On 2 October 2020, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a set of guidelines on the appropriate subsets of sectoral exposures to which a Member State competent or designated authority may apply a systemic risk buffer (SyRB).

Article 133(6) of the Fifth Capital Requirements Directive mandates the EBA to issue guidelines by 30 June 2020 on the appropriate subsets of the four sectoral exposures of the SyRB. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the issuance of the guidelines was postponed to 30 September 2020.

The guidelines set a common framework to harmonise the design of the appropriate subsets of sectoral exposures to the application of an SyRB, facilitating a common approach throughout the EU, but also supporting reciprocation of the SyRB measures between Member States. The guidelines are also intended to support authorities in defining the specific subsets of sectoral exposures to which the SyRB may be applied.

The guidelines will be translated into the official EU languages and published on the EBA website. The deadline for Member State competent or designated authorities to report whether or not they comply with the guidelines will be two months after the publication of the translations. The guidelines will apply from 29 December 2020.