BaFin Circular on Specifying High-Risk Exposures Under CRR
BaFin published Circular 13/2019 (BA) on specification of types of exposures to be associated with high risk in accordance with Article 128(3) of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). The circular comes into force on January 01, 2020. With this circular, BaFin is adopting the EBA guidelines (EBA/GL/2019/01) regarding the types of exposures to be associated with high risk under the Article 128(3) of the CRR. The circular highlights that if an institution determines item types according to section 4.3, Sub-section 7 of the guidelines, it shall communicate this together with a brief description of the most important features of the risk positions to BaFin. BaFin sends the information regarding the risk position type and the characteristics anonymously to EBA.
Article 128 of the CRR sets out the requirements for classifying an exposure as an item associated with particularly high risk, which results in an assignment of a 150% risk-weight for the considered exposure. Paragraph 2 of Article 128 provides a list of exposures which are assigned to this exposure class:
- Investments in venture capital firms
- Investments in AIFs as defined in Article 4(1)(a) of Directive 2011/61/EU, except where the mandate of the fund does not allow a leverage higher than that required under Article 51(3) of Directive 2009/65/EC
- Investments in private equity
- Speculative immovable property financing
Additionally, Article 128(3) CRR provides a mandate to EBA to draft guidelines that specify which types of exposures, other than those mentioned in Article 128(2) CRR, are to be associated with particularly high risk and the circumstances under which this should happen. As a result of an exposure being identified as an "item of particularly high risk," such exposure receives a risk-weight of 150%. This high-risk exposure class represents the implementation of the discretion that national supervisors are granted in paragraph 80 of the current Basel II standard that states that national supervisors may decide to apply a 150% (or higher) risk-weight to reflect "the higher risks associated with some other assets, such as venture capital and private equity investments."
Related Links (in German)
Effective Date: January 01, 2020
Keywords: Europe, Germany, Banking, CRR, High Risk Exposures, Credit Risk, Reporting, Risk-Weighted Assets, Standardized Approach, National Discretions, EBA, BaFin
Featured Experts

María Cañamero
Skilled market researcher; growth strategist; successful go-to-market campaign developer

Nicolas Degruson
Works with financial institutions, regulatory experts, business analysts, product managers, and software engineers to drive regulatory solutions across the globe.

Patrycja Oleksza
Applies proficiency and knowledge to regulatory capital and reporting analysis and coordinates business and product strategies in the banking technology area
Related Articles
OSFI Discusses Benchmark Rate Transition, Sets Out Work Priorities
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) published the strategic plan for 2022-2025 and the departmental plan for 2022-23.
EBA Proposes Standards to Support Secondary NPL Markets
The European Banking Authority (EBA) is consulting, until August 31, 2022, on the draft implementing technical standards specifying requirements for the information that sellers of non-performing loans (NPLs) shall provide to prospective buyers.
EU Confirms Agreement on Rules on Cybersecurity and Banking Resolution
The European Council and the Parliament reached an agreement on the revised Directive on security of network and information systems (NIS2 Directive).
EBA Issues Standards for Crowdfunding Service Providers Under ECSPR
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published the final draft regulatory technical standards specifying information that crowdfunding service providers shall provide to investors on the calculation of credit scores and prices of crowdfunding offers.
EU Confirms Agreement on Rules on Cybersecurity and Banking Resolution
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a paper that examines the systemic risk posed by increasing use of cloud services, along with the potential policy options to mitigate this risk.
EC Consults on PSD2 and Open Finance; EU Reaches Agreement on DORA
The European Commission (EC) published a public consultation on the review of revised payment services directive (PSD2) and open finance.
EC Mandates ESAs to Propose Amendments to SFDR Technical Standards
The European Commission (EC) has issued two letters mandating the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to jointly propose amendments to the regulatory technical standards under Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation or SFDR.
EBA Examines Supervisory Practices, Issues Deposits Reporting Template
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its annual report on convergence of supervisory practices for 2021. Additionally, following a request from the European Commission (EC),
SNB Updates NSFR Forms and FINMA Consults on Operational Risk Circular
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) published Version 1.2 of the reporting forms (NSFR_G and NSFR_P) on the net stable funding ratio (NSFR) of banks, along with the associated documentation.
US Agency Publications Address Basel, Reporting, and CECL Developments
The Farm Credit Administration published, in the Federal Register, the final rule on implementation of the Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) methodology for allowances