EBA publishes final guidelines on supervisory independence

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its final Guidelines on Supervisory Independence under the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD).

The Guidelines clarify arrangements that competent authorities should implement to prevent and manage conflicts of interest involving staff and governance members. These include declarations of interest, restrictions on trading financial instruments, and cooling-off periods.

Risks to supervisory independence can threaten sound supervision and governance. The new requirements aim to strengthen the management of such risks, ensuring transparency in appointment procedures and tenure of governance members.

The Guidelines set minimum standards for declarations of interest at pre-employment, annual, and ad-hoc stages. They also specify procedural requirements for the sale or disposal of financial instruments that could cause conflicts of interest, and reinforce restrictions on trading activities.

Where national laws permit longer cooling-off periods than those in the CRD, the Guidelines promote a proportionate and consistent approach across the EU. They establish procedures and criteria for authorities to assess appropriate durations for such periods.

The Guidelines have been developed pursuant to Article 4a(9) of Directive 2013/36/EU, which mandates the EBA to issue guidelines on conflicts of interest prevention and authority independence, considering international best practices.