Activites

• 2003/02/11 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 2002/87
  • OJ L 035 11.02.2003, p. 0001-0027
• 2002/12/16 Final act signed
• 2002/12/16 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2002/11/20 Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading
  • T5-0548/2002 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Alain LIPIETZ (Greens/EFA, F) and approved the common position.�

• 2002/11/18 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2002/11/05 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
  • A5-0367/2002
• 2002/09/24 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• 2002/09/12 Council position published
  • 09754/3/2002 summary

    The common position follows the Commission's proposal and incorporates a number of the amendments proposed by the European Parliament. As regards the main changes introduced by the Council relate to: - Objectives and definitions : a new definition has been introduced of the term "asset management company". Another new definition of the term "relevant competent authorities", has been introduced in order to facilitate the decision-making and making it effective and which comprises the authorities most concerned in the supervision of a financial conglomerate. The terms "group" and "close links" have been amended. The Council finds it important to include the so-called "horizontal groups" referred to in Article 12(1) of Directive 83/349, in all cases, and not leave the inclusion of these groups to national discretion. The definition of "close links" is used in the common position purely to define intra-group transactions and does not bear upon the determination of a group. The definition of the term "financial conglomerate" has been made more precise without changing the approach of the Commission proposal. For the purposes of the definition the banking and investment services sectors are considered as one sector, and a financial conglomerate must have at least one entity in this sector and one in the insurance sector, and its activities in both sectors must be significant. The term "financial sector" has also been amended to make it more precise and the definition of "close links" has been redrafted without changing the substance, in order to avoid unnecessary cross-references. - The identification of a financial conglomerate : includes those groups, not headed by an EU regulated entity, with mixed activities (industrial or commercial and financial) which have a financial interest of at least 40% as proposed by the European Parliament. The cross sectoral activities of the group must be significant. In addition to the 10% threshold for the determination of whether activities in different financial sectors are significant, the common position includes an alternative Threshold. The Council finds the figure of 3 billion proposed by the Parliament too restrictive and has fixed the threshold at EUR 6 billion. A group which meets the EUR 6 billion threshold but not the 10% threshold may, however, be excluded, either from the application of the Directive or from the provisions relating to risk concentration, intra-group transactions and internal control mechanisms, if the relevant competent authorities consider that the inclusion of that group would be inappropriate or misleading with respect to the objectives of supplementary supervision. Capital adequacy : the common position follows Parliament's amendments which introduce a clarification on co-operative structures which transfer part of the text of Annex I to the body of the Directive. The common position now explicitly states, in line with the Commission's objectives, that sectoral risks are to be covered by sectoral capital according to the sectoral rules and that any additional deficit at conglomerate level should be covered by cross-sectoral capital. - Choice of the methods for calculating a conglomerate's solvency requirement : the common position does not go as far as Parliament's wish to give financial conglomerates the fullfreedom to choose one of those methods, subject to supervisory approval. The Council considers that where a group is headed by a regulated entity, Member States should be in a position to require the calculation to be carried out according to one particular method, in particular where the sectoral rules for group-wide supervision for regulated entities in that Member State provide for a particular method and given that all methods are not equivalent under all circumstances (Annex I of the Directive explicitly provides for this). However, if a group is not headed by a regulated entity, Annex I provides that Member States shall in principle authorise the application of any of those methods. - Risk concentration : the provisions in the Common Position dealing with risk concentration and intra-group transactions have a different presentation to that proposed by the Commission. In particular, Article 6 of the Commission proposal has been split in a new Article 7 on risk concentration and a new Article 8 on intra-group transactions. The Common Position however does not depart from the Commission proposal on the substance. The Common Position also takes up the essence of Parliament's amendment which requires the Commission to evaluate and to report on the appropriateness of Community rules on risk concentration and intra-group transactions, and by requiring the Commission to make legislative proposals if necessary; - Regarding the procedure for the appointment of a co-ordinator: the common position has reversed the procedural decision making order compared to the Commission proposal The common position provides for the automatic identification of a co-ordinator on the basis of criteria as proposed by the Commission, which may be waived subsequently by common agreement of the relevant competent authorities after consultation of the financial conglomerate. Furthermore, the Common Position provides for the appointment of a single co-ordinator, as well as for the communication of the latter's appointment to the financial conglomerate. A new provision of the Common Position explicitly provides that the coordinator, as regards information that has already been reported to another supervisor, should address itself to the latter in order to prevent duplication of reporting. - Cooperation : Article 12 of the Common Position on co-operation, by deleting a further specification on the concept of strategic policies compared to the Commission proposal, follows Parliament's amendment. The Common Position is also in line with the spirit of another of the Parliament's amendments, as the ability for supervisory authorities to waive the exchange of information has been deleted and the ability to waive consultation, although not fully deleted, is limited to well defined exceptional cases. - Financial conglomerates that are active in the EU, with a parent undertaking outside of the Community : the common position departs from the Commission proposal by replacing the procedures for the notification and objection against a co-ordinator's decision on the equivalence of a third country's regime with an obligatory consultation procedure that requires the coordinator to take into account guidance of the Financial Conglomerates Committee. - Powers conferred on the Commission in accordance with the comitology procedure: the common position follows Parliament'samendments by using a slightly different wording compared to the Commission's proposal. Furthermore, the common position complements the Commission proposal by adding supplementary competence with a view to enhance supervisory convergence regarding risk concentration and intra-group transactions. Finally, the Common Position requires the Commission to consult interested parties and to inform the public prior to submitting draft regulation. As regards the Commission proposal on the Comitology procedure, the common position accepts the amendment which aims to further clarify the Commission proposal through the introduction of two new recitals but fails to accept the amendment includes a recital referring explicitly to the 'Lamfalussy' resolution of the Parliament on the implementation of the financial services legislation. The common position follows the Parliament's amendment that proposes the introduction of a new provision according to which the procedure referred to will end after four years, subject to a possible renewal. - Amending sectoral banking, insurance and investment firm regulations : these amendments concern the elimination of multiple gearing of capital in a group. The Common Position reflects the compromise reached in the Council between those Member States, which want a more stringent and harmonised approach across financial sectors than proposed by the Commission, and those Member States, which want a less stringent approach. In general, compared to the Commission's proposal some of the thresholds that apply to the insurance sector have been raised (in principle from 10% to 20%), as well as some of the thresholds that apply to the banking and investment firms sector (in principle from 10% to 20% for holdings in insurance entities), and the different calculation methods provided by Annex I of the Directive for financial conglomerates will also be applicable to sectoral groups as regards their capital holdings in a different financial sector. Furthermore, the Common Position provides for timely initiatives to be taken by the Commission in order to bring Community legislation in this domain in line with future international agreements. In addition, new provisions introduced by the Council can be summarised as follows: - a new Article providing for an explicit procedure for the identification of a financial conglomerate, as well as for the notification of that identification. This procedure will add to the transparency of the implementation process of the Directive, both for the financial conglomerates concerned and the competent authorities involved. - another new Article provides for fit and proprietary requirements as regards the management body of mixed financial holding companies. - a new Article deals with asset management companies. The text reflects a compromise between Member States in the Council, which aims at including these institutions in the group-wide supervision of financial groups (whether sectoral groups or financial conglomerates). Obligation for the Commission to make a report Member States' practices and propose further harmonisation of EU legislation if necessary. - a new Article provides that within three years after implementation of the Directive the Commission will report on anumber of issues and on the need for further harmonisation if necessary. Other new provisions of the Common Position, which are of a more technical nature, deal with, among other things, the identification of the entity responsible for reporting risk concentration and intra-group transactions, the introduction of an explicit threshold for identifying significant intra-group transactions, a further specification of items that could be covered by the co-ordination agreement and a further clarification on which authorities may take enforcement measures.�

• #X017
• 2002/07/12 Council Meeting
• #2424
• 2002/05/07 Council Meeting
• 2002/03/14 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T5-0112/2002 summary

    The European Parliament adopted the resolution drafted by Alain LIPIETZ (Greens, France) on financial conglomerates. (Please refer to the document dated 25/03/02.) The new definition of conglomerate excludes close links and horizontal agreements. In the case of groups headed by a regulated entity or mixed financial holding company with the head office inside the EU, cross-sectoral activities are to be regarded as significant if the threshold value is below 40% but the consolidated or aggregated balance sheet total of the smallest financial sector exceeds EUR 3 billion. Several other amendments were adopted regarding the participation that can be deducted from prudential capital in the insurance sector, where no such rules were in existence. With regard to supervision, Parliament wants a single coordinator. The identity of the coordinator must be notified to the regulated entities. �

• 2002/03/13 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2002/02/25 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0060/2002
• #2393
• 2001/12/04 Council Meeting
  • 2393 summary

    The Council took note of a report on progress made at the technical level on the proposal for a Directive. The work achieved up to now at Council level shows the willingness on the part of Member States to develop a specific Community framework for financial conglomerates on the model as laid down in the proposed Directive, whose quality is recognised. However, the first reading at technical level of the texts proposed has revealed a number of items for further examination. They concern the following fields in particular: - the scope of the Directive; - the designation of the authority which is to be in charge of supplementary supervision of conglomerates, and the tasks of that authority; - the proposed changes to the sectoral Directives as regards deduction of holdings.�

• 2001/05/02 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2001/04/24 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2001)0213 summary

    PURPOSE: to lay down rules for supplementary supervision of regulated entities which have obtained an authorisation pursuant to Article 6 of Directive 73/239/EEC, Article 6 of Directive 79/267/EEC, Article 3(1) of Directive 93/22/EEC, or Article 4 of Directive 2000/12/EC, and which are part of a financial conglomerate. It also amends the relevant sectoral rules that apply to these regulated entities. CONTENT : the Lisbon Council has taken a strong commitment to integrate European financial markets by 2005 at the latest. A single financial market will be a key factor in promoting the competitiveness of the European economy, lowering the cost of capital for large and small companies. The aim of this Directive is therefore to ensure the stability of European financial markets, to establish common prudential standards for the supervision of financial conglomerates throughout Europe, and to introduce level playing fields and legal certainty between financial institutions. In doing so, the Directive will implement the recommendations of the G-10 Joint Forum on Financial Conglomerates. It will also meet the recommendations of the "Brouwer group" on stability in the financial sector which were endorsed by the Ecofin Council in Lisbon. The existing European legal framework for the supervision of financial institutions is incomplete. "Homogeneous" groups of financial institutions are already covered by EU-directives for specific prudential purposes. Directive 2000/12/EC relating on the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions and Directive 93/6/EEC on the capital adequacy of investment firms and credit institutions provide for the consolidation of banking groups, investment firm groups and bank/investment firm groups, whereas Directive 98/78/EC on the supplementary supervision of insurance undertakings in insurance groups applies additional group supervision over insurance groups. "Heterogeneous" financial conglomerate type groups combining institutions from the different sectors are only covered to a limited extent, and basically a comprehensive set of rules on the prudential supervision of financial conglomerates is lacking. The present EU prudential framework shows important overlaps and lacunae in respect of the regulation of financial conglomerates. Some Member States have acknowledged the imperfection of the present EU legislative framework for financial conglomerates and have either introduced or are planning to introduce national legislative measures on their own accord to address the supervisory concerns arising from the group structures described above. The proposal seeks to introduce specific prudential legislation for financial conglomerates. Furthermore, it takes the first necessary minimum steps to align the directives for homogeneous financial groups and for financial conglomerates (i.e. eliminating some of the major inconsistencies) in order to ensure a minimum equivalency in the treatment of these groups.�

  • DG [{'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/internal_market/', 'title': 'Internal Market and Services'}],

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2001)0213
• Debate in Council: 2393
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A5-0060/2002
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0112/2002
• Council position published: 09754/3/2002
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A5-0367/2002
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T5-0548/2002
• : Directive 2002/87
• : OJ L 035 11.02.2003, p. 0001-0027

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)