[author: Amy Roper]

On August 10, 2016, the European Central Bank (ECB) published an addendum to its guide on options and discretions (O&Ds) available in Union law.

The addendum complements the guide and ECB Regulation that were published in March 2016. It lays down the ECB’s approach to the exercise of eight O&Ds provided for in the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation 575/2013) (CRR) and the CRD IV Directive (2013/36/EU). The objective is to provide coherence, effectiveness and transparency regarding the supervisory policy that will be applied in the supervisory assessment of applications from significant supervised entities within the scope of the single supervisory mechanism (SSM).

A press release also published on 10 August, highlights that the publication of the addendum signals the end of the consultation process. A consolidated version of the guide, including the addendum and the approach for the recognition of institutional protection schemes, is to be published on the ECB’s website later in 2016.