EBA updates list of Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital instruments

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today an updated list of capital instruments that Competent Supervisory Authorities across the European Union (EU) have classified as Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1). Since the publication of the first list, some new CET1 instruments have been assessed and evaluated as compliant with the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). This list is compiled in accordance with Article 26 of CRR and is updated on a regular basis.

Following the publication, on 28 May 2014, of the first list of CET1 capital instruments, the EBA has started monitoring and assessing the capital instruments issued after the entry into force of the CRR. In this first update to the list, three CET1 new instruments have been assessed and evaluated as compliant with the CRR, and two instruments have been deleted.

The EBA is mandated to update this list on a continuous basis in line with the legal obligations set out by the CRR which specify that the EBA should monitor the quality of new instruments issued by institutions across and assess their compliance with the eligibility criteria laid down in the CRR. For ease of reference, the updated list has new rows added to flag the new instruments and strikethroughs have been applied to highlight the deleted instruments.

The information provided in the list is consistent with the information to be reported according to the Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on disclosure for own funds. In particular, the list includes the following information:

– Name of the instrument, in English and in the national language;
Governing law of the instrument;
– Whether the instrument can be issued in addition to other Common Equity Tier 1 instruments;
– Instrument with voting or non-voting rights;
– Whether the instrument is a grandfathered state aid instrument;
– Whether the instrument is a grandfathered non state aid instrument;
– Whether the instrument is fully eligible under Article 28 or Article 29 of the CRR.

This list does not take into account the provisions on multiple dividends and preferential distributions laid down in the EBA final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on own funds (part IV), as these have not yet been adopted by the European Commission and their adoption may affect the ultimate eligibility of some of the instruments as CET1. For the purpose of correctly understanding this list, the EBA recommends taking into account the list of caveats described at the beginning of the list.