of firms providing reliable data for supervisory purposes, particularly given market fluctuations. However, the EBA reiterates that some leeway can be given to firms for certain areas and asks national regulators to consider the extent to which a delay to submission of data may be justified. In general, the EBA suggests that firms should be given an additional month to submit data (with an additional two months given for remittance of data on funding plans), but national regulators should confirm the precise requirements. The EBA excludes from the forbearance information on the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) and reporting for resolution planning purposes. The EBA also encourages national regulators to be flexible about the deadline for firms to publish their Pillar 3 data. Firms should contact their regulator if they expect that there will be a delay to their Pillar 3 disclosures.

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The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has delayed the implementation timeline for Basel III to allow firms to focus on tackling the challenges resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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The European Central Bank has published an updated Recommendation requiring the largest Eurozone-based banks to suspend the payment of any dividends and buyback of shares until at least October 1, 2020. The Recommendation is addressed to significant institutions that are directly prudentially supervised by the ECB. Eurozone national regulators of smaller banks are expected to apply the Recommendation, as deemed appropriate. The Recommendation applies to both 2019 and 2020 dividends, but does not retroactively apply to dividends that have already been paid for the 2019 financial year. Where a bank believes that it is legally obliged to make a dividend pay-out, it should explain the reasons to its joint supervisory team.

The purpose of the Recommendation is to ensure that banks are able to maintain their lending and therefore the support of businesses during the current global pandemic.

View the ECB recommendation here.

View the ECB press release here.

Details of other regulatory responses to COVID-19 are available on our COVID-19 Research Center.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a statement reminding firms that they are able to use capital and liquidity buffers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FCA also stated that firms should plan ahead and ensure that any potential exit from the market is conducted in an orderly manner. The statement is relevant for firms that are solo-regulated by the FCA.

Firms are encouraged to contact the FCA if they are unable to meet their capital requirements.

View the FCA announcement.

Details of other regulatory responses to COVID-19 are available on our COVID-19 Research Center.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Reporting Council and the Prudential Regulation Authority have announced a number of measures and initiatives to assist firms during the current global coronavirus pandemic. These include:

• a statement from the FCA on the publishing of audited financial reports for listed companies;
• guidance from the FRC for companies preparing financial statements to be read in conjunction with PRA guidance on assessing expected loss under IFRS9; and
• guidance from the FRC for audit firms.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a statement to ensure the consistent application by issuers of International Financial Reporting Standards within the European Union. In particular, it addresses the requirement for consistent application of IFRS 9 related to the classification of financial assets and liabilities. ESMA considers a range of accounting implications that may arise for Issuers as a result of national governments' and EU bodies' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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The European Banking Authority has released two separate statements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first covering bank prudential regulation and the second dealing with consumer protection and payment services.

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In order to ensure that banks are able to focus on key operations throughout the current COVID-19 pandemic, the European Banking Authority has announced a postponement and extension of certain activities.

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The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee met on March 9 and 19, 2020, a time when the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the news and in turn presented challenges for markets.

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The Bank of England has announced a series of supervisory and policy measures designed to help firms prudentially regulated by the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority (banks, building societies, insurers and large investment firms) and BoE-regulated financial market infrastructures (CCPs, central securities depositories and recognized payment systems) with the impact of COVID-19. 

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The European Central Bank has announced a series of measures designed to support banks to continue their vital role of funding the real economy in the wake of COVID-19. Banks will be permitted temporarily to operate below the level of capital required by Pillar 2 Guidance, the capital conservation buffer and the liquidity ratio. They will also be permitted partially to use capital instruments that do not qualify as Common Equity Tier 1 capital to meet Pillar 2 Requirements. The ECB hopes that, together with EU national regulators' relaxation of the countercyclical capital buffer, these measures will provide significant capital relief to banks.

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The European Banking Authority has published a statement on actions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the EU banking sector. In the statement, the EBA states that it is working with the European Central Bank and EU national regulators to ease the immediate operational burden on EU banks and recommends that national regulators should use, where appropriate, the flexibility embedded in the regulatory framework.

The EBA views supporting banks' focus on core operations as a priority and has decided to postpone the EU-wide stress test to 2021. However, the EBA will conduct an additional EU-wide transparency exercise to provide updated information on banks' exposures and asset quality. The EBA also recommends that national regulators grant some flexibility on the remittance dates for supervisory reporting by banks.

The EBA states that banks should adopt prudent dividend and other distribution policies, including variable remuneration.

View the EBA's statement.

Details of other regulatory responses to COVID-19 are available on our COVID-19 Research Center.

HM Treasury has published a policy statement on its proposals for the prudential standards in the U.K.'s upcoming Financial Services Bill. The Financial Services Bill will set out a proposed regulatory framework for the financial services industry following the U.K.'s exit from the EU. The U.K. has historically wished and repeatedly sought to impose higher capital requirements on banks and investment firms than the EU has accepted, in part driven by the better capitalization of U.K. banks compared to some EU institutions. The new policy statement establishes four overarching principles which will govern HM Treasury's approach to prudential standards: (i) financial stability and high international standards; (ii) supporting growth, competition and competitiveness; (iii) giving U.K. regulators a central role in designing technical prudential requirements; and (iv) flexibility, allowing the U.K. to maintain its relationship with the EU and take account of U.K.-specific requirements.

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The Single Resolution Board has launched a consultation on proposed changes to its policy on minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) for Eurozone banks, designed to bring the SRB’s MREL policy in line with the changes introduced by the 2019 EU banking package for EU banks.  MREL is the EU's precursor to total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) standards at international level.  The SRB is responsible for ensuring the compliance of Eurozone-based institutions that are subject to the Single Resolution Mechanism (primarily Eurozone countries) with their resolution and recovery planning requirements.  It works with national regulators from Eurozone countries to determine MREL requirements. Responses to the consultation should be submitted by March 6, 2020. The SRB expects to publish its final MREL Policy Statement based on these responses by the end of April 2020 and will apply the policy to MREL decisions taken in early 2021.

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The European Banking Authority has launched a consultation on proposed Guidelines on the appropriate subsets of sectoral exposures to which national regulators may apply a systemic risk buffer under the Capital Requirements Directive. CRD 5 amended the provisions on when a national regulator may set a systemic risk buffer for sectoral exposures.  The EBA is mandated to prepare Guidelines to enhance harmonization of the approach across the EU. CRD 5 must be transposed into Member State laws by December 28, 2020 and those laws must be applied from December 29, 2020. Responses to the consultation can be submitted until July 13, 2020. Once finalized, the Guidelines will apply to the relevant national regulators from December 29, 2020.

View the consultation paper.

View details of CRD 5 and CRR 2.

The Banking Supervision arm of the European Central Bank has opened a consultation on a proposed guide on assessing counterparty credit risk. The proposed guide sets out the ECB's approach to assessing the internal models that banks use to calculate their exposure to counterparty credit risk under the Capital Requirements Regulation. The proposed guide would apply to those Eurozone banks for which the ECB is responsible for direct prudential supervision as part of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, and that are permitted to use internal model methods. The consultation closes on March 18, 2020.

View the ECB public consultation.

The European Banking Authority has issued a report on diversity practices in credit institutions and investment firms. The report is based on diversity data collected by national regulators under the Capital Requirements Directive. CRD requires banks (known as “credit institutions”) and investment firms to adopt policies promoting diversity in their management bodies. The report finds that 41% of institutions still do not have a diversity policy, despite a CRD obligation to implement one. Even amongst institutions that have implemented a policy, not all promote gender diversity. The EBA is calling on institutions and Member States to consider additional measures to promote a more balanced gender representation and to ensure compliance with diversity policy requirements. It intends to continue monitoring diversity in management bodies and to issue further benchmark studies in the future.
 
View the EBA's report on diversity practices. 

A Commission Implementing Regulation amending existing Implementing Technical Standards under the Capital Requirements Regulation has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The ITS specify the stock indices that are sufficiently diversified to be counted as individual equities, without requiring market participants to take account of their specific risk under CRR for any stock index future placed on them. The amendments to the ITS update the stock indices listed in light of the latest available data. The ITS will apply directly across Member States from February 19, 2020.

View the amending Commission Implementing Regulation.