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The European Central Bank (ECB) today published a guideline on the definition of the so-called "materiality threshold" for banks that are directly supervised by national supervisors, following a public consultation. The materiality threshold refers to the point at which a bank decides a debtor is in default on its loan. The new definition specifies how national supervisors should exercise their discretion in this regard.
The Capital Requirements Regulation had required the competent banking supervision authorities to determine this threshold. The ECB had already defined it for the banks that it supervises directly in a regulation published in November 2018.
The new guideline for less significant banks, published today, is aligned with the threshold defined in the ECB regulation for significant banks. The alignment of the materiality threshold for credit obligations past due for all banks, regardless of whether they are supervised directly by the ECB or by national supervisors, contributes to the consistent application of supervisory standards to both significant and less significant credit institutions.