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Finance

Prudential requirements

Prudential requirements aim to make the financial sector more stable, while ensuring that it is able to support households, firms, and other end-users of financial services. 

What the EU is doing and why

The EU prudential requirements that were introduced in the aftermath of the global financial crisis ensure that banks are better able to withstand liquidity shocks and absorb losses.

These rules, which are part of the EU single rulebook, aim to strengthen the resilience of the EU banking sector, while ensuring that banks continue to finance economic activity and growth.

The prudential framework is composed of a directive – the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD VI) – and a Regulation – the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR III). These rules put the Basel III international standards into EU law.

International banking regulation standards under Basel III

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) sets the standards for international banking prudential regulation. It is a forum for cooperation on the supervision of the banking system and its membership is made up of central banks and supervisory authorities from 28 jurisdictions.

The BCBS drew up Basel III as non-legally binding international standards focusing on “internationally active banks”. The EU implementation of these standards takes the form of binding EU law. The EU has deliberately chosen to apply the Basel standards to all EU banks (as well as investment firms), because we want to build a strong single market for all EU domiciled banks, active within and across the 27 EU Member States, as well as globally.

The EU has actively contributed to developing the BCBS standards on capital, liquidity and leverage. The rules introduced in the EU are in line with the overall objectives of the Basel III framework but require tailoring the Basel standards where appropriate to fit the diversity of the banking system at EU and national level and to address proportionality concerns with regards to smaller and domestically-oriented banks.

Policy making timeline

  1. 9 July 2024
    Legislation - Prudential requirements
  2. 31 May 2024
    Legislation - Prudential requirements
  3. December 2023
    Endorsement and publication – Prudential requirements
  4. 21 October 2019
    Consultation - Alternative standardised approach for market risk
  5. 11 October 2019
    Consultation - Basel III
  6. 20 May 2019
    Legislation - Prudential requirements
  7. 7 December 2017
    Agreement - Basel III
  8. 23 November 2016
    Legislative proposal - Prudential requirements
  9. 26 June 2013
    Legislation - Prudential requirements
  10. 25 March 2013
    Consultation

Relevant legislation