Banking Package
In December 2023, the preparatory bodies of the EU Council and Parliament endorsed the banking package. Co-legislators have confirmed that the new CRR rules shall start applying from 1 January 2025, while the CRD provisions will need to be transposed by Member States before they start applying. Given such developments, the legal texts of the CRRIII and the CRDVI have been published on both the EU Council’s and EU Parliament’s websites, respectively, and while they are still subject to legal revisions and to the final vote in the Plenary, the publication of the texts ensures transparency and allows credit institutions to prepare for the implementation of such rules in a timely manner. Furthermore, it should be noted that no changes in substance are expected until the texts’ final adoption in the EU Parliament by the second trimester of 2024.
Meanwhile, as outlined in previous Regulatory Updates, the European Banking Authority (the ‘EBA’) is working on delivering all mandates within the banking package and shall be consulting with the banking industry as detailed in the EBA’s roadmap on Basel III implementation. This will allow the practical implementation of the requirements by credit institutions over the coming years. In this regard, we keep encouraging compliance officers and other staff within credit institutions to subscribe to the EBA email alerts in order to keep updated on the EBA’s work, and to participate in public consultations that are published from time to time on the EBA website.
Instant Payments
During the month of November, the EU Council and Parliament have reached a political agreement on the instant payments proposal that was published in October 2022. Such initiative will update the Single European Payments Area legislation and shall require payment service providers to offer instant credit transfers. According to the provisional agreement, these transfers are expected to be processed on a 24/7 basis and should reach the expected beneficiary within a ten second timeframe. Charges for instant credit transfers should not be higher than other euro credit transfers offered by institutions. Credit institutions are again reminded of the importance to plan for the necessary infrastructural enhancements.
