Press Release - 18 July 2008
CEBS PUBLISHES A SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF ITS STOCK-TAKE OF BANKS’ AND SUPERVISORS’ REACTIONS TO THE OPERATIONAL RISK LOSS EVENT AT SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) today publishes a summary of the results of its stock-take of banks’ and supervisors’ reactions to the rogue trading loss at Société Générale in January 2008.
CEBS has conducted a stock-take with the EEA banking supervisory authorities of how this event affected other banks, their operational risk practices, governance and internal control environment, and the internal models used for calculating capital requirements for operational risk (Advanced Measurement Approaches, AMA).
Press Release - 11 July 2008
CEBS STANDARDISES COREP REPORTING DATES
CEBS today publishes an amendment to the Guidelines on Common Reporting (COREP) on the standardisation of remittance dates and reporting frequencies for COREP reporting in the European Union. The Guidelines on COREP were developed by CEBS during 2004-2005 in order to harmonize reporting of the capital ratio in accordance with the Capital Requirements Directive.
Press Release - 11 July 2008
CEBS, CEIOPS AND CESR'S TO CONSULT ON JOINT GUIDELINES FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS.
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) and the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) today open a public consultation on their guidelines for the prudential assessment of acquisitions and increase of holdings in the financial sector required by Directive 2007/44/EC.
Press Release - 27 June 2008
CEBS PUBLISHES CONSULATION PAPER ON TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF DIVERSIFICATION
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) today starts a public consultation on its proposed technical approach to understanding claims for diversification benefits arising from internal models used by supervised institutions for Pillar 2 purposes. The consultation, which starts today and runs until 31 October 2008 is open to all interested parties including supervised institutions and other market participants.
A public hearing will take place on 8 September 2008 at CEBS’s premises in order to allow all interested parties to present their comments to CEBS.
Press Release - 18 June 2008
CEBS PUBLISHES REPORT ON ISSUES REGARDING THE VALUATION OF COMPLEX AND ILLIQUID FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has published today its findings on issues relating to the valuation of complex and illiquid financial instruments. The report puts forward a set of issues that should be addressed by institutions and accounting and auditing standard setters in order to improve the reliability of the values ascribed to these instruments.
CEBS has prepared this in response to a request set out in the October 2007 roadmap of the ECOFIN on the financial market situation. CEBS recommends that institutions and standard setters address the issues included in the report. It is intended to re-assess developments in this area and to liaise on any follow-up measures with other fora, notably CESR and CEIOPS.
Press Release - 18 June 2008
CEBS PUBLISHES REPORT ON BANKS’ TRANSPARENCY ON ACTIVITIES AND PRODUCTS AFFECTED BY THE RECENT MARKET TURMOIL
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has published today the findings of an assessment of banks’ transparency with regard to the activities and instruments affected by the recent market turmoil. This assessment has been carried out in accordance with the roadmap of the ECOFIN issued in October 2007 in response to the financial markets situation. CEBS analysed the disclosures made by 22 large banks – 19 of which originate from the EU - in the context of their 2007 4th quarter and preliminary results and 2007 audited annual reports. The findings allowed to identify examples of disclosures which CEBS believes represent good practice and considers to be particularly informative.
To discuss the findings of the report and the good observed practices with industry representatives and other interested parties CEBS will organise an open workshop in its premises in London on 3 July 2008 from 14:00 to 16:30. Registration form.
Press Release - 17 June 2008
CEBS PUBLISHES A CONSULTATION PAPER ON ITS TECHNICAL ADVICE ON LIQUIDITY RISK MANAGEMENT (SECOND PART)
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) today opens a public consultation on its advice on liquidity risk management: the second part of its response to the European Commission's Call for Technical Advice No. 8.
The consultation paper sets out CEBS’s preliminary recommendations regarding the management of liquidity risk by credit institutions and investment firms and the supervision of liquidity risk by EEA prudential authorities.
These proposals are generally consistent with the revised Sound Practices for Managing Liquidity in Banking Organizations that are also being published today for consultation by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS).
The consultation is open to all interested parties, including supervised institutions and other market participants. The public consultation period begins today and runs until 1 August 2008, in parallel with the BCBS consultation.
Comments will be published on CEBS’ website unless respondents request otherwise. Please send comments to the following e-mail address: cp19@c-ebs.org.
A public hearing will be held on 4 July 2008 at CEBS’ premises in order to allow all interested parties to present their comments to CEBS.
Press Release - 22 May 2008
CEBS PUBLISHES A CONSULATION PAPER ON ITS TECHNICAL ADVICE ON OPTIONS AND DISCRETIONS IN THE CRD
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is publishing today its consultation paper (CP18) on its proposals on options and national discretions in the Capital Requirements Directive as part of developing its response to the European Commission's Call for Technical Advice (No. 10). The consultation is open to all interested parties, including supervised institutions and other market participants. The consultation period will run until 15 August 2008.
A public hearing open to all interest parties will take place on 17 June 2008 at CEBS premises in London.
Press Release - 15 May 2008
CONSULTATION PAPER ON CESR'S/CEBS'S TECHNICAL ADVICE TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON THE REVIEW OF COMMODITIES BUSINESS
The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) and the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) are publishing today a consultation paper (CP 3L3 08 02) regarding the Joint Call for Technical Advice related to the review under Articles 65(3)(a), (b) and (d) of MiFID and Article 48(2) of the Capital Adequacy Directive (CAD III) issued by the European Commission in December 2007. Following up on previous work, CESR and CEBS have been asked to give advice to the European Commission on certain issues concerning the regulatory treatment of firms that provide investment services in relation to commodity and exotic derivatives. In particular, the views of the Committees are sought on whether the MIFID and CAD treatment of this type of firm continues to support the intended aims of market and prudential regulation.
A public hearing open to all interested parties will take place on 7 July 2008 at CEBS premises in London, coorganised by CEBS/CESR. For further details go to key dates page.
Press Release - 6 May 2008
CALL FOR TECHNICAL ADVICE FROM THE IWCFC ON FINANCIAL CONGLOMERATES
The Interim Working Committee on Financial Conglomerates (IWCFC) of CEBS and CEIOPS, received the third call for technical advice from the European Commission. The Commission services is requesting the IWCFC to conduct a stocktake to assess of practices implemented in the Member States. The IWCFC has already delivered advice with respect to cross sectoral work on the eligibility of own funds, and the equivalence of financial conglomerates supervision in Switzerland and in the US. These contributions providing useful input to the review of the Financial Conglomerates Directive.
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Press Release - 30 April 2008
THE 3L3 COMMITTIEES REINFORCE THEIR COMMITMENT TO THE PRINCIPLES OF 'BETTER REGULATION' BY PUBLISHING REVISED IMPACT ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) together with the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) and the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) are publishing today the revised Impact Assessment Guidelines and a Feedback Statement as a practical tool to help ensure the effective use of Impact Assessment (IA) within the three Lamfalussy Level 3 Committees. They are consistent with the European Commission's approach to Better Regulation and, specifically, with the EC's own IA Guidelines, though adapted to reflect the more specialised nature of financial services policy and the specific circumstances in which it is developed within the EU.
The scope of the Committees' IA work will take account of IA work to be conducted by the Commission or others. This is so as to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and to ensure that the exercise adds value.
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Press Release - 7 April 2008
JOINT PRESS RELEASE ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE DEFINITION OF CAPITAL INSTRUMENTS FOR FINANCIAL CONGLOMERATES
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) together with the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) are publishing today recommendations to address the consequences of the differences in sectoral rules on the calculation of own funds of financial conglomerates. These recommendations have been produced by the Interim Working Committee on Financial Conglomerates (IWCFC) at the request of the European Financial Conglomerates Committee. The recommendations are the third and last part of the advice on the cross-sectoral comparison of the sectoral rules for the eligibility of capital instruments in the regulatory capital.
The recommendations in this advice focus on the four main differences that were gathered during the analysis: the treatment of hybrids, revaluation reserves/latent gains, deduction of holdings and the differences in consolidation approaches and methods foreseen by the Financial Conglomerates Directive.
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Press Release - 3 April 2008
CEBS PUBLISHES ITS PROPOSAL FOR A COMMON EU DEFINITION OF TIER 1 HYBRIDS
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is publishing its proposals for a common EU definition of Tier 1 hybrids. CEBS proposals respond to a letter by the European Commission of April 2007 . Their objective is not to create a new definition for eligible Tier 1 hybrid capital instruments but to provide guidelines for a common EU interpretation of the eligibility criteria and to advise the European Commission with regard to the implementation of these criteria into EU legislation.
The proposals are based on eligibility requirements set out in the “Sydney Press Release” issued by the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision in 1998, the current supervisory practices across the EU as well as information provided by market participants during the public consultation of the draft proposals CP 17 which had been published on CEBS website.
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Press Release - 3 April 2008
CEBS PUBLISHES ADVICE ON THE REVIEW OF THE LARGE EXPOSURES REGIME
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) today publishes its Advice on the review of the large exposures regime, in response to the European Commission's Second Call for Advice. The Advice focuses mainly on the issues raised in the second part of the Commission’s Second Call for Advice, but it also summarizes the key findings from the first part of CEBS’s Advice, published in November 2007. In keeping with the European Commission's better regulation agenda, the Advice is supported by a high-level market failure/regulatory failure analysis of the issues under review. In developing its proposals, CEBS has benefited from views gathered from a broad range of market participants. Input was provided in two public hearings and in the industry’s responses to the public consultation on CP14 and CP16 which have been also published on CEBS website.
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Press Release - 26 March 2008
CEBS, CEIOPS AND CERS'S JOINT PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON A COMMON UNDERSTANDING ON THE INFORMATION ON FUNDS TRANSFERS
Today the three Level 3 Committees [the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) and the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions (CEIOPS)] - through the Anti Money Laundering Task Force (AMLTF) launch today their consultation on a common understanding in relation to the information on the payer of accompanying fund transfers to payment service providers of payees, arising out of the EU Regulation 1781/2006. Accordingly this paper, prepared by a joint 3L3 Anti Money Laundering Task Force, proposes some practical solutions in processing such messages, such as timeframes for seeking missing information, holding funds, reporting, and internal controls.
All interested parties are invited to send their comments by the 26th of June 2008 to the following e-mail address: AMLfundtransfer@c-ebs.org
During the consultation period a public hearing will be organized on the 6th of May 2008 at CEBS premises in London.
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Press Release - 28 February 2008
3L3 CHAIRS' JOINT LETTER TO EU INSTITUTIONS SUBMITTING DRAFT WORK PROGRAMMES
Today the 3 Level 3 Committees [the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions (CEIOPS) together with the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR)] publish their Chairs’ joint letter sent individually to Mr McCreevy (EU Commissioner, Internal Market and Services), Mme Berès MEP (Chair, ECON, EU Parliament), and Dr Bajuk (Presidency, EU Council), submitting their current drafts of sector and joint 3 Level 3 Work Programmes.
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Press Release - 22 February 2008
CEBS AND CEIOPS PUBLISH JOINT TECHNICAL ADVICE ON THE EQUIVALENCE OF SUPERVISORY ARRANGEMENTS IN SWITZERLAND AND UNITED STATES
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) together with the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions (CEIOPS) are publishing today the joint response of CEBS and the Interim Working Committee on Financial Conglomerates (IWCFC ), to the two parallel requests from June 2007, for technical advice from the European Commission (EC) on its recommendations on whether the supervisory arrangements of the US and Swiss supervisory authorities would achieve the objectives of consolidated and supplementary supervision, as provided for in the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) and the Financial Conglomerates Directive (FCD).
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Press Release - 28 January 2008
CEBS AND CEIOPS PUBLISH CONSULTATION PAPER ON IWCFC RECOMMENDATIONS ON CAPITAL FOR FINANCIAL CONGLOMERATES
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) and the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Penstions (CEIOPS) - through the Interim Working Committee on Financial Conglomerates (IWCFC) are publishing today the formal consultation on its advice to the European Commission (EC) on recommendations for action that the IWCFC considers appropriate to address the consequences of the differences in sectoral rules on eligible capital for the supervision of financial conglomerates. The advice forms the conclusion to its previous reports analysing the existence and impact of the sectoral differences published in January and August 2007. Download the list of groups identified as conglomerates here.
In order to allow for a focused consultation, the IWCFC has developed some concrete questions on which it would be very keen to hear market participants’ views. Participants are of course welcome to raise any other issues they think are relevant. Industry representatives are invited to send their comments by 7 March 2008 to following email address: conglomerates@c-ebs.org. Unless respondents request otherwise, comments received will be published on the CEBS and CEIOPS website.
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Press Release - 18 January 2008
CEBS ELECTS NEW CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR AND RENEWS ITS BUREAU
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has elected Mrs. Kerstin af Jochnick to be the new Chair of CEBS, and Mr. Andrzej Reich as Vice Chair of the Committee. Dr. Thomas Huertas and Mr. Giovanni Carosio have been appointed as new members to its Bureau. Mr. Arnoud Vossen appointed as Deputy Secretary General of CEBS Secretariat Limited.
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Press Release - 27 December 2007
CEBS PUBLISHES A PAPER ON THE "RANGE OF PRACTICES ON SUPERVISORY COLLEGES AND HOME-HOST COOPERATION", AS WELL AS A TEMPLATE FOR A "MULTILATERAL COOPERATION AND COORDINATION AGREEMENT".
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has published a paper on the "Range of practices on supervisory colleges and home-host cooperation", as well as a template for a "Multilateral Cooperation and Coordination Agreement" ("Template for written agreements"). CEBS believes that these documents will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the European supervisory regime under the CRD. In particular, the operational focus of the Template for written agreements is expected to narrow the gap between the high level principles issued by CEBS on supervisory cooperation and day-to-day supervisory practices.
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Press Release - 19 December 2007
CEBS APPROVES A PROPOSAL FOR STANDARDIZATION OF REMITTANCE DATES AND REPORTING FREQUENCIES FOR SUPERVISORY REPORING
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has published a proposal to amend the Guidelines on Common Reporting (COREP) for the periodic reporting to supervisory authorities in the EU by a supervised entity of its solvency under the recast Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC. This proposal aims at EU-wide harmonisation of the reporting frequency used by supervisory authorities and at the harmonisation of the maximum remittance periods for sending in this information.
CEBS is expecting feedback on this proposal by 19 April 2008. Comments should be submitted to CP04rev@c-ebs.org.
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Press Release - 18 December 2007
CEBS PUBLISHES A REPORT ON THE REGULATORY IMPLICATIONS OF PILLAR 3
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has published today the findings of a survey it has carried out with regard to regulatory implementation of disclosures by credit institutions as set out in chapter 5 of Directive 2006/48/CE which transposes the Basel Pillar 3 requirements into EU legislation. CEBS’s survey provides an overview of the situation in the EU. The findings and the discussions within CEBS and with the industry reveal that the implementation of the Pillar 3 provisions does not give rise to major concerns. The findings of the note have been discussed with industry representatives during a workshop on Pillar 3 issues held on 7 December 2007. A summary of the discussions at the workshop can be accessed here.
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Press Release - 7 December 2007
CEBS PUBLISHES A CONSULTATION PAPER ON ITS PROPOSALS FOR A COMMON EU DEFINITION OF TIER1 HYBRIDS
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is publishing today a consultation paper on its proposals for a common EU definition of Tier 1 hybrids. Hybrid capital instruments may mix features of both debt and equity and can be considered as eligible as original own funds (‘Tier 1’) in the EEA provided that they meet certain criteria.
The objective is not to elaborate a brand new definition of eligible hybrids but to provide guidelines for a common and clear interpretation across the EU of the international standards issued by the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision in 1998 (“the Sydney Press Release”). Such standards have not yet been reflected in the EU legislation. CEBS proposals have been elaborated in response to the European Commission’s letter of April 2007.
CEBS invites all interested party to examine the proposals and to send their comments to “cp17@c-ebs.org” by 22 February 2008.
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Press Release - 7 December 2007
CEBS PUBLISHES A CONSULTATION PAPER ON THE SECOND PART OF ITS TECHNICAL ADVICE ON LARGE EXPOSURES
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) today starts a public consultation on a number of aspects of the large exposures regime as part of developing its response to the European Commission's Second Call for Advice. The consultation is open to all interested parties, including supervised institutions and other market participants.
This consultation paper sets out CEBS’ preliminary views on the issues included in Part 2 of the European Commission’s Call for Advice. It also includes a summary of CEBS’ key findings from Part 1 of its Advice to allow respondents to have a complete understanding of the overall review of the large exposures rules.
CEBS submits its initial views for a public consultation which starts today and runs until 22 February 2008. Comments received will be published on CEBS’ website unless respondents request otherwise.
Please send your comments to the following e-mail address: cp16@c-ebs.org.
A public hearing is being organised on 15 January 2008 at CEBS premises in order to allow all interested parties to highlight their comments to CEBS. http://www.c-ebs.org/keydates.htm
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Press Release - 22 November 2007
CESR, CEBS and CEIOPS CONSULT ON A COMMON MEDIUM TERM WORK PROGRAMME ON CROSS SECTOR SUPERVISORY ISSUES
The 3 Level 3 Committees (CESR, CEBS and CEIOPS) publish today their joint "Consultation Paper on the 3 Level 3 Committees' Medium Term Work Programme" (2008-2010). Building on the experience of the joint work and cooperation between the three Committees in their three common years of existence, and the creation of the Joint Protocol on Cooperation that the three Committees entered into two years ago. The three Committees wish to take the opportunity in the ongoing review of the Lamfalussy process to contribute to the discussion on the possible ways to enhance regulatory and supervisory consistency across sectors. In the 3L3 Medium Term Work Programme, the Committees have identified a comprehensive list of cross-sector areas for delivery in the period to the end of 2010 – the 'medium term', and six key areas for work within this three year period.
The Committees would welcome input from the financial industry, investors and all other stakeholders regarding what they would most like to see addressed in a three Level3 setting in the medium term perspective. Comments on the key areas, the work programme in general, and other issues raised, are invited by 18 January 2008. Answers should be posted on the website of CESR, www.cesr.eu under the area indentified as "Consultations" in the menu.
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Press Release - 6 November 2007
CEBS PUBLISHES THE FIRST PART OF ITS TECHNICAL ADVICE ON THE REVIEW OF THE LARGE EXPOSURES REGIME
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) today publishes the first part of its response to the European Commission's Call for Advice on the review of the large exposures regime.
The first part of the advice sets out CEBS’ views on a number of key concepts regarding the large exposures regime. When elaborating its views, CEBS has benefited from the input already gathered in the context of its survey of industry practices and from the feedback received on its consultation paper. In addition, a public hearing was held on 11 July at CEBS’ premises. The advice sets out CEBS’ understanding of the objectives and purposes of a large exposures regime. CEBS believes that ensuring that risks arising from individual exposures to individual counterparties or groups of connected counterparties are kept to an acceptable level follows from the overarching principles of prudential supervision.
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Press Release - 2 November 2007
CEBS PUBLISHES SUMMARY OF THE PUBLIC HEARING ON FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS ON SUPERVISORY REPORTING
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) held an Open Hearing on 26 October 2007 to discuss the present situation and to gather input for the future developments on supervisory reporting. The event was chaired by Arnoud Vossen and Ludger Hanenberg, chairs of the Expert Group on Financial Information and of the Subgroup on Reporting, respectively. A large number of market participants including individual commercial banks and banking associations from different Member States contributed to the constructive discussion held. Details of the open hearing can be also found at http://www.c-ebs.org/keydates.htm.
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Press Release - 1 November 2007
CEBS PUBLISHES SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSIONS AT THE PUBLIC HEARING ON PRUDENTIAL FILTERS
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) organised a public hearing on 16 October 2007, open to all interested parties to present the outcome of a study carried out on the implementation and on the impact of prudential filter. http://www.c-ebs.org/keydates.htm
The objective of the event was to share CEBS’s findings with the industry and other stakeholders and to hear their views and reactions on the 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.