Insights

European Banking Authority (EBA) published final report on guidelines on Overall Recovery Capacity (ORC) in recovery planning on 19 July 2023, following a consultation paper in December 2022. The main change following the consultation is the implementation timeline for capital recovery options is now longer at 18-months (previously 12-months). These guidelines apply from 3 months after the publication date or 19 October 2023.

This ECB paper is relevant to banks with derivatives and trading books; it explores the operational aspects and hidden costs associated with the wind-down of a bank’s trading book. An orderly wind-down of a trading book may be a recovery option or an element of a bank’s preferred resolution strategy. This paper details principles of ECB’s supervisory expectations with respect to both recovery and resolution planning.

Our focus in this paper is to develop decision making models using a range of advanced machine learning techniques. We explore three different methodologies to measure the discriminatory power between good and bad borrowers using a credit card portfolio dataset. The main hypothesis is that advanced modelling techniques lead to more efficient estimates and higher discriminatory power.

As a result of Brexit, and particularly following the introduction of the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act, there is a potential for increasing divergence between EU and UK financial services regulation.

On 28 April 2021, the Irish Government transposed IORP II (Institution for Occupational Retirement Provision), an EU directive on the activities and supervision of pension schemes, into law.

On 30 January, the Central Bank published Guidance for (Re)insurance Undertakings on Intragroup Transactions and Exposures following a consultation that ended in September 2022.

In response to the fast growth of the payment services market, the European Commission issued a Revised Payments Legislative Package. This seeks to ensure the EU’s financial sector is fit for purpose and capable of adapting to the ongoing digital transformation, and the risks and opportunities it presents – in particular for consumers.

Counterparty credit risk was identified as a supervisory priority by the ECB for 2022 - 2024, as banks had been increasingly offering capital market services to riskier, leveraged and less transparent counterparties, in particular with non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), at a time when the interest rate environment was low.

Findings from the CBI’s thematic assessment across a sample of MiFID firms, considering the approach taken by Boards and Senior Management, to foster and embed an effective conduct-focused culture.

DORA will have a significant effect on enhancing the operational resilience of digital systems. By soliciting public input through this consultation process, the European Supervisory Authorities aim to ensure that the resulting technical standards align with industry best practices promote digital resilience and facilitate a robust and secure digital environment across the EU.

Complaints and Remediation in Financial Services

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (“EFRAG”) submitted to the European Commission its technical advice on the first set (“set 1”) of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRSs”) on the 22 November 2022. This included 2 “cross cutting” ESRSs (General Requirements and General Disclosures) and 10 “topical” standards across Environmental, Social and Governance topics.