European Central Bank Banking Supervision publishes interview with Commissioner Albuquerque on simplifying EU bank rules and delaying FRTB to January 2027

European Central Bank Banking Supervision published an interview with European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union Maria Luís Albuquerque outlining the European Commission’s priorities to simplify the EU banking rulebook without weakening prudential standards and to reduce Single Market fragmentation through deeper financial integration. The interview also reiterates the EU decision to postpone implementation of the market risk framework under the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) to January 2027. Albuquerque argued that European banks are stronger and more resilient than a decade ago, but remain smaller and less profitable than global peers and face higher compliance costs, with fragmentation rooted in both EU and national rules and practices. She pointed to simplification measures including the Commission’s February 2025 Omnibus proposal, which would reduce the scope of companies subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive by about 80%, and simplifications to financial institutions’ taxonomy disclosures including the Green Asset Ratio for banks. For smaller institutions, she described the current proportionality regime as differentiated, citing the reporting burden for small and non-complex institutions at about 30% of that for larger banks, while calling for further refinements based on common standards and accompanied by robust crisis-management and depositor-protection frameworks. On integration, the interview highlights steps under the Savings and Investments Union to remove cross-border barriers, strengthen supervisory convergence powers of the European supervisory authorities, explore where EU-level supervision could add value including for central counterparties, central securities depositories, trading venues and crypto-asset service providers, and complete the Banking Union including a common deposit insurance scheme. Looking ahead, the Commission plans to publish a report in 2026 assessing the banking sector’s situation in the Single Market, including EU banks’ competitiveness, with input expected from the European Banking Authority, the ECB and national supervisors. The FRTB delay to January 2027 is presented as linked to implementation timing in other major markets, with the EU intending to monitor developments and align with global peers.