On August 5, EBA published its final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the treatment of equity exposures according to Article 495(3) of Regulation No 575/2013 Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR).

The CRR, which has the main purpose of implementing the Basel III reforms in the EU, applies directly to credit institutions and investment firms within member states. When operating under the “Internal Ratings Based Approach,” which allows institutions to use their own estimated risk parameters for the purpose of calculating regulatory capital, the RTS provide for regulators to grant financial institutions temporary exemptions and so avoid part of the increase in capital requirement that would otherwise be necessary.

The RTS have been submitted to the European Commission for adoption as directly applicable EU regulations. RTS.