European Banking Authority

TheEuropean Banking Authority(EBA) is a regulatoryagency of the European Unionheadquartered inLa Défense,Île-de-France. Its activities include conductingstress testson European banks to increase transparency in the European financial system and identifying weaknesses in banks' capital structures.
The EBA has the power to overrule national regulators if they fail to properly regulate their banks. The EBA is able to prevent regulatory arbitrage and should allow banks to compete fairly throughout the EU. The EBA will prevent a race to the bottom because banks established in jurisdictions with less regulation will no longer be at a competitive advantage compared to banks based in jurisdictions with more regulations as all banks will henceforth have to comply with the higher pan European standard.
The EBA was established on 1 January 2011, upon which date it inherited all of the tasks and responsibilities of theCommittee of European Banking Supervisors(CEBS). In continuity with the CEBS secretariat and until 30 March 2019 it was located inLondon.
As a consequence ofthe United Kingdom's planned withdrawal from the EU, the European Commission worked on plans to move the EBA (alongside theEuropean Medicines Agency) out of the United Kingdom, to keep it inside the remaining EU member states. Future homes considered for the agencywereBrussels,Dublin,Frankfurt,Luxembourg,Paris,Prague,ViennaandWarsaw.In the end, Paris was selected by drawing of lots to house the EBA, at 18:40CETon Monday, 20 November 2017.
In June 2021, the EBA said that banks in the European Union must have a ten-year plan that explains how they will deal with environmental, social, and government (ESG) risks to their bottom line.
The main task of the EBA is to contribute, through the adoption of binding Technical Standards (BTS) and Guidelines, to the creation of the European Single Rulebook in banking.TheSingle Rulebookaims at providing a single set of harmonised prudential rules for financial institutions throughout the EU, helping create a level playing field and providing high protection to depositors, investors and consumers.
The Authority also plays an important role in promoting convergence of supervisory practices to ensure a harmonised application of prudential rules. Finally, the EBA is mandated to assess risks and vulnerabilities in the EU banking sector through, in particular, regular risk assessment reports andpan-European stress tests.
Other tasks set out in the EBA's mandate include:
To perform these tasks, the EBA can produce a number of regulatory and non regulatory documents including binding Technical Standards, Guidelines, Recommendations, Opinions, Questions and Answers (Q&As) and ad-hoc or regular reports. The Binding Technical Standards are legal acts which specify particular aspects of an EU legislative text (Directive or Regulation) and aim at ensuring consistent harmonisation in specific areas. The EBA develops draft BTS which are finally endorsed and adopted by the European Commission. Contrary to other documents such as Guidelines or Recommendations, the BTS are legally binding and directly applicable in all Member States.
Common Reporting (COREP) is the standardised reporting framework issued by the EBA for theCapital Requirements Directivereporting. It coverscredit risk,market risk,operational risk, own fund andcapital adequacy ratios. This reporting framework has been adopted by almost 30 European countries. Regulated institutions are periodically required to file COREP reports, on both a solo and consolidated basis usingXBRLin Eurofilingarchitecture taxonomies.  All regulated organisations in the UK must use COREP to make their regular statutory reports from 1 January 2014 onwards.
The national authorities that are voting members of the EBA's Board of Supervisors have been, from creation to early 2024:
The EBA chair has been granted voting status by the 2019 revision of the EBA regulation.Non-voting members include representatives from theEuropean Commission,ECB Supervisory Board,European Systemic Risk Board,European Securities and Markets Authority,European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, as well as the supervisory authorities for non-EU members of theEuropean Economic Area, namelyIceland(Financial Supervisory Authority/ FME),Liechtenstein(Finanzmarktaufsicht/ FMA), andNorway(Finanstilsynet). In addition, in countries where the banking supervisor is separate from thecentral bank, thebank resolutionauthority, the financialconsumer protectionauthority, and/or thedeposit insuranceauthority, the latter authorities may also attend the meetings of the Board of Supervisors under conditions set in Article 40 of the EBA Regulation. TheSingle Resolution Boardhas observer status within the EBA Board of Supervisors, and is also a member of the EBA's permanent Standing Committee on Resolution, known as ResCo.As a result of this setup, neitherECB Banking Supervisionnor theSingle Resolution Boardhave a formal vote in the EBA decision-making process.
Chair:
Executive Director: