On October 29, 2014, the European Banking Authority ("EBA") published an Opinion on the prudential requirements for credit and investment institutions and exemption regime under the Capital Requirements Directive ("CRD") and Capital Requirements Regulation ("CRR") (together known as "CRD IV"). The Opinion deals mainly with issues relating to waivers granted by national authorities, and whether they are prudentially justified. The majority of waivers under CRD IV were deemed to be justified, although the EBA states that their use should be reviewed in future so as to take into account their interactions with the recovery and resolution strategies of banks, as well as the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive which applies from January 1, 2015, save for the bail-in provisions which must apply from January 1, 2016 at the latest. The EBA recommends that the European Commission consider whether the application of waivers at member state level remains appropriate in light of the new Banking Union.
The Opinion is available at: http://www.eba.europa.eu/documents/10180/657547/EBA-Op-2014-11+%28Opinion+on+CfA+on+art+108+and+109%29.pdf.
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