The EBA responds to the Commission’s proposed changes to its draft technical standards on operational risk

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has today published an Opinion on the European Commission's proposed amendments to the final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) specifying operational risk requirements under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). It considers that two amendments proposed by the Commission could affect the consistency, transparency and supervisory effectiveness of capital requirements for operational risk.

On 2 March 2026, the European Commission informed the EBA of its intention to endorse, with amendments, the draft RTS submitted by the EBA in June and August 2025.

The EBA reaffirms its commitment to a prudent, transparent and consistent implementation of the operational risk framework and invites the European Commission to reconsider two of these amendments.

First, the Commission proposes to allow the combined use of the accounting approach (AA) and the prudential boundary approach (PBA) for the calculation of the financial component of the business indicator. The EBA considers that requiring institutions to apply only one approach to the full balance sheet is necessary to preserve the coherence of the framework. The combined use of both approaches is not envisaged in the Basel standard and may increase complexity, create inconsistencies across risk frameworks and facilitate regulatory arbitrage, while benefiting only a limited number of institutions.

Second, the Commission proposes to limit notification obligations to competent authorities to material changes in the scope of the PBA when used in combination with the AA. The EBA considers that this could weaken supervisory effectiveness by introducing institution-specific materiality judgments making supervisory reviews more complex.

The EBA supports the other amendments proposed which improve readability and legal certainty.

Legal basis and background

This Opinion is issued under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, which requires the EBA to provide an opinion where the European Commission intends to endorse draft RTS with amendments.

The prudential treatment of operational risk is set out in Articles 311a to 323 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR). The RTS developed by the EBA specify the components of the business indicator, adjustments to profit and loss data and a harmonised risk taxonomy for operational risk.