Guideline (EU) 2017/697 of the European Central Bank of 4 April 2017 on the exercise of options and discretions available in Union law by national competent authorities in relation to less significant institutions (ECB/2017/9)

This Guideline specifies certain of the options and discretions of general application conferred on competent authorities under Union law concerning prudential requirements, the exercise of which by the NCAs in relation to the less significant institutions shall be fully aligned to the ECB's exercise of the relevant options and discretions in Regulation (EU) 2016/445 (ECB/2016/4).

For the purposes of this Guideline, the definitions contained in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013, Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17) and Article 3 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/61 shall apply.

Without prejudice to Article 90 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and for the purpose of calculating the capital requirements in accordance with Part Three of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, NCAs shall require less significant institutions to apply a risk weight of 1250 % to the greater of the following: (a) the amount of qualifying holdings in undertakings referred to in Article 89(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 in excess of 15 % of the eligible capital of the credit institution; and (b) the total amount of qualifying holdings in undertakings referred to in Article 89(2) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 that exceeds 60 % of the eligible capital of the credit institution.

NCAs shall require less significant institutions to apply the ‘more than 90 days past due’ standard for the categories of exposures specified in Article 178(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

For the transactions referred to in Article 282(6) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, NCAs shall require less significant institutions to use the mark-to-market method set out in Article 274 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

NCAs shall exercise the option with regard to exemptions provided for in Article 400(2) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 in relation to less significant institutions in accordance with this Article and the Annex. (a) The exposures listed in Article 400(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 shall be exempted from the application of Article 395(1) of that Regulation for 80 % of the nominal value of the covered bonds, provided that the conditions set out in Article 400(3) of that Regulation are fulfilled. (b) The exposures listed in Article 400(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 shall be exempted from the application of Article 395(1) of that Regulation for 80 % of their exposure value, provided that the conditions set out in Article 400(3) of that Regulation are fulfilled. (c) The exposures listed in Article 400(2)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 shall be exempted in full from the application of Article 395(1) of that Regulation, provided that the conditions set out in Article 400(3) of that Regulation, as further specified in the Annex to this Guideline, are fulfilled. (d) The exposures listed in Article 400(2)(e) to (k) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 shall be exempted in full, or in the case of Article 400(2)(i) they shall be exempted up to the maximum allowed amount, from the application of Article 395(1) of that Regulation, provided that the conditions set out in Article 400(3) of that Regulation are fulfilled. (e) NCAs shall require less significant institutions to assess whether the conditions specified in Article 400(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, as well as in the Annex to this Guideline applicable to the specific exposure, are fulfilled. The NCA may verify this assessment at any time and request less significant institutions to submit the documentation referred to in the Annex for this purpose. (f) This Article shall only apply where the relevant Member State has not exercised the option under Article 493(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 to grant a full or partial exemption for the specific exposure.

NCAs shall require less significant institutions to multiply by 3 % the amount of stable retail deposits covered by a deposit guarantee scheme as referred to in Article 24(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/61, provided that the Commission has given its prior approval in accordance with Article 24(5) of that Delegated Regulation certifying that all the conditions of Article 24(4) have been fulfilled.

1 During the period from 1 January to 31 December 2018, NCAs may permit less significant institutions not to deduct equity holdings in insurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings and insurance holding companies from Common Equity Tier 1 items in accordance with Article 471(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

2 From 1 January 2019, NCAs shall require less significant institutions to deduct equity holdings in insurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings and insurance holding companies from Common Equity Tier 1 items.

3 This Article applies without prejudice to decisions taken by the NCAs pursuant to Article 49(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

NCAs shall exercise the option with regard to the applicable percentages for deduction from Common Equity Tier 1 items of significant investments in financial sector entities and deferred tax assets that rely on future profitability provided for in Article 478(3)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 as follows: (a) for the purposes of Article 478(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, the applicable percentage for the purposes of Article 469(1)(a) and (c) of that Regulation shall be 100 % from 1 January 2018; (b) for the purposes of Article 478(2) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, the applicable percentage shall be 100 % from 1 January 2018; (c) by way of derogation from point (b), where, pursuant to Article 478(2) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, national law provides for a 10-year phase-out period, the applicable percentage shall be: (i) 80 % during the period from 1 January to 31 December 2018; and (ii) 100 % from 1 January 2019; (d) NCAs shall not apply points (b) and (c) to less significant institutions which, on the date on which this Guideline takes effect, are subject to restructuring plans approved by the Commission; (e) where a credit institution falling within the scope of point (d) is acquired by or merges with another credit institution while the restructuring plan is still in operation without modification concerning the prudential treatment of deferred tax assets, NCAs shall apply the exception in point (d) to the acquiring credit institution, new credit institution resulting from the merger or credit institution incorporating the original credit institution, to the same extent that it applied to the acquired, merged or incorporated credit institution; (f) in the event of an unforeseen increase in the impact of the deductions provided for in points (b) and (c) which the NCA determines is material, less significant institutions shall be allowed not to apply points (b) or (c); (g) where points (b) and (c) do not apply, NCAs shall require less significant institutions to apply national legislative provisions; This Article is without prejudice to national law existing prior to the date on which this Guideline takes effect, provided that such law sets percentages that are higher than those specified in points (a) to (c).

1 This Guideline shall take effect on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2 The NCAs shall comply with this Guideline from 1 January 2018, except for Article 7 which they shall comply with from 1 January 2019.

This Guideline is addressed to the NCAs of participating Member States.