We researched and summarised for you, all recent regulatory updates from Cyprus and Europe, which are applicable for Regulated Companies operating in the Region.
We support our clients and associates by providing a comprehensive page withthe recent circulars, directives, and guidance issued by the following Regulators:
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission ("CySEC")
24/04/2024 - C639 - Voluntary Dry Run Exercise to prepare the industry for the next stage of Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) implementation
CySEC hereby issues this circular to notify Regulated Entities of the upcoming voluntary exercise initiated by the European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, ESMA – collectively referred to as ESAs) for the collection of the registers of information of contractual arrangements on the use of ICT third-party providers by the financial entities.
C639 Industry preparation for the next stage of DORA implementation
25/04/2024 - C641 - Risk Based Supervision Framework (the 'RBS-F') – Electronic submission of information for the year 2023 (Form RBSF-CBR)
The present Circular is issued pursuant to section 25(1)(c)(ii) & (iii) of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission Law of 2009 (the 'CySEC Law'), as amended. CySEC wishes to inform the Branches (established in Cyprus) of Investment Firms, which are authorised by the National Conduct Authority of a Member State other than Cyprus and which are operating in Cyprus ('Cyprus Branches).
C641- Risk Based Supervision Framework (the 'RBS-F')
Central Bank of Cyprus ("CBC")
08/04/2024 - Publication of External Statistics data
The Statistics Department of the CBC has released the provisional data for external statistics (balance of payments, international investment position and external debt) for the year 2023.
09/04/2024 - Aggregate Cyprus banking sector data (non-performing loans da-ta) with reference date 31 December 2023
CBC published updated aggregate Cyprus banking sector data (non-performing loans data) with a reference date of 31 December 2023.
Aggregate Cyprus Banking Sector Data
European Central Bank ("ECB")
02/04/2024 - ECB Consumer Expectations Survey results – February 2024
Compared with January 2024:
- median consumer inflation perceptions over the previous 12 months and inflation expectations for the next 12 months decreased, while inflation expectations three years ahead remained unchanged.
- expectations for nominal income growth over the next 12 months increased, while expectations for nominal spending growth remained stable.
- expectations for economic growth over the next 12 months and the expected unemployment rate in 12 months' time both remained unchanged.
- expectations for growth in the price of homes over the next 12 months increased, while expectations for mortgage interest rates 12 months ahead remained unchanged.
ECB Consumer Expectations Survey results – Feb 2024
08/04/2024 - Survey on the Access to Finance of
Enterprises: firms report moderate tightening of financing
conditions
Euro area firms reported that financing conditions tightened
further in the first quarter of 2024, but much less so than in the
fourth quarter of 2023.
Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises
09/04/2024 - Euro area bank lending survey
According to the April 2024 euro area bank lending survey (BLS), euro area banks reported a small net tightening of their credit standards – i.e. banks' internal guidelines or loan approval criteria.
April 2024 euro area bank lending survey
12/04/2024 - Results of the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters for the second quarter of 2024
Inflation expectations are unchanged across all horizons; longer-term inflation expectations (for 2028) stand at 2.0%. Real GDP growth expectations are broadly unchanged; economic activity is expected to strengthen gradually throughout 2024. Unemployment rate expectations are largely unchanged.
17/04/2024 - ECB confirms remuneration ceiling for euro area government deposits and adjusts remuneration of other non-monetary policy deposits
- The remuneration ceiling for euro area government overnight deposits remains unchanged at euro short-term rate (€STR) minus 20 basis points.
- Uniform remuneration rate for most non-monetary policy deposits held with the Eurosystem adopted at €STR minus 20 basis points.
- The small amount of non-monetary policy deposits not yet aligned to this uniform rate to be aligned.
- Legal provisions for the remuneration of non-monetary policy deposits are combined in a single legal act to improve transparency.
ECB remuneration ceiling and adjustments
23/04/2024 - G7 Cyber Expert Group conducts cross-border coordination exercises in the financial sector
The G7 Cyber Expert Group completed a cross-border coordination exercise on 17 April 2024. G7 authorities routinely exercise to ensure they can effectively coordinate and communicate their response in the event of a widespread cyber incident affecting the financial system.
G7 Cyber Expert Group cross-border coordination exercise in the financial sector
European Banking Authority ("EBA")
04/04/2024 - EU banks are robust, but signs of credit quality deterioration are becoming apparent; the EBA's Risk Dashboard shows
EBA published its Q4 2023 quarterly Risk Dashboard (RDB), which discloses aggregated statistical information for the largest EU/EEA institutions. EU/EEA's banks' capitalisation stands at record levels, liquidity has improved, while return on equity (RoE) stood at 10.3%. Yet, early signs of credit quality deterioration have become more apparent. The publication also includes information on minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).
09/04/2024 -The EBA publishes its final Guidelines on resubmission of historical data under the EBA reporting framework
EBA published its final Guidelines on the resubmission of historical data under the EBA reporting framework. The Guidelines provide a common approach to the resubmission of historical data by the financial institutions to the competent and resolution authorities in case of errors, inaccuracies, or other changes in the data reported, in accordance with the supervisory and resolution reporting framework developed by the EBA.
10/04/2024 -The ESAs launch first recruitments to set up
the DORA joint oversight team
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA - ESAs)
published three vacancy notices in the context of the Digital
Operational Resilience Act (DORA). This announcement comes as part
of the establishment of a fully integrated team within the 3 ESAs
("joint oversight team") to carry out the oversight of
critical third-party providers (CTPPs) required by DORA. The team
will include a Director, Legal Experts and ICT Risk Experts.
EBA Final Guidelines for Investment Firm Groups
11/04/2024 - ESAs to run voluntary dry run exercises to prepare the industry for the next stage of DORA implementation
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) announced that they will launch in May the voluntary exercise for the collection of the registers of information on contractual arrangements on the use of ICT third-party service providers by the financial entities. Under the DORA and starting from 2025, financial entities will have to maintain registers of information regarding their use of ICT third-party providers. In this dry-run exercise, this information will be collected from financial entities through their competent authorities and will serve as preparation for the implementation and reporting of registers of the information under DORA.
Preparation of Dora's next stage implementation
12/04/2024 - EBA publishes an annual assessment of banks' internal approaches for the calculation of capital requirements
EBA published its 2023 Reports on the annual market and credit risk benchmarking exercises. These exercises aim to monitor the consistency of risk-weighted assets (RWAs) across all EU institutions authorised to use internal approaches for the calculation of capital requirements. Regarding market risk, for the majority of participating banks, the results confirm a relatively low dispersion in the initial market valuation (IMVs) of most of the instruments, and a decrease in the dispersion in the value at risk (VaR) submissions compared to the previous exercise. For credit risk, the variability of RWAs remained stable compared with the previous year, but for some asset classes, a reduction could be observed in a longer perspective.
Market Risk exercise
The Report presents the results of the 2023 supervisory
benchmarking and summarises the conclusions drawn from a
hypothetical portfolio exercise (HPE) conducted in 2022/23.
EBA Annual Assessment of banks' internal approaches
18/04/2024 - ESAs consult on technical standards for joint examination teams under DORA
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) launched a public consultation on the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the conduct of oversight activities in relation to the joint examination teams under the DORA. The primary goal of the draft RTS is to lay out the criteria for determining the composition of the joint examination teams – ensuring balanced participation of staff members from the ESAs and from the relevant competent authorities as well as the designation of the members, their tasks, and working arrangements. These draft RTS aim to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness regarding the functioning of the joint examination teams, given their central role in the daily oversight of critical ICT third-party service providers (CTPPs). The proposed technical standards take into account the high technical complexity of the oversight activities and the scarce availability of the expertise needed to perform them.
Technical Standards for joint examination teams under DORA
24/04/2024 -The EBA consults on draft technical standards on the specification of long and short positions under the derogations for market and counterparty risks
EBA launched a public consultation on its draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the method for identifying the main risk driver and determining whether a transaction represents a long or a short position. These RTS are part of the Phase 1 deliverables of the EBA roadmap on the implementation of the EU banking package in market risk. The consultation runs until 24 July 2024.
25/04/2024 - EBA observes an increase in high earners in the EU in 2022
EBA published its Report on high earners for 2022. The analysis reveals an increase in the number of individuals working for EU banks and investment firms who have received a remuneration of more than EUR 1 million. This increase is linked to the overall good performance of institu-tions, expansion of business and salaries adjusted for inflation.
25/04/2024 - EBA publishes RTS on MiCAR
EBA published the final draft of Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) that set out the requirements, templates and procedures for handling complaints received by issuers of asset reference tokens (ARTs). The draft RTS fulfils a mandate conferred on the EBA in the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) and was developed in close cooperation with the ESMA.
EBA's final technical standards draft on complaints handling
European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA")
02/04/2024 – ESMA consults on possible amendments to the Credit Rating Agencies
ESMA, the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, today launched a consultation on proposed amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 447/2012 and to Annex I of the Credit Rating Agencies Regulation (CRAR).
04/04/2024 – ESMA publishes the outcome of the first
year of the DLT Pilot Regime
ESMA, the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, publishes a letter to the European Commission, the Parliament, and the Council (ECOFIN) providing an interim update on the DLT Pilot Regime.
ESMA 1st year DLT pilot regime
09/04/2024- ESMA publishes the first overview of EU securities financing transactions markets
ESMA market report on EU securities financing transactions (SFT) markets provides the first comprehensive market-level overview of the EU repo market, based on information reported by market participants. It contributes to ESMA's financial stability objective by monitoring repo market developments and providing key risk metrics for its monitoring framework on securities financing transactions.
ESMA 1st Overview of EU Securities
11/04/2024- New report sheds light on quality and use of
regulatory data across EU
ESMA published the fourth edition of its Report on the Quality and
Use of Data, aiming to provide transparency on how the data
collected under different regulations is used systematically by
authorities in the EU and clarify the actions taken to ensure data
quality.
2023 Report of quality and use of data
22/04/2024- ESMA proposes changes to ELTIF Technical Standards
ESMA responded to the European Commission's request for amendments to the European Long-term Investment Fund (ELTIF) Technical Standards (RTS). In the letter, ESMA suggests that there should be a limited number of changes to find the right balance between protecting retail investors and contributing to the capital market union objectives.
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