ESBG proposes to further delay the disclosure of the net interest income (NII) risk measures until the EBA requirements for these NII risk measures are specified.

BRUSSELS, 3 September 2021 – The European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG) replied on 30 August to the European Banking Authority (EBA) consultation on draft implementing technical standards (ITS) on Pillar 3 disclosures regarding exposures to interest rate risk on positions not held in the trading book (IRRBB).

The draft ITS puts forward comparable disclosures for stakeholders to assess institutions’ IRRBB risk management framework as well as the sensitivity of institutions’ economic value of equity and net interest income to changes in interest rates. The proposed standards will amend the comprehensive ITS on institutions’ public disclosures, in line with the strategic objective of developing a single and comprehensive Pillar 3 package that should facilitate implementation and further promote market discipline.

ESBG believes that the approach chosen by the EBA for the development of the draft ITS is quite problematic due to the lack of a definition for net interest income (NII) metrics.

The disclosed NII metrics may not be comparable as long as the EBA does not define what it understands by these NII metrics. Moreover, it is very likely that future disclosed NII metrics will be based on different methodologies. Optimally, the methodological requirements for the calculations would be clarified by the EBA before the banks would be forced to disclose the calculated results. If this is not feasible, a clarification that banks may use internal metrics for disclosure until further notice would help.

In other words, the current chronological order of the published standards shows potential for conflict. We understand the EBA’s efforts to create as much clarity as possible for disclosure in a timely manner. However, for understandable reasons, the EBA has not yet defined the requirements under Article 98(5a) CRD to be applied to the metrics to be disclosed. That is why we strongly oppose the EBA’s expectations of institutions to apply the present draft before it enters into force.

Instead, ESBG proposes to further delay the disclosure of NII risk measures until the EBA requirements for these are specified.

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