Brussels, 15 August 2023
Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council1, commonly referred to as Capital Requirements Directive IV (hereinafter: CRD IV), established an EU framework to coordinate national provisions concerning access to the activity of credit institutions and investment firms, the modalities for their governance, and their supervision.
It was adopted in 2013 as a part of a legislative package including Regulation (EU) No 575/20132, commonly referred to as Capital Requirements Regulation (hereinafter: CRR), laying down uniform rules on general prudential requirements.
This package was adopted in a context of mounting public pressure on the financial sector since the financial and debt crisis started in 2007, and included specific provisions aimed to address this pressure with a view to regaining the trust of European citizens and taxpayers in the overall financial sector.
For the sake of “increased transparency”3, Article 89 (“country-by-country reporting”, hereinafter: CBCR) of CRD IV hence required that Member States ensure that credit institutions and investment firms (hereinafter: “institutions”) subject to this legislative framework disclose specific information – both financial and non-financial – regarding their activities.
The present report is prepared under Article 89(6) of CRD V4, which requires the Commission to review whether the CBCR information is still adequate and whether further relevant information should be added. Moreover, it provides the obligation to present the outcome of this assessment to the European Parliament and to the Council in view of a possible legislative proposal.
The assessment acknowledges the findings of the supporting study5 carried out by an external contractor and is based on the internal review conducted at the Commission. EBA, EIOPA and ESMA were consulted. The methodology used by the contractor for collecting and assessing data relies on a combination of desk research, legal mapping, interviews, surveys, and sample analysis: the relatively low response rate from institutions and stakeholders invited to take part in this exercise is a limitation to be considered throughout the present assessment.
For more information
1 Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013L0036&from=EN
2 Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013R0575&from=EN
3 See Recital (52) of CRD IV
4 Directive (EU) 2019/878 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 amending Directive 2013/36/EU as regards exempted entities, financial holding companies, mixed financial holding companies, remuneration, supervisory measures and powers and capital conservation measures. EUR-Lex – 32019L0878 – EN – EUR-Lex (europa.eu)
5 Study on the Adequacy of the Information to be Disclosed under Article 89(1) of the Capital Requirements Directive IV Company law and corporate governance | European Commission (europa.eu)
Source – EU Council