On 16 March 2021, the European Banking Authority published a decision making the Basel III monitoring exercise mandatory from December 2021.

The EBA states that the move will expand the sample used for the monitoring exercise therefore making it more representative. Also, the decision provides Member State competent authorities with provisions for a reduced frequency of reporting Basel III data, i.e. annually, and for mandatory submission of only a part of the Basel templates. These provisions are intended to offload some of the reporting burden that participating credit institutions might bear otherwise.