The European Banking Authority (EBA) has revised its equivalence guidelines on confidentiality regimes, expanding scope and confirming several countries’ regimes as equivalent to EU standards to enhance supervisory cooperation.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has updated its Guidelines on the equivalence of confidentiality and professional secrecy regimes in third countries. The revision aims to reinforce the EU’s commitment to safeguarding confidential information and facilitate effective cross-border supervisory cooperation.
The updated Guidelines expand the scope of the original 2022 version to include new requirements under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) and incorporate recent EBA equivalence assessments. They now recognize the confidentiality regimes of authorities in Australia, China, Montenegro, Peru, Serbia, and the UK as equivalent to EU standards.
The Guidelines also streamline definitions, update legal references, and clarify how competent authorities should apply the framework when sharing information or cooperating in supervision.
By extending the scope, the EBA harmonizes the approach that EU authorities should adopt when cooperating with third-country counterparts. Competent authorities are required to report their compliance within two months of the translation publication into EU languages.
These Guidelines are part of the EBA’s broader efforts to enhance supervisory convergence and international cooperation. More information can be found on the official EBA website.
The legal basis for these updates includes Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, which mandates EBA to support Member States in ensuring third-country confidentiality frameworks meet EU standards. Additionally, Article 100 of MiCAR stipulates that information exchanged must remain confidential and protected by professional secrecy, with disclosures only in legally defined circumstances.
