On 7 July 2025, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued a consultation paper containing draft guidelines on ancillary services undertakings specifying the criteria for the identification of activities referred to in Article 4(1)(18) of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR).

Background

In November 2017, the EBA published an opinion and a report on matters relating to other financial intermediaries and regulatory perimeter issues. In that opinion, the EBA observed that the definitions of ‘ancillary services undertaking’ and ‘financial institution’ set out in points (18) and (26) of Article 4(1) of the CRR, were prone to different interpretations across the Member States.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1623 amending the CRR has amended, among others, the definitions of ‘ancillary services undertaking’ and ‘financial institution’ under points (18) and (26) of Article 4(1) of the CRR, respectively. Article 4(5) of the CRR, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/1623, mandates the EBA to issue guidelines, in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, to specify the criteria for the identification of activities referred to in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (18) of Article 4 of the CRR.

Draft guidelines

The purpose of the draft guidelines is to define clear, simple and consistent criteria for the identification of activities that fall under the definition of ancillary services undertaking as per Article 4(1)(18) of the CRR (as amended).

The draft guidelines contain five sections:

  • General provisions.
  • Criteria to determine activities to be considered a direct extension of banking under Article 4(1)(18)(a) of the CRR (as amended).
  • Criteria to determine activities to be considered ancillary to banking under Article 4(1)(18)(b) of the CRR (as amended).
  • Determination of activities to be considered similar to points (a) and (b) under Article 4(1)(18)(c) of the CRR (as amended).
  • Principal activity of an ancillary services undertaking.

Next steps

The deadline for comments on the EBA’s consultation is 7 October 2025.

The EBA will also hold a virtual public hearing on the consultation on 2 September 2025 from 10:00 to 11:30 CET. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register by 26 August 2025.

When finalised the guidelines will be translated into the official EU languages and published on the EBA’s website. The deadline for Member State competent authorities to report whether they comply with the guidelines will be two months after the publication of the translations.