On 22 December 2025, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued a final report containing Guidelines amending Guidelines EBA/GL/2022/04 on the equivalence of confidentiality regimes.

Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 mandates that the EBA support Member States in ensuring third-country confidentiality and professional secrecy frameworks meet EU standards. Similarly, certain sectoral legislation like the Capital Requirements Directive 4, Payment Services Directive 2, the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, Fourth Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) and the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation require that EU competent authorities cooperate with authorities from third countries either on a bi-lateral basis or via supervisory colleges.

The EBA previously updated its Guidelines on the equivalence of confidentiality regimes (Guidelines EBA /GL/2022/04) in May 2022. This latest update reflects assessments that the EBA has conducted in recent years under the above Directives and Regulations.

The amending Guidelines provide guidance that should inform the opinions of Member State competent authorities and the EBA about the equivalence of the confidentiality and professional secrecy framework in third countries before engaging with authorities in these jurisdictions. As for assessments under the AMLD, the amending Guidelines will apply until such time that they are replaced with a similar legal instrument published by the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority.  

The amending 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 amending Guidelines will be two months after the publication of the translations. The amending Guidelines apply two months after the publication date at the latest.