ECB decisions on banking rules, market infrastructure, and supervision in December 2025

On 11 December 2025, the ECB published three documents related to the simplification of EU banking rules. These include recommendations for streamlining the prudential regulatory, supervisory, and reporting framework, a report on enhancing banking supervision effectiveness, and a report from the European Systemic Risk Board. A press release accompanied these publications.

Regarding market infrastructure, on 20 November 2025, the Governing Council approved an update of the legal framework for the Eurosystem’s exploratory work on settling wholesale transactions in central bank money using distributed ledger technology (DLT). This work will continue until the third quarter of 2026, with plans for initial offerings linking market DLT platforms and TARGET Services.

On 21 November 2025, the ECB approved updates to the Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS) documentation following the project’s operational start on 16 June 2025. Additionally, on 4 December 2025, the Governing Council approved amendments to agreements to include Bulgaria following its accession to the euro area on 1 January 2026.

The Governing Council also approved eligibility criteria for the Pontes project and its pilot phase, scheduled to launch by the end of Q3 2026. The criteria and operational frameworks will be published accordingly.

The 2025 joint ECB-EBA report on payment fraud was authorized for publication on 11 December 2025, providing a comprehensive overview of fraud across payment instruments. Several opinions on legislation were adopted, including on conflicts of interest, ownership of gold reserves, taxation of financial institutions, digitalisation, and interaction between national law and banking rules.

Legal amendments related to Bulgaria’s entry into the Eurosystem were adopted on 4 December 2025, including decisions on euro banknotes issuance and capital contributions. The appointment of Sergio Nicoletti Altimari as Chair of the Committee on Controlling and Elisa Newby as co-Chair of the Organisational Development Committee was effective from 1 January 2026, with terms until 31 December 2028.

The ECB endorsed cooperation programmes for Western Balkans and African central banks, supporting capacity building and financial stability efforts over the coming years. The Supervisory Board approved FAQs on ESG disclosure requirements, the TIBER-EU implementation guide, and the 2026 supervisory examination programme. The final results of the asset quality review for Raiffeisen-Holding Niederösterreich-Wien were disclosed, and a new ECB guideline on non-performing exposures was adopted.

In 2026, the ECB will conduct a reverse stress test on geopolitical risks affecting 110 banks, complementing the EBA stress test. An updated ECB guide on significant risk transfer and implicit support for securitisations was also published.