On 15 March 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its fourth report on the convergence of supervisory practices and its activities carried out in 2018 to promote convergence. Key points to note from the EBA’s analysis of supervisory practices include:

• in 2018, a good degree of progress was made by the competent authorities in the implementation of the 2014 supervisory review and evaluation process (SREP) Guidelines;
• the EBA has identified areas of the SREP where authorities still face challenges to converge, mainly in the areas of the methodologies for capital adequacy assessments and the articulation of institution-specific additional own funds requirements, and in the link between ongoing supervision, early intervention, and resolution;
• the EBA notes that authorities have developed stronger internal procedures specifying the approaches to be followed, for instance when determining whether or not an institution is failing or likely to fail, or when granting waivers or simplified obligations;
• in 2019, as mentioned in its convergence plan, the EBA intends to review the approach applied by competent authorities to monitor and assess a list of key supervisory topics – focusing on areas in which EBA policy products have recently been developed;
• the EBA will continue to engage with colleges of supervisors by promoting the consistent application of the Single Rulebook, particularly in joint decisions on capital, liquidity and recovery plans, and by drawing supervisory attention to the key topics listed in the convergence plan; and
• the development of the Single Rulebook and its effective and consistent application will remain the core business of the EBA, particularly in light of mandates following (i) the endorsement of the CRD V / CRR II / BRRD II package; and (ii) the preparation for the implementation of the last elements of the Basel III framework. In 2019, the EBA will compile the inventory of changes to be embedded into future EBA work programmes.