In accordance with the Regulation establishing the European Banking Authority (EBA), the annual work programme describes and summarises the main objectives and deliverables of the EBA in the forthcoming year derived from the tasks specified in the Regulation and from the relevant EU banking sector legislation.

ESMA issues regarding extending the transitional period for the use of non-EU credit ratings, the endorsement of the Australian CRA regime and the adoption of four regulatory technical standards in the field of credit rating agencies.

Frankfurt, 20 December, 2011 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its biannual report on the financial stability of the insurance and occupational pension fund sectors in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Frankfurt, 12 December, 2011 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today the report of the  Joint Working Group (JWG) “Calibration of the Premium and Reserve Risk Factors in the Standard Formula of Solvency II” related to the non-life and health-non-similar-to-life-technique (non-SLT) calibration.

Leaders and senior representatives of the authorities responsible for the regulation of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets in Canada, the European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United States met yesterday in Paris.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published a formal Recommendation, and the final figures, related to banks’ recapitalisation needs. These measures form part of a broader European package, agreed by the European Council on 26 October and confirmed during the ECOFIN Council on 30 November, to address the current situation in the EU by restoring stability and confidence in the markets.

ESMA (the European Securities and Markets Authority)

• warns investors against dealing with unauthorised firms offering foreign exchange investments, and
• alerts retail investors to the main risks involved in forex trading

As a result of recent sovereign debt1 developments and the increased market interest in this area, there has been a lot of focus on the accounting practices of listed companies, and financial institutions in particular, with respect to their exposures to sovereign debt.

On 28 July 2011 ESMA issued a Statement2 stressing the need for enhanced transparency and the impor-tance of applying the relevant International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). ESMA also encouraged issuers to provide information on their exposures to sovereign debt on a country-by-country basis in their financial statements.

Since then ESMA conducted together with national competent authorities a fact-finding exercise on the accounting treatment of Greek sovereign debt in the half-year financial statements based on a sample of financial institutions listed in EU regulated markets.

Beginning in 2011, the HFSA prepares and publishes financial consumer risk reports. This analysis is the second 2011 issue of the HFSA’s twice-yearly Financial Consumer Risk Report.
The primary purpose of the report is to identify current issues that represent high risks and that may have a significant impact from a financial consumer protection standpoint and to present the HFSA measures taken in response to these issues. Risks pertaining to financial stability and the supervision of financial institutions are discussed in the Risk Outlook, a long-standing HFSA publication.

Frankfurt, 16 November, 2011 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority hosted its first Annual Conference during the EURO FINANCE WEEK in Frankfurt. Around 350 participants followed experts discussing insurance and occupational pensions supervision and regulation. The major topics addressed at the conference were Solvency II, the Future of Occupational Pensions, Challenges and Opportunities for EU Insurance Regulation as well as Consumer Protection.

On 2 December 2010 the European Commission sent a request for assistance to CESR (now ESMA) on the content of the implementing measures for the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). This paper sets out ESMA’s technical advice on the content of the implementing measures for the AIFMD.

The three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), ESMA, EBA, and EIOPA respectively, today appointed members and alternates of their joint Board of Appeal. The joint Board of the ESAs is independent from their administrative and regulatory structures and will hear appeals from certain decisions taken by the ESAs. The decisions of the Board itself are subject to appeal before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

On 31 October 2011 ESMA announced the successful registrations of DBRS, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investor Service, and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) as Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs). In order to do business in the European Union (EU), the EU Regulation on Credit Rating Agencies ((EC) No 1060/2009 – “the CRA Regulation”)1 re-quires CRAs to be registered in compliance with the requirements of the Regulation. Today’s registrations are valid for all European entities of DBRS, Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P respectively (see annex table 1 with the list of the EU entities registered).

26 October 2011
The European Banking Authority (EBA) supports the agreement at EU level on measures to restore confidence in the banking sector. These measures form part of a broader package aimed at addressing the current situation in the EU by restoring stability and confidence in the markets. Their implementation is conditional on the other components of the package being fully clarified and endorsed.

The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) has today published a set of recommendations on lending in currencies other than the legal tender of the relevant country (“foreign currency lending”) addressed to the Member States of the EU, their national supervisory authorities and the European Banking Authority.

Summary: 23 September 2011, Brussels - Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today on the imposition of additional sanctions against the Syrian regime:

19 Sep. 2011 - ESMA publishes today for consultation its first set of proposed future Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS). The draft RTSs on Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) detail the information that CRAs would have to disclose and the rules they would have to comply with in order to fulfil the requirements of the CRA Regulation. ESMA is seeking stakeholders’ views in respect of specific technical issues specified under Article 21 (4) of the CRA Regulation by October 21, 2011. The potential costs and benefits of the future standards will also be assessed by ESMA.

ESMA publishes today a consultation paper (ESMA/2011/270) setting out its proposals for the detailed rules on supervision and third country entities underlying the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). These rules reflect the global nature of the alternative investment management indus-try and the need to put in place a framework for entities outside the EU. Today’s publication, which com-plements the draft advice published for consultation in July (ESMA/2011/209), is in response to the European Commission’s request for assistance to ESMA’s predecessor, CESR, in December 2010. ESMA has to deliver its final advice to the Commission by 16 November 2011.

OTP Bank Plc. was subject to the 2011 EU-wide stress test conducted by the European Banking Authority (EBA), in cooperation with the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority, the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission (EC) and the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).

08 July 2011

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today announces the publication date for the EU wide stress test which will take place on Friday, 15 July 2011.

Frankfurt, 4 July, 2011 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) announced today the results of its second European insurance stress test. The exercise confirms that the insurance market in Europe covered by the stress test is robust.

ESMA issues today its Guidelines on endorsement with a Final Report, including a Feedback Statement. This report is accompanied by a press release. These Guidelines address how ESMA will implement the “as stringent as” test for credit ratings produced outside the European Union, in so-called “third countries”. These credit ratings are used by financial institutions to assess the risk of their exposures and in calculating their capital requirements. The test requires that the credit rating activities performed by Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) outside the Euro-pean Union are subject to requirements established by law which are “as stringent as” those applicable in the EU.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today agreed to adopt a benchmark of Core Tier 1 (CT1) against which to assess banks in the 2011 EU-wide stress test.  The CT1 benchmark will be set at 5% of risk weighted assets.

The European Parliament today confirms the three European Supervisory Authorities' (EBA, ESMA, EIOPA) new Executive Directors. The press releases on the confirmation are available below.

Frankfurt, 23 March, 2011 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched today the second Europe-wide stress test for the insurance sector. The stress test is conducted in cooperation with the respective national supervisory authorities and will be carried out until end of May, based on 2010 financial results. EIOPA expects to publish the aggregated results of this exercise in July 2011. The test is targeted towards the European insurance sector and will include a minimum of 50% of insurance companies per country measured by gross premium income. The Swiss Financial Market Authority (Finma) has decided to join the stress test in addition to member states of the European Union and European Economic Area (EEA). 

18 March 2011

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published documents explaining the scenarios and methodology for its 2011 EU-wide stress test, which will be applied on a wide sample of European banks covering over 60% of total EU banking assets.

Frankfurt, 14 March, 2011 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) today announced the results of the fifth Quantitative Impact Study (QIS5). EIOPA ran QIS5 to assess the practicability, implications and impact of specified approaches to (re)insurers’ valuation of assets and liabilities as well as capital setting under Solvency II, the new insurance directive that becomes effective on 1 January 2013. Under Solvency II capital requirements will be determined on the basis of the risk profile of insurance companies and the way companies manage such risks.

The EBA’s Board of Supervisors selected the EBA’s first Executive Director and established its Banking Stakeholder Group.
The EBA’s Board of Supervisors, the principal decision-making body of the Authority, composed of 27 voting members, one from each EU Member State, selected today Adam Farkas to serve as the first Executive Director of the EBA, subject to confirmation by the European Parliament. The Executive Director will be in charge of the day-to-day management and operations of the Authority. He will remain in office for a five-year term and may be re-elected only once.

The second Board of Supervisors Meeting of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) was hosted on Friday by the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority within the framework of the Hungarian EU Presidency. The EIOPA’s Board of Supervisors consists of the heads of national authorities in the 27 EU Member States responsible for the supervision of insurers and occupational pension funds.

Directive 2010/76/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 amending Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC as regards capital requirements for the trading book and for re-securitisations, and the supervisory review of remuneration policies

CEBS had already published a set of High-level Principles for Remuneration Policies (Rem. HLP) on 20 April 2009 aimed at assisting in remedying unsound remuneration policies. These principles also built on the remuneration work carried out by other bodies, namely the Financial Stability Board and the European Commission. An extensive implementation study regarding the national implementation of the High-level principles was carried out by CEBS in the first semester of 2010 and served as an input to the current guidelines.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) publishes the final text of its revised Guidelines on stress testing which takes into the account the results of the earlier public consultation which run from December 2009 to March 2010.

The EU wide stress test exercise of financial institutions, coordinated by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has been carried out by 91 banks from 20 EU Member States. Two listed companies OTP Bank Plc. and FHB Mortgage Bank Plc. have represented Hungary in the test. Both banks’ results are sound and well above the threshold expected.

Pursuant to Section III/3 of Appendix 2 of Act CXII of 1996 on Credit Institutions and Financial Enterprises “good business reputation” means the existence of the conditions that prove that the managers of the financial and payment institutions, as well as their owners with qualifying influence, are suitable for managing and owning the financial and payment institutions.