EBA Reports Examine Implementation of Basel III and Liquidity Measures

Report on Basel III monitoring. The baseline impact assessment methodology quantifies the differences in the Pillar 1 minimum required capital between the current EU implementation of the Basel standards (Capital Requirements Regulation or CRR/Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) IV) and the full Basel III implementation. Overall, EBA estimates that the Basel III reforms, once fully implemented, would determine an average increase of 19.3% in tier 1 minimum required capital of banks in EU. The impact of the risk-based reforms is 20.4%, of which the leading factors are the output floor (5.4%) and operational risk (4.7%). Compared with the current fully phased-in CRR/CRD IV rules, under Basel III full implementation the tier 1 capital shortfall increases for all banks, but particularly for global systemically important institutions. To comply with the Pillar 1 requirements in the new framework, EU banks would need EUR 26 billion of additional total capital, of which EUR 24.9 billion of tier 1 capital. The results of this exercise are based on data as of December 31, 2018.  

Report on monitoring of liquidity measures. The report shows that EU banks have continued to improve their compliance with the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR). The LCR, which was fully implemented in January 2018, stood at nearly 149% on average in June 2018, well above the minimum threshold of 100%. The LCR level of global systemically important institutions stood at 145% and that of other systemically important institutions at 144%. The weighted average LCR of the remaining banks was higher at 183%. The aggregate gross shortfall amounted to EUR 15.7 billion and it is entirely attributed to four banks that monetized their liquidity buffers during times of stress. An in-depth analysis of the potential currency mismatches in LCR levels suggests that banks tend to hold significantly lower liquidity buffers in some foreign currencies, in particular USD and GBP. In some cases, LCR ratios in USD or GBP are well below 100%. The analysis of the impact of the LCR on lending does not provide clear empirical evidence of this relationship. The analysis is based on Common Reporting  or COREP.

Related Links

• Press Release
• Report on Basel III Monitoring (PDF)
• Report on Liquidity Measures (PDF)

Keywords: Europe, EU, Banking, Basel III, Basel III Monitoring, Liquidity Monitoring, Regulatory Capital, Liquidity Risk, CRR/CRD, LCR, EBA