Please find enclosed the current issue of our newsletter. As always, it provides information on a wide range of current regulatory topics in Europe, including the following:

• The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA—ESAs) issued their first joint risk-assessment report for 2022 in which they highlight the increasing vulnerabilities across the financial sector as well as the rise of environmental and cyber risks.
• The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched its first climate stress test to gain insights into the effects of environmental risks on the European occupational pension sector. Sustainability and management of environmental risks have become key considerations for long-term investors and in particular for European institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs).
• The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS), specifying the requirements for originators, sponsors and original lenders related to risk retention, as laid down in the Securitization Regulation and as amended by the Capital Markets Recovery Package.
• In Germany, BaFin and Bundesbank launched the fifth stress test to assess the financial situation of 1,300 small and medium-sized institutions under German national supervision (less significant institutions—LSIs). As with previous stress tests, the outcome will be used to determine regulatory capital recommendations.
• In Romania, the National Bank of Romania (NBR) amended one of its key prudential regulations and will now require credit institutions under its supervision to include environmental and social governance factors in their risk strategy.
• In Spain, the Bank of Spain’s current financial stability report contains a chapter on the Spanish crypto-asset market.

We hope that you will enjoy and benefit from the enhanced insights of the Financial Regulatory Hub Europe. We would very much appreciate your feedback on the new format or thoughts on how we can better meet your needs—we look forward to hearing from you.

Enjoy the read!