2007

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) will be organising a public hearing open to all interested parties on a proposal for a common European definition for Tier 1 hybrids. The hearing will take place on 22 November 2007 at the Grange City Hotel in London.
Since 2006 CEBS has conducted substantial empirical work on the definition of own funds across the EU and you have contributed largely to that work with your expertise. Based on this work the European Commission has invited CEBS in April 2007 to focus on hybrid instruments and to develop general principles with regard to the three key features identified as crucial for their eligibility as Tier 1 capital instruments: permanence, flexibility of payments and loss absorbency. CEBS was also asked to seek convergence with regard to quantitative limits for the inclusion of hybrids in Tier 1 and to consider ways of limiting the impact any future common regulatory approach might have on the financial markets. Following up on the discussion at the public hearing on 11 June 2007, CEBS is keen to continue the valuable dialogue with the industry prior to the formal consultation of the proposal which is supposed to begin in December 2007.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) will be organising a public hearing open to all interested parties on 26 October 2007 in London at CEBS premises. CEBS is working currently on a report assessing the level of convergence in supervisory reporting achieved by CEBS with the introduction of the CEBS Guidelines on Reporting, which were developed and approved by CEBS in late 2005-early 2006 in order to harmonise the supervisory reporting (either the financial reporting for supervisory purposes based on IAS/IFRS and the prudential supervisory reporting based on the recast Directive 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC). The assessment provides also a preliminary comparison of the main drivers of reduction or increase of reporting burden, as well as a comparison of the CEBS Guidelines on Reporting with similar reporting packages in other countries outside the European Union. Furthermore, CEBS has been working in deepening the level of convergence in the reporting frameworks. In this context, CEBS already received a valuable feedback during a past workshop from a number of experts designated by its Consultative Panel on the practical problems that cross-border institutions are facing when implementing the Guidelines. As a result of these contacts, CEBS has realised that some problems are appearing, and some proposals are put forward for its solution.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) will be organising a public hearing open to all interested parties on 16 October 2007 at CEBS premises in London. CEBS just published a report analysing the implementation and the impact of the CEBS guidelines on prudential filters for regulatory capital of December 2004. These guidelines were issued following the introduction of IAS/IFRS in the EU to maintain the definition and quality of regulatory own funds. The report provides further detail on and develops some of the observations made in chapter V of the quantitative survey of eligible own funds (published on 15 June 2007) and moreover aims to provide the background for an assessment of the need for further convergence in that area. In line with its efforts in other areas, CEBS is keen to share its findings with the industry and other stakeholders and to hear their views and reactions on the draft report, on issues and problems identified with regard to prudential filters and on any aspects that may be of importance for possible future developments in that area. While this discussion is in no way intended to pre-empt or initiate the discussion on the re-definition of own funds and, in that context, a possible larger review of the prudential filters, it could nevertheless already at this stage provide CEBS with important insight as to the industry's expectations with regard to the handling of prudential filters-related issues in the short as well as in the longer run.

CEBS is currently finalizing its approach to the first set of issues highlighted in the Commission Call for advice on Large Exposures (No.7). The consultation paper will be published in June, as soon as endorsed by CEBS. CEBS is keen to gather the views of all interested parties on its current thinking. CEBS is therefore organizing an open hearing on 11 July 2007, from 9.30 to 12.30, at the CEBS premises in London. To avoid delays in checking in on the day of the hearing and to ensure that you are immediately notified when the consultation paper is published you are kindly requested to return the attached registration form by the closing date. Please note that you will also have the opportunity to send written comments, for details please see the press release on publication of the report, which will be published due course.

CEBS is currently finalizing for a public discussion its report on the risks arising from commodities business and from firms carrying out commodities business. The report will answer the second part of the European Commission's Call for Advice (No. 6) on Commodities Business. The report will be published in June, as soon as endorsed by CEBS. As the report covers an area that goes beyond the usual scope of banking supervision CEBS is very interested to have an open discussion with all interested parties on the findings of the report.

CEBS is therefore organizing an open hearing on 9 July 2007, from 9.30 to 12.30, at the CEBS premises in London. To avoid delays in checking in on the day of the hearing and to ensure that you are immediately notified when the report is published you are kindly requested to return the attached registration form by the closing date. Please note that you will also have the opportunity to send written comments until 27 July. For details please see the press release on publication of the report, which will be published in due course.

CEBS is about to finalise its empirical work on the definition of own funds across the EU. CEBS has been asked by the European Commission to check whether further convergence can be achieved in this area and to this end, CEBS is keen on having an open discussion with all interested parties on the concerns raised by the current regulatory definition of capital and on the range of views as to where convergence should be sought. CEBS is therefore organising an open hearing on 11 June 2007 in London.
 

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is publishing today its Consultation Paper (CP13) on a mediation mechanism between banking supervisors. The consultation is open to all interested parties, including supervised institutions, other market participants and end users of banking services. The consultation period begins today and will run until 19 June 2007. CEBS is organising a public hearing on 29 May 2007 on the Consultation Paper.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) will be organizing its first international conference on 9 May 2007 in London. The main topics for discussion will be CEBS' progress since it was established three years ago, and the challenges lying ahead for EU banking supervision. CEBS will also be publishing the results of a major public survey to assess its performance. The results of the Ipsos MORI poll of CEBS' work and CEBS' response to it, can be also found on our website.