1. Bank regulation
1.1 PRUDENTIAL REGULATION
a) General
(i) EU
Status: Final
The ECB published its opinion in response to a request from Lithuania's Minister of Finance. The opinion concerns proposed amendments to the Law on Lietuvos bankas (the draft law) aimed at transposing CRD VI into national legislation. CRD VI introduces enhanced requirements for the supervisory independence of competent authorities and the prevention of conflicts of interest among their officials and employees. Lithuania's draft law seeks to reinforce the independence of Lietuvos bankas by introducing measures such as public disclosure of dismissal grounds for board members, structured cooling-off periods for former staff and board members, and broader postemployment restrictions. The ECB confirms that Lithuania's provisions on appointment and dismissal are consistent with CRD VI and the Statute of the European System of Central Banks, however, it stresses that national rules must remain compatible with the ECB's ethics framework, including the Single Code of Conduct and Guideline (EU) 2021/2256. It notes that the proposed 12-month cooling-off period for certain officials is less stringent than the ECB's own framework, which allows for a cooling-off period of up to two years. It also highlights that Lithuania's definitions of restricted entities post-employment are narrower than those in the Single Code. The ECB emphasises that the draft law must be interpreted without prejudice to the Single Code, as it may be amended from time to time.
Date of publication: 19/08/2025
Publication of technical standards supplementing the CRD regarding the functioning of colleges of supervisors
Status: Published in the OJ
Date of entry into force: 28/08/2025
Commission Delegated Regulation 2025/791 and Commission Implementing Regulation 2025/790, with regard to the functioning of colleges of supervisors referred to in Articles 116 and 51(3) of CRD IV were published in the OJ. Commission Delegated Regulation 2025/791 contains RTS specifying the general conditions for the functioning of supervisory colleges, and repeals Commission Delegated Regulation 2016/98. Commission Implementing Regulation 2025/790 sets out ITS regarding the operational functioning of colleges of supervisors, and repeals Implementing Regulation 2016/99.
Date of publication: 08/08/2025
b) Solvency/Own funds issues
(i) EU
Status: Final
The EBA published its final draft RTS concerning the allocation of off-balance sheet items and the specification of factors that may constrain institutions' ability to cancel unconditionally cancellable commitments. Under the standardised approach to credit risk, the exposure values of off-balance sheet items depend on the application of specific percentages, which are determined by a bucket classification. Developed under Article 111(8) of the CRR, the RTS introduces assignment criteria for items not currently mapped to the five factor buckets in Annex I of the CRR, thereby supporting consistent classification. These criteria aim to reflect varying levels of conversion probability, considering the existence of financial covenants, non-credit related conditions, and obligor optionality. Additionally, the RTS outlines four constraining factors that institutions should consider when deciding whether to cancel an unconditionally cancellable commitment, specifically: risk management, commercial, reputational, and litigation considerations. These factors are intended only as a starting point for institutions' assessments. To streamline reporting, the EBA proposes using the COREP framework for notifying items not covered in Annex I of the CRR. The final report also provides a non-exhaustive list of examples to support institutions in classifying their off-balance sheet items. These examples are intended for illustrative purposes, clarifying how certain common items not explicitly mentioned in Annex I of the CRR should be categorised. The list does not introduce any new obligations; its sole purpose is to simplify the application of the CRR.
The draft RTS will be submitted to the EC for endorsement. Once endorsed, they will undergo scrutiny by the EP and the Council of the EU before being published in the OJ.
Date of publication: 18/08/2025
Status: Final
The EBA published a statement confirming that, following the EC Delegated Act postponing the application of the market risk framework (FRTB) by a year (to 1 January 2027), the EBA's no action letter published on 12 August 2024 would remain fully valid and in place. The no action letter advises national competent authorities not to prioritise supervisory or enforcement actions regarding the application of the boundary between the trading and non-trading book until the full FRTB is implemented for the purpose of calculating binding own funds requirements. In addition, the EBA's considerations on specific issues arising from the FRTB postponement would also remain valid and applicable during the extended postponement period. These relate to the market risk contribution to the output floor, structural foreign exchange positions, threshold calculations using a 'main risk driver' approach, recognition of CVA hedges, disclosures and reporting, and operational risk boundary alignment. The EBA also states that for the supervisory benchmarking exercise, institutions will keep applying the CRR2-IMA for the calculation of the own funds requirements for market risk. Institutions that continue to apply the CRR2-IMA remain in the scope of the mandate of Article 78 of CRD IV and are expected to take part in the market risk part of the supervisory benchmarking exercise for 2026 in accordance with the revised benchmarking ITS published on the same day as this statement. Other entities are not expected to participate in that part of the exercise.
Date of publication: 08/08/2025
Status: Final
The EBA published its final draft ITS, amending the Implementing Regulation on the benchmarking of credit and market risk for the 2026 exercise. The EBA flags that the most significant change is in the area of market risk, where it is proposing to restrict data collection to information on the alternative standardised approach (ASA) from banks that were granted internal model approval. In light of the additional delay to the application of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB), the templates based on the alternative internal model approach (AIMA) have not been implemented.
On credit risk, the EBA reports that only minor changes are being made to align the definitions used with the ITS on supervisory reporting following the implementation of Basel III. In particular, the EBA has introduced a mapping between the asset classes used in the benchmarking exercise and the breakdown of credit risk IRB templates adopted in the revised ITS on supervisory reporting.
The draft ITS will be submitted to the EC for endorsement and will apply 20 days after publication in the OJ.
Date of publication: 08/08/2025
Status: Final
The EBA published its final draft RTS clarifying what constitutes an "equivalent legal mechanism" for unfinished property exposures under the CRR, as amended by the CRR3. These RTS form part of the initial phase of the EBA's roadmap for implementing the EU Banking Package. Article 124 of the CRR sets out the requirements for assigning risk weights to exposures secured by mortgages on immovable property, including conditions under which exposures to properties under construction may qualify for preferential treatment. The EBA is mandated under Article 124(14) of the CRR to specify what constitutes an equivalent legal mechanism to ensure that the property under construction is completed within a reasonable timeframe. These draft RTS have been developed under that mandate, as amended by the CRR3. The RTS specify the conditions that a legal mechanism should meet in order to recognise a property under construction in the own fund requirements calculation under the Standardised Approach for credit risk, defining strict requirements for the protection provider and the guarantee terms. The final draft RTS also take a broader approach than the proposals consulted on in May 2024. The revised approach recognises existing national completion guarantee schemes in certain EU member states, subject to harmonised safeguards such as minimum creditworthiness (20% risk weight cap) and enforceability conditions.
Date of publication: 06/08/2025
Status: Final
The EBA published a final report on three draft RTS aimed at standardising the collection and recording of operational risk losses under the CRR as amended by the CRR3. The RTS also clarify exemptions for the calculation of the annual operational risk loss and the adjustments to loss data sets that banks must perform in case of merged or acquired entities or activities. The draft RTS were previously consulted on in June 2024.
The final report consists of the following:
- Final draft RTS on establishing a risk taxonomy on operational risk that complies with international standards and a methodology to classify the loss events included in the loss data set based on that risk taxonomy on operational risk under Article 317(9) of the CRR.
- Final draft RTS on the conditions under which it would be unduly burdensome for an institution to calculate the annual operational risk loss under Article 316(3) of the CRR. In such cases, the draft RTS allow for a temporary waiver from the requirement to calculate the annual operational risk loss.
- Final draft RTS on the adjustments to an institution's loss data set following the inclusion of losses from merged or acquired entities or activities, providing indications on the currency and the risk taxonomy to be used when incorporating the loss data set of merged entities or activities, and providing guidance on how to calculate the annual operational risk loss when data on historical issues are not available.
The final draft RTS will be submitted to the EC for endorsement following which they will be scrutinised by the EP and the Council of the EU before being published in the OJ.
Date of publication: 04/08/2025
Status: Published in the OJ
Date of application: 21/08/2025
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/789 supplementing the CRR with regard to RTS specifying the conditions and indicators that the EBA is to use to determine whether extraordinary circumstances in the sense of Article 325az(5) and Article 325bf(6) of the CRR have occurred was published in the OJ. It contains RTS specifying the conditions and indicators that the EBA is to use to determine whether extraordinary circumstances have occurred for the purposes of Articles 325az(5) and 325bf(6) of the CRR. Articles 325bf(6) and 325az(5) of the CRR, as amended by the CRR3 ((EU) 2024/1623), enable competent authorities to permit institutions to not comply with certain requirements of the regulatory framework for the use of internal models where the EBA considers that there are extraordinary circumstances. The RTS specify that such circumstances could be recognised where significant cross-border financial market stress has been observed, or a major regime shift has taken place, which is likely to render the outcome of the back-testing and profit and loss attribution requirements non-representative of the adequacy of the internal model for the calculation of own funds requirements. The RTS also contain a nonexhaustive list of indicators that the EBA is to use to assess whether extraordinary circumstances have occurred.
Date of publication: 01/08/2025
c) Securitisation
(i) EU
EBA: Q&A relating to the Securitisation Regulation
Status: Final
The EBA published single rulebook Q&A relating to the Securitisation Regulation. The answers to the questions were provided by the EC. The Q&A covers:
- the use of conditional sale agreements to season assets by an originator instead of the originator purchasing the assets and then selling the same to a securitisation SPE (2021_5851);
- the meaning of "established in the Union" (2022_6539); and
- the qualification of a branch as originator, the designation of a Competent Authority and compliance with STS requirements (2024_6984).
Date of publication: 08/08/2025
ECB: Final results on counterparty credit risk exploratory scenario exercise
Status: Final
The ECB published its final results on an exercise for an exploratory scenario regarding counterparty credit risk (CCR). This is a risk stemming from banks' intermediation activities in financial markets. CCR is related to uncertainty as to whether amounts due in derivatives transactions will be paid at the time of settlement. This risk is especially pronounced when trades are not adequately collateralised. To further investigate NBFI-related vulnerabilities and banks' stress-testing capabilities in this area, the ECB conducted an exploratory scenario analysis on counterparty credit risk. The exercise was run in parallel with the 2025 EBA EU-wide stress test and sought to: (i) strengthen the microprudential assessment of the ability of significant institutions' to model CCR under diverse stress conditions; and (ii) provide a better understanding of the vulnerabilities stemming from interlinkages with NBFIs.
In contrast to the EBA stress test methodology, the exploratory exercise does not have any capital implications, however, the observations will inform the supervisory dialogue with the participating institutions.
Date of publication: 01/08/2025
d) Cyber security
(i) EU
EBA: New Q&A on the application of DORA
Status: Final
The EBA published single rulebook Q&A relating to DORA. The answers to the questions were given by the joint European Supervisory Authorities. The Q&A covers:
- the identification of ICT service providers (2024_7089);
- guidance on completing the refPeriod field of the parameters.csv file for the DORA register of information (2025_7387); and
- the obligation to maintain a register of information for FEs exempt under Article 16 of DORA (2025_7388).
Date of publication: 08/08/2025
e) Internal governance/"Authorised Persons Regime"
(i) EU
EBA: Consultation on draft revised Guidelines on internal governance under CRD IV
Status: Consultation
Deadline for the submission of comments: 05/10/2025
The EBA launched a consultation on draft revised Guidelines on internal governance under CRD IV. The revisions form part of the EBA's broader roadmap for implementing the EU Banking Package and reflect changes introduced by CRD VI and other relevant legislation, including DORA. The proposed amendments seek to: (i) align the Guidelines with the new requirements under Article 88(3) of CRD VI to ensure that each member of the management body and each senior manager and key function holder has a documented statement of their role and duties, and that a map of duties of the members of the management body, senior managers and key function holders has been drawn up; (ii) incorporate findings from supervisory practices and the EBA's benchmarking report on diversity and gender-neutral remuneration policies; and (iii) provide specific guidance to ensure that thirdcountry branches establish and maintain robust governance frameworks.
Date of publication: 07/08/2025
f) Supervisory reporting
(i) EU
Publication of Delegated and Implementing Regulations on the functioning of supervisory colleges under the CRD
Status: Published in the OJ
Date of entry into force: 28/08/2025
The following two Regulations were published in the OJ: (i) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/791 supplementing the CRD with regard to RTS specifying the general conditions for the functioning of supervisory colleges, and repealing Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/98; and (ii) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/790 laying down ITS for the application of the CRD with regard to the operational functioning of colleges of supervisors. Article 116 of CRD IV sets out provisions requiring consolidating supervisors to establish colleges of supervisors to facilitate certain supervisory tasks and to ensure appropriate coordination and cooperation with relevant third-country supervisory authorities. In addition, the competent authorities supervising an institution with significant branches in other Member States are, pursuant to Article 51(3) of CRD IV, required to establish and chair colleges of supervisors where Article 116 is not applicable. Article 51(4) of CRD IV empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts specifying the general conditions for the functioning of colleges of supervisors. This Delegated Regulation repeals and replaces Delegated Regulation 2016/98 to account for amendments to CRD IV (e.g., in relation to the authorisation of certain financial holding companies and mixed financial holding companies, the establishment of intermediate EU parent undertakings, and the removal of investment firms from the scope of CRD IV). It also includes new articles on the exchange of information with the observers of the supervisory college, specifically with resolution colleges and AML and CFT colleges, to enhance cooperation and information exchanges with these authorities.
Date of publication: 08/08/2025
1.2 RECOVERY AND RESOLUTION
(i) EU
Status: Consultation
Deadline for the submission of comments: 05/11/2025
The EBA launched a consultation on proposed revisions to its RTS on resolution plans and resolution colleges, under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1075, adopted in accordance with the EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. For resolution plans, the proposed changes seek to tackle the issue of increasingly long and detailed plans which have limited optionality by: (i) simplifying and streamlining resolution plans; (ii) making plans more operational to improve their usability, including by separating choice and execution of resolution strategy from assessment of an institution's resolvability; and (iii) introducing greater optionality to improve the flexibility of resolution planning. On resolution colleges, the proposed changes aim to simplify processes, improve cooperation and information exchange among authorities and improve coordination in the implementation of a resolution scheme.
Date of publication: 05/08/2025
(ii) Eurozone
Status: Consultation
Deadline for the submission of comments: 22/10/2025
The SRB launched a consultation on its operational guidance for banks on separability and transferability. The SRB has updated its 2021 operational guidance on separability and seeks to align it with its operational guidance on resolvability self-assessment, with its focus now being on operationalisation, resolution testing, and crisis readiness. It is accompanied by an operational framework for transfer playbooks and an annex on testing. It is intended to clarify the procedures for banks and resolution authorities to operationalise the use of transfer tools, supporting enforcement of Articles 38-42 of BRRD and applies to all banks under the SRB's remit with transfer tools in their resolution plans. The SRB states that this update 'does not introduce new deliverables, but instead it seeks to enhance the effectiveness of existing ones'. The SRB invites feedback on the updates and their impact on banks' current deliverables. The guidance is intended to be applicable from the resolution planning cycle 2026.
Date of publication: 13/08/2025
SRB: Operational guidance for banks on resolvability self-assessment
Status: Final
The SRB published its operational guidance for banks on resolvability self-assessment, accompanied by a press release. This marks a shift towards a more structured and standardised approach for banks to resolvability selfassessments and rigorous testing. The guidance, which is part of the SRM Vision 2028 strategy, introduces a set of criteria to assess the extent to which banks meet the resolvability capabilities outlined in the Expectations for Banks (EfB). It includes a self-assessment template structured around the seven resolvability dimensions set out in the EfB, covering all elements of crisis readiness. It outlines the capabilities that banks should have in place to effectively execute resolution measures during a crisis. The methodology will also reflect how well banks' resolvability capabilities work in practice through their regular testing. The guidance was consulted on in December 2024, with key feedback summarised in a feedback statement. In response to consultation feedback, the framework has been simplified to reduce administrative burden. Key changes include cutting resolvability capabilities by 20%, changing the reporting frequency to every two years, and introducing a less granular reporting structure, notably for testing activities.
Banks are required to submit their first self-assessment report under the new format by 31 January 2026, reflecting their resolvability self-assessment as of 31 December 2025. In light of the ongoing development of new policies and guidance, the self-assessment report may be subject to targeted amendments in the future. The SRB confirms that operational guidance on the testing framework, which complements the self-assessment approach, will be published later this year.
Date of publication: 07/08/2025
1.3 STRESS TESTS/MACROPRUDENTIAL TOPICS
(i) EU
EBA/ECB: Results of the 2025 stress test on the euro area banking sector
Status: Final
The EBA and ECB published the results of their stress test on the selected 96 (51 large and 45 medium-sized) euro area banks under direct ECB supervision. They concluded that this sector is resilient against severe economic downturn scenarios, setting out that the CET1 ratio of the banking system would stand at 12.0% at the end of the projection horizon in the adverse scenario, four percentage points lower than its starting point. They also found that strong profitability provides banks with a solid buffer against increased projected losses.
The ECB also published FAQ on this year's stress test. In addition, BaFin published a press release stating that all German banks that have been involved in the stress test have passed it.
Date of publication: 01/08/2025
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