Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014Show full title

SECTION 1 U.K. Common Equity Tier 1 capital and instruments

Subsection 1 U.K. Foreseeable dividends and charges

Article 2 U.K. Meaning of ‘foreseeable’ in foreseeable dividend for the purposes of Article 26(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. The amount of foreseeable dividends to be deducted by institutions from the interim or year-end profits as provided in Article 26(2) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, shall be determined in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 4.

2. Where an institution’s management body has formally taken a decision or proposed a decision to the institution’s relevant body regarding the amount of dividends to be distributed, this amount shall be deducted from the corresponding interim or year-end profits.

3. Where interim dividends are paid, the residual amount of interim profit resulting from the calculation laid down in paragraph 2 which is to be added to Common Equity Tier 1 items shall be reduced, taking into account the rules laid down in paragraphs 2 and 4, by the amount of any foreseeable dividend which can be expected to be paid out from that residual interim profit with the final dividends for the full business year.

4. Before the management body has formally taken a decision or proposed a decision to the relevant body on the distribution of dividends, the amount of foreseeable dividends to be deducted by institutions from the interim or year-end profits shall equal the amount of interim or year-end profits multiplied by the dividend payout ratio.

5. The dividend pay-out ratio shall be determined on the basis of the dividend policy approved for the relevant period by the management body or other relevant body.

6. Where the dividend policy contains a pay-out range instead of a fixed value, the upper end of the range is to be used for the purpose of paragraph 2.

7. In the absence of an approved dividend policy, or when, in the opinion of the competent authority, it is likely that the institution will not apply its dividend policy or this policy is not a prudent basis upon which to determine the amount of deduction, the dividend pay-out ratio shall be based on the highest of the following:

(a) the average dividend pay-out ratio over the three years prior to the year under consideration;

(b) the dividend pay-out ratio of the year preceding the year under consideration.

8. The competent authority may permit the institution to adjust the calculation of the dividend pay-out ratio as described in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 7 to exclude exceptional dividends paid during the period.

9. The amount of foreseeable dividends to be deducted shall be determined taking into account any regulatory restrictions on distributions, in particular restrictions determined in accordance with Article 141 of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(1). The amount of profit after deduction of foreseeable charges subject to such restrictions may be included fully in Common Equity Tier 1 items where the condition of point (a) of paragraph 2 of Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 is met. When such restrictions are applicable, the foreseeable dividends to be deducted shall be based on the capital conservation plan agreed by the competent authority pursuant to Article 142 of Directive 2013/36/EU.

10. The amount of foreseeable dividends to be paid in a form that does not reduce the amount of Common Equity Tier 1 items, such as dividends in the form of shares, known as scrip-dividends, shall not be deducted from interim or year-end profits to be included in Common Equity Tier 1 items.

11. The competent authority shall be satisfied that all necessary deductions to the interim or year-end profits and all those related to foreseeable dividends have been made, either under applicable accounting framework or under any other adjustments, before permitting that the institution includes interim or year-end profits in Common Equity Tier 1 items.

Article 3 U.K. Meaning of ‘foreseeable’ in foreseeable charge for the purposes of Article 26(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. The amount of foreseeable charges to be taken into account shall comprise the following:

(a) the amount of taxes;

(b) the amount of any obligations or circumstances arising during the related reporting period which are likely to reduce the profits of the institution and for which the competent authority is not satisfied that all necessary value adjustments, such as additional value adjustments according to Article 34 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, or provisions have been made.

2. Foreseeable charges that have not already been taken into account in the profit and loss account shall be assigned to the interim period during which they have incurred so that each interim period bears a reasonable amount of these charges. Material or non-recurrent events shall be considered in full and without delay in the interim period during which they arise.

3. The competent authority shall be satisfied that all necessary deductions to the interim or year-end profits and all those related to foreseeable charges have been made, either under applicable accounting framework or under any other adjustments, before permitting that the institution includes interim or year-end profits in Common Equity Tier 1 items.

Subsection 2 U.K. Cooperative societies, savings institutions, mutuals and similar institutions

Article 4 U.K. Type of undertaking recognised under applicable national law as a cooperative society for the purposes of Article 27(1)(a)(ii) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. Competent authorities may determine that a type of undertaking recognised under applicable national law qualifies as a cooperative society for the purpose of Part Two of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, where all of the conditions in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are met.

2. To qualify as a cooperative society for the purposes of paragraph 1, an institution’s legal status shall fall within one of the following categories:

(a) in Austria: institutions registered as ‘eingetragene Genossenschaft (e.Gen.)’ or ‘registrierte Genossenschaft’ under the ‘Gesetz über Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossenschaften (GenG)’;

(b) in Belgium: institutions registered as ‘société coopérative/coöperatieve vennootschap’ and approved in application of the Royal Decree of 8 January 1962 fixing the conditions of approval of the national groupings of cooperative societies and cooperative societies;

(c) in Cyprus: institutions registered as ‘Συνεργατικό Πιστωτικό Ίδρυμα ή ΣΠΙ’ established by virtue of the Cooperative Societies Laws of 1985;

(d) in the Czech Republic: institutions authorised as ‘spořitelní a úvěrní družstvo’ under ‘zákon upravující činnost spořitelních a úvěrních družstev’;

(e) in Denmark: institutions registered as ‘andelskasser’or ‘sammenslutninger af andelskasser’ under the Danish Financial Business Act;

(f) in Finland: institutions registered as one of the following:

(1)

‘Osuuspankki’ or ‘andelsbank’ under ‘laki osuuspankeista ja muista osuuskuntamuotoisista luottolaitoksista’ or ‘lag om andelsbanker och andra kreditinstitut i andelslagsform’;

(2)

‘Muu osuuskuntamuotoinen luottolaitos’ or ‘annat kreditinstitut i andelslagsform’ under ‘laki osuuspankeista ja muista osuuskuntamuotoisista luottolaitoksista’ or ‘lag om andelsbanker och andra kreditinstitut i andelslagsform’;

(3)

‘Keskusyhteisö’ or ‘centralinstitutet’ under ‘laki talletuspankkien yhteenliittymästä’ or ‘lag om en sammanslutning av inlåningsbanker’;

(g) in France: institutions registered as ‘sociétés coopératives’ under the ‘Loi n^o47-1775 du 10 septembre 1947 portant statut de la coopération’ and authorised as ‘banques mutualistes ou coopératives’ under the ‘Code monétaire et financier, partie législative, Livre V, titre Ier, chapitre II’;

(h) in Germany: institutions registered as ‘eingetragene Genossenschaft (eG)’ under the ‘Gesetz betreffend die Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossenschaften (Genossenschaftsgesetz –GenG)’;

(i) in Greece: institutions registered as ‘Πιστωτικοί Συνεταιρισμοί’ under the Cooperative Law 1667/1986 that operate as credit institutions and may be labeled as ‘Συνεταιριστική Τράπεζα’ according to the Banking Law 3601/2007;

(j) in Hungary: institutions registered as ‘Szövetkezeti hitelintézet’ under Act CXII of 1996 on Credit Institutions and Financial Enterprises;

(k) in Italy: institutions registered as on of the following:

(1)

‘Banche popolari’ referred to in Legislative Decree 1 September 1993, no. 385;

(2)

‘Banche di credito cooperativo’ referred to in Legislative Decree 1 September 1993, no. 385;

(3)

‘Banche di garanzia collettiva dei fidi’ referred to in art. 13 of Decree Law 30 September 2003, no. 269, converted into Law 24 November 2003, no. 326;

(l) in Luxembourg: institutions registered as ‘sociétés coopératives’ as defined in Section VI of the law of 10 August 1915 on commercial companies;

(m) in the Netherlands: institutions registered as ‘coöperaties’ or ‘onderlinge waarborgmaatschappijen’ under ‘Title 3 of Book 2 Rechtspersonen of the Burgerlijk wetboek’;

(n) in Poland: institutions registered as ‘bank spółdzielczy’ under the provisions of ‘Prawo bankowe’;

(o) in Portugal: institutions registered as ‘Caixa de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo’ or as ‘Caixa Central de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo’ under the ‘Regime Jurídico do Crédito Agrícola Mútuo e das Cooperativas de Crédito Agrícola’ approved by Decreto-Lei n.^o 24/91, de 11 de Janeiro;

(p) in Romania: institutions registered as ‘Organizații cooperatiste de credit’ under the provisions of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 99/2006 on credit institutions and capital adequacy, approved with amendments and supplements by Law no. 227/2007;

(q) in Spain: Institutions registered as ‘Cooperativas de Crédito’ under the ‘Ley 13/1989, de 26 de mayo, de Cooperativas de Crédito’;

(r) in Sweden: institutions registered as ‘Medlemsbank’ under ‘Lag (1995:1570) om medlemsbanker‘ or as ‘Kreditmarknadsförening’ under Lag (2004:297) om bank- och finansieringsrörelse;

(s) in the United Kingdom: institutions registered as ‘cooperative societies’ under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 and under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969.

3. With respect to Common Equity Tier 1 capital, to qualify as a cooperative society for the purposes of paragraph 1, the institution shall be able to issue, according to the national applicable law or company statutes, at the level of the legal entity, only capital instruments referred to in Article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

4. To qualify as a cooperative society for the purposes of paragraph 1, when the holders, which may be members or non-members of the institution, of the Common Equity Tier 1 instruments referred to in paragraph (3) have the ability to resign, under the applicable national law, they may also have the right to put the capital instrument back to the institution, but only subject to the restrictions of the applicable national law, company statutes, of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and of this Regulation. This does not prevent the institution from issuing, under applicable national law, Common Equity Tier 1 instruments complying with Article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 to members and non-members that do not grant a right to put the capital instrument back to the institution.

Article 5 U.K. Type of undertaking recognised under applicable national law as a savings institution for the purposes of Article 27(1)(a)(iii) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. Competent authorities may determine that a type of undertaking recognised under applicable national law qualifies as a savings institution for the purpose of Part Two of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, where all the conditions in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are met.

2. To qualify as a savings institution for the purposes of paragraph 1, the institution’s legal status shall fall within one of the following categories:

(a) in Austria: institutions registered as ‘Sparkasse’ under para. 1 (1) of the ‘Bundesgesetz über die Ordnung des Sparkassenwesens (Sparkassengesetz – SpG)’;

(b) in Denmark: institutions registered as ‘Sparekasser’ under the Danish Financial Business Act;

(c) in Finland: institutions registered as ‘Säästöpankki’ or ‘Sparbank’ under ‘Säästöpankkilaki ‘ or ‘Sparbankslag’;

(d) in Germany: institutions registered as ‘Sparkasse’ as follows:

(1)

Sparkassengesetz für Baden-Württemberg (SpG)’;

(2)

‘Gesetz über die öffentlichen Sparkassen (Sparkassengesetz – SpkG) in Bayern‘;

(3)

‘Gesetz über die Berliner Sparkasse und die Umwandlung der Landesbank Berlin – Girozentrale – in eine Aktiengesellschaft (Berliner Sparkassengesetz – SpkG)’;

(4)

‘Brandenburgisches Sparkassengesetz (BbgSpkG)’;

(5)

‘Sparkassengesetz für öffentlich-rechtliche Sparkassen im Lande Bremen (Bremisches Sparkassengesetz)’;

(6)

‘Hessisches Sparkassengesetz’;

(7)

‘Sparkassengesetz des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (SpkG)’;

(8)

‘Niedersächsisches Sparkassengesetz (NSpG)’;

(9)

‘Sparkassengesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen (Sparkassengesetz – SpkG) ’;

(10)

Sparkassengesetz (SpkG) für Rheinland-Pfalz’;

(11)

‘Saarländisches Sparkassengesetz (SSpG)’;

(12)

‘Gesetz über die öffentlich-rechtlichen Kreditinstitute im Freistaat Sachsen und die Sachsen-Finanzgruppe’;

(13)

‘Sparkassengesetz des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt (SpkG-LSA)’;

(14)

‘Sparkassengesetz für das Land Schleswig-Holstein (Sparkassengesetz – SpkG)’;

(15)

‘Thüringer Sparkassengesetz (ThürSpkG)’;

(e) in Spain: institutions registered as ‘Cajas de Ahorros‘ under ‘Real Decreto-Ley 2532/1929, de 21 de noviembre, sobre Régimen del Ahorro Popular’;

(f) in Sweden: institutions registered as ‘Sparbank’ under ‘Sparbankslag (1987:619)’.

3. With respect to Common Equity Tier 1 capital, to qualify as a savings institution for the purposes of paragraph 1, the institution has to be able to issue, according to national applicable law or company statutes, at the level of the legal entity, only capital instruments referred to in Article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

4. To qualify as a savings institution for the purposes of paragraph 1, the sum of capital, reserves and interim or year-end profits, shall not be allowed, according to national applicable law, to be distributed to holders of Common Equity Tier 1 instruments. Such condition is deemed to be fulfilled even where the institution issues Common Equity Tier 1 instruments that grant the holders, on a going concern basis, a right to a part of the profits and reserves, where allowed by the applicable national law, provided that this part is proportionate to their contribution to the capital and reserves or, where permitted by the applicable national law, in accordance with an alternative arrangement. The institution may issue Common Equity Tier 1 instruments that grant the holders, in the case of insolvency or liquidation of the institution, the right to reserves which do not need to be proportionate to the contribution to capital and reserves provided that the conditions of paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 are met.

Article 6 U.K. Type of undertaking recognised under applicable national law as a mutual for the purposes of Article 27(1)(a)(i) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. Competent authorities may determine that a type of undertaking recognised under applicable national law qualifies as a mutual for the purpose of Part Two of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, where all of the conditions in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are met.

2. To qualify as a mutual for the purposes of paragraph 1, the institution’s legal status shall fall within one of the following categories:

(a) in Denmark: Associations (‘Foreninger’) or funds (‘Fonde’) which originate from the conversion of insurance companies (‘Forsikringsselskaber’), mortgage credit institutions (‘Realkreditinstitutter’), savings banks (‘Sparekasser’), cooperative savings banks (‘Andelskasser’) and affiliations of cooperative savings banks (‘Sammenslutninger af andelskasser’) into limited companies as defined under the Danish Financial Business Act;

(b) in Ireland: institutions registered as ‘building societies’ under the Building Societies Act 1989;

(c) in the United Kingdom: institutions registered as ‘building societies’ under the Building Societies Act 1986; institutions registered as a ‘savings bank’ under the Savings Bank (Scotland) Act 1819.

3. With respect to Common Equity Tier 1 capital, to qualify as a mutual for the purposes of paragraph 1, the institution is only allowed to issue, according to the national applicable law or company statutes, at the level of the legal entity, capital instruments referred to in Article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

4. To qualify as a mutual for the purposes of paragraph 1, the total amount or a partial amount of the sum of capital and reserves shall be owned by members of the institution, who do not, in the ordinary course of business, benefit from direct distribution of the reserves, in particular through the payment of dividends. Such conditions are deemed to be fulfilled even where the institution issues Common Equity Tier 1 instruments that grant a right on the profits and reserves, where allowed by the applicable national law.

Article 7 U.K. Type of undertaking recognised under applicable national law as a similar institution for the purposes of Article 27(1)(a)(iv) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. Competent authorities may determine that a type of undertaking recognised under applicable national law qualifies as a similar institution to cooperatives, mutuals and savings institutions for the purpose of Part Two of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, where all of the conditions in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are met.

2. To qualify as a similar institution to cooperatives, mutuals and savings institutions for the purposes of paragraph 1, the institution’s legal status falls under one of the following categories:

(a) in Austria: the ‘Pfandbriefstelle der österreichischen Landes-Hypothekenbanken’ under the ‘Bundesgesetz über die Pfandbriefstelle der österreichischen Landes-Hypothekenbanken (Pfandbriefstelle-Gesetz – PfBrStG)’;

(b) in Finland: institutions registered as ‘Hypoteekkiyhdistys’ or ‘Hypoteksförening’ under ‘Laki hypoteekkiyhdistyksistä’ or ‘Lag om hypoteksföreningar’.

3. With respect to Common Equity Tier 1 capital, to qualify as a similar institution to cooperatives, mutuals and savings institutions for the purposes of paragraph 1, the institution shall be only able to issue, according to the national applicable law or company statutes, at the level of the legal entity, capital instruments referred to in Article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

4. To qualify as a similar institution to cooperatives, mutuals and savings institutions for the purposes of paragraph 1, one or more of the following conditions shall also be met:

(a) where the holders, which may be members or non-members of the institution, of the Common Equity Tier 1 instruments referred to in paragraph 3 have the ability to resign under the applicable national law, they may also have the right to put the capital instrument back to the institution, but only subject to the restrictions of the applicable national law, company statutes and of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and this Regulation. That does not prevent the institution from issuing, under applicable national law, Common Equity Tier 1 instruments complying with Article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 to members and non-members that do not grant a right to put the capital instrument back to the institution;

(b) the sum of capital, reserves and interim or year-end profits, is not allowed, according to national applicable law, to be distributed to holders of Common Equity Tier 1 instruments. That condition is deemed to be fulfilled even where the institution issues Common Equity Tier 1 instruments that grant the holders, on a going concern basis, a right to a part of the profits and reserves, where allowed by the applicable national law, provided that that part is proportionate to their contribution to the capital and reserves or, where permitted by the applicable national law, in accordance with an alternative arrangement. The institution may issue Common Equity Tier 1 instruments that grant the holders, in the case of insolvency or liquidation of the institution, the right to reserves which do not need to be proportionate to the contribution to capital and reserves provided that the conditions of Article 29(4) and (5) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 are met;

(c) the total amount or a partial amount of the sum of capital and reserves is owned by members of the institution who do not, in the ordinary course of business, benefit from direct distribution of the reserves, in particular through the payment of dividends.

[F1 Article 7a U.K. Multiple distributions constituting a disproportionate drag on own funds

1. Distributions on Common Equity Tier 1 instruments referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 shall be deemed not to constitute a disproportionate drag on capital where all of the following conditions are met:

(a) the dividend multiple is a multiple of the distribution paid on the voting instruments and not a predetermined fixed amount;

(b) the dividend multiple is set contractually or under the statutes of the institution;

(c) the dividend multiple is not revisable;

(d) the same dividend multiple applies to all instruments with a dividend multiple;

(e) the amount of the distribution on one instrument with a dividend multiple does not represent more than 125 % of the amount of the distribution on one voting Common Equity Tier 1 instrument.

In formulaic form this shall be expressed as:

where:

• (e) k shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument without a dividend multiple;

• l shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument with a dividend multiple;

(f) the total amount of the distributions paid on all Common Equity Tier 1 instruments during a one year period does not exceed 105 % of the amount that would have been paid if instruments with fewer or no voting rights received the same distributions as voting instruments.

In formulaic form this shall be expressed as:

where:

• (f) k shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument without a dividend multiple;

• l shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument with a dividend multiple;

• X shall represent the number of voting instruments;

• Y shall represent the number of non-voting instruments.

The formula shall be applied on a one-year basis.

2. Where the condition of point (f) of paragraph 1 is not met, only the amount of the instruments with a dividend multiple that exceeds the threshold defined therein shall be deemed to cause a disproportionate drag on capital.

3. Where any of the conditions of points (a) to (e) of paragraph 1 are not met, all outstanding instruments with a dividend multiple shall be deemed to cause a disproportionate drag on capital.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/850 of 30 January 2015 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for Own Funds requirements for institutions (Text with EEA relevance).

[F1 Article 7b U.K. Preferential distributions regarding preferential rights to payments of distributions

1. For Common Equity Tier 1 instruments referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, a distribution on a Common Equity Tier 1 instrument shall be deemed to be preferential relative to other Common Equity Tier 1 instruments where there are differentiated levels of distributions, unless the conditions of Article 7a of this Regulation are met.

2. For Common Equity Tier 1 instruments with fewer or no voting rights issued by institutions referred to in Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, where distribution is a multiple of the distribution on the voting instruments and that multiple distribution is set contractually or statutorily, distributions shall be deemed not to be preferential where all of the following conditions are met:

(a) the dividend multiple is a multiple of the distribution paid on the voting instruments and not a predetermined fixed amount;

(b) the dividend multiple is set contractually or under the statutes of the institution;

(c) the dividend multiple is not revisable;

(d) the same dividend multiple applies to all instruments with a dividend multiple;

(e) the amount of the distribution on one instrument with a dividend multiple does not represent more than 125 % of the amount of the distribution on one voting Common Equity Tier 1 instrument.

In formulaic form this shall be expressed as:

where:

• (e) k shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument without a dividend multiple;

• l shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument with a dividend multiple;

(f) the total amount of the distributions paid on all Common Equity Tier 1 instruments during a one year period does not exceed 105 % of the amount that would have been paid if instruments with fewer or no voting rights received the same distributions as voting instruments.

In formulaic form this shall be expressed as:

where:

• (f) k shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument without a dividend multiple;

• l shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument with a dividend multiple;

• X shall represent the number of voting instruments;

• Y shall represent the number of non-voting instruments;

The formula shall be applied on a one-year basis.

3. Where the condition of paragraph 2 point (f) is not met, only the amount of the instruments with a dividend multiple that exceeds the threshold defined therein shall be disqualified from Common Equity Tier 1.

4. Where any of the conditions of points (a) to (e) of paragraph 2 are not met, all outstanding instruments with a dividend multiple shall be disqualified from Common Equity Tier 1 capital.

5. For the purposes of paragraph 2, where the distributions of Common Equity Tier 1 instruments are expressed, for the voting or the non-voting instruments, with reference to the purchase price at issuance of the instrument, the formulas shall be adapted as follows, for the instrument or instruments that are expressed with reference to the purchase price at issuance:

(a) l shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument without a dividend multiple divided by the purchase price at issuance of that instrument;

(b) k shall represent the amount of the distribution on one instrument with a dividend multiple divided by the purchase price at issuance of that instrument.

6. For Common Equity Tier 1 instruments with fewer or no voting rights issued by institutions referred to in Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, where the distribution is not a multiple of the distribution on the voting instruments, distributions shall be deemed not to be preferential where either of the conditions referred to in paragraph 7 and both conditions referred to in paragraph 8 are met.

7. For the purposes of paragraph 6, either of the following conditions (a) or (b) shall apply:

(a) both of the following points (i) and (ii) are met:

(i)

the instrument with fewer or no voting rights can only be subscribed and held by the holders of voting instruments;

(ii)

the number of the voting rights of any single holder is limited;

(b) the distributions on the voting instruments issued by the institutions are subject to a cap set out under applicable national law.

8. For the purposes of paragraph 6 both of the following conditions shall apply:

(a) the institution demonstrates that the average of the distributions on voting instruments during the preceding five years, is low in relation to other comparable instruments;

(b) the institution demonstrates that the payout ratio is low, where a payout ratio is calculated in accordance with Article 7c. A payout ratio under 30 % shall be deemed to be low.

9. For the purposes of point (a) of paragraph 7, the voting rights of any single holder shall be deemed to be limited in the following cases:

(a) where each holder only receives one voting right irrespective of the number of voting instruments for any holder;

(b) where the number of voting rights is capped irrespective of the number of number of voting instruments held by any holder;

(c) where the number of voting instruments any holder may hold is limited under the statutes of the institution or under applicable national law.

10. For the purposes of this Article, the one year period shall be deemed to end on the date of the last financial statements of the institution.

11. Institutions shall assess compliance with the conditions referred to in paragraphs 7 and 8, and shall inform the competent authority about the result of their assessment, at least in the following situations:

(a) every time a decision on the amount of distributions on Common Equity Tier 1 instruments is taken;

(b) every time a new class of Common Equity Tier 1 instruments with fewer or no voting rights is issued.

12. Where the condition of point (b) of paragraph 8 is not met, only the amount of the non-voting instruments for which distributions exceed the threshold defined therein shall be deemed to entail preferential distributions.

13. Where the condition of point (a) of paragraph 8 is not met, the distributions on all outstanding non-voting instruments shall be deemed to be preferential unless they meet the conditions of paragraph 2.

14. Where neither of the conditions of paragraph 7 are met, the distributions on all outstanding non-voting instruments shall be deemed to be preferential unless they meet the conditions of paragraph 2.

15. The requirement referred to in point (i) of paragraph 7(a), or the requirement referred to in point (b) of paragraph 8, or both requirements may be waived, as appropriate, where both of the following conditions are met:

(a) an institution is in breach of or, due, inter alia, to a rapidly deteriorating financial condition, is likely in the near future to be in breach of any of the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;

(b) the competent authority has required the institution to urgently increase its Common Equity Tier 1 capital within a specified period and has assessed that the institution is not able to rectify or avoid the breach referred to in point (a) within that specified period, without resorting to the waiver referred to in this paragraph.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/850 of 30 January 2015 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for Own Funds requirements for institutions (Text with EEA relevance).

[F1 Article 7c U.K. Calculation of the payout ratio for the purposes of point (b) of Article 7b(8)

1. For the purposes of point (b) of Article 7b(8), institutions shall choose either the way described in point (a) or point (b) to calculate the payout ratio. The institution shall follow the way chosen in a consistent manner over time.

(a) as the sum of distributions related to total Common Equity Tier 1 instruments over the previous five year periods, divided by the sum of profits related to the previous five year periods;

(b) for the period from the date of application of this Regulation until 31 December 2017 only:

(i)

in 2014, as the sum of distributions related to total Common Equity Tier 1 instruments over the previous one year period, divided by the sum of profits related to the previous one year period;

(ii)

in 2015, as the sum of distributions related to total Common Equity Tier 1 instruments over the previous two year periods, divided by the sum of profits related to the previous two year periods;

(iii)

in 2016, as the sum of distributions related to total Common Equity Tier 1 instruments over the previous three year periods, divided by the sum of profits related to the previous three year periods;

(iv)

in 2017, as the sum of distributions related to total Common Equity Tier 1 instruments over the previous four year periods, divided by the sum of profits related to the previous four year periods.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, profits shall mean the amount reported in row 670 of template 2 of Annex III to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 680/2014 (2) , or, where applicable, the amount reported in row 670 of template 2 of Annex IV to that Implementing Regulation with regard to supervisory reporting of institutions according to Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/850 of 30 January 2015 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for Own Funds requirements for institutions (Text with EEA relevance).

[F1 Article 7d U.K. Preferential distributions regarding the order of distribution payments

For the purposes of Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, a distribution on a Common Equity Tier 1 instrument shall be deemed to be preferential relative to other Common Equity Tier 1 instruments and regarding the order of distribution payments where at least one of the following conditions is met:

(a)

distributions are decided at different times;

(b)

distributions are paid at different times;

(c)

there is an obligation on the issuer to pay the distributions on one type of Common Equity Tier 1 instruments before paying the distributions on another type of Common Equity Tier 1 instruments;

(d)

a distribution is paid on some Common Equity Tier 1 instruments but not on others, unless the condition of point (a) of Article 7b(7) is met.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/850 of 30 January 2015 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for Own Funds requirements for institutions (Text with EEA relevance).

Subsection 3 U.K. Indirect funding

Article 8 U.K. Indirect funding of capital instruments for the purposes of Article 28(1)(b,) Article 52(1)(c) and Article 63(c) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. Indirect funding of capital instruments under Article 28(1)(b), Article 52(1)(c) and Article 63(c) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 shall be deemed funding that is not direct.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, direct funding shall refer to situations where an institution has granted a loan or other funding in any form to an investor that is used for the purchase of its capital instruments.

3. Direct funding shall also include funding granted for other purposes than purchasing an institution’s capital instruments, to any natural or legal person who has a qualifying holding in the credit institution, as referred to in Article 4(36) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, or who is deemed to be a related party within the meaning of the definitions in paragraph 9 of International Accounting Standard 24 on Related Party Disclosures as applied in the Union according to Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3), taking into account any additional guidance as defined by the competent authority, if the institution is not able to demonstrate all of the following:

(a) the transaction is realised at similar conditions as other transactions with third parties;

(b) the natural or legal person or the related party does not have to rely on the distributions or on the sale of the capital instruments held to support the payment of interest and the repayment of the funding.

Article 9 U.K. Applicable forms and nature of indirect funding of capital instruments for the purposes of Article 28(1)(b) and 52(1)(c) and 63(c) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. The applicable forms and nature of indirect funding of the purchase of an institution’s capital instruments shall include the following:

(a) funding of an investor’s purchase, at issuance or thereafter, of an institution’s capital instruments by any entities on which the institution has a direct or indirect control or by entities included in any of the following:

(1)

the scope of accounting or prudential consolidation of the institution;

(2)

the scope of the consolidated balance sheet or extended aggregated calculation, where equivalent to consolidated accounts as referred to in Article 49(3)(a)(iv) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, that is drawn up by the institutional protection scheme or the network of institutions affiliated to a central body that are not organised as a group to which the institution belongs;

(3)

the scope of supplementary supervision of the institution in accordance with Directive 2002/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(4) on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate;

(b) funding of an investor’s purchase, at issuance or thereafter, of an institution’s capital instruments by external entities that are protected by a guarantee or by the use of a credit derivative or are secured in some other way so that the credit risk is transferred to the institution or to any entities on which the institution has a direct or indirect control or any entities included in any of the following:

(1)

the scope of accounting or prudential consolidation of the institution;

(2)

the scope of the consolidated balance sheet or extended aggregated calculation, where equivalent to consolidated accounts as referred to in Article 49(3)(a)(iv) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, that is drawn up by the institutional protection scheme or the network of institutions affiliated to a central body that are not organised as a group to which the institution belongs;

(3)

the scope of supplementary supervision of the institution in accordance with Directive 2002/87/EC.

(c) funding of a borrower that passes the funding on to the ultimate investor for the purchase, at issuance or thereafter, of an institution’s capital instruments.

2. In order to be considered as indirect funding for the purposes of paragraph 1, the following conditions shall also be met, where applicable:

(a) the investor is not included in any of the following:

(1)

the scope of accounting or prudential consolidation of the institution;

(2)

the scope of the consolidated balance sheet or extended aggregated calculation, where equivalent to consolidated accounts as referred to in Article 49(3)(a)(iv) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, that is drawn up by the institutional protection scheme or the network of institutions affiliated to a central body that are not organised as a group to which the institution belongs. For this purpose an investor is deemed to be included in the scope of the extended aggregated calculation if the relevant capital instrument is subject to consolidation or extended aggregated calculation in accordance with Article 49(3)(a) (iv) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 in a way that the multiple use of own funds items and any creation of own funds between members of the institutional protection scheme is eliminated. Where the permission from competent authorities referred to in Article 49(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 has not been granted, this condition shall be deemed to be met where both the entities referred to in paragraph 1(a) and the institution are members of the same institutional protection scheme and the entities deduct the funding provided for the purchase of the institution’s capital instruments according to Articles 36(1)(f) to (i), Article 56(a) to (d) and Article 66(a) to (d) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, as applicable;

(3)

the scope of the supplementary supervision of the institution in accordance with Directive 2002/87/EC;

(b) the external entity is not included in any of the following:

(1)

the scope of accounting or prudential consolidation of the institution;

(2)

the scope of the consolidated balance sheet or extended aggregated calculation, where equivalent to consolidated accounts as referred to in Article 49(3)(a)(iv) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, that is drawn up by the institutional protection scheme or the network of institutions affiliated to a central body that are not organised as a group to which the institution belongs;

(3)

the scope of the supplementary supervision of the institution in accordance with Directive 2002/87/EC.

3. When establishing whether the purchase of a capital instrument involves direct or indirect funding in accordance with Article 8, the amount to be considered shall be net of any individually assessed impairment allowance made.

4. In order to avoid a qualification of direct or indirect funding in accordance with Article 8 and where the loan or other form of funding or guarantees is granted to any natural or legal person who has a qualifying holding in the credit institution or who is deemed to be a related party as referred to in paragraph 3, the institution shall ensure on an on-going basis that it has not provided the loan or other form of funding or guarantees for the purpose of subscribing directly or indirectly capital instruments of the institution. Where the loan or other form of funding or guarantees is granted to other types of parties, the institution shall make this control on a best effort basis.

5. With regard to mutuals, cooperative societies and similar institutions, where there is an obligation under national law or the statutes of the institution for a customer to subscribe capital instruments in order to receive a loan, that loan shall not be considered as a direct or indirect funding where all of the following conditions are met:

(a) the amount of the subscription is considered immaterial by the competent authority;

(b) the purpose of the loan is not the purchase of capital instruments of the institution providing the loan;

(c) the subscription of one or more capital instruments of the institution is necessary in order for the beneficiary of the loan to become a member of the mutual, cooperative society or similar institution.

Subsection 4 U.K. Limitations on redemption of capital instruments

Article 10 U.K. Limitations on redemption of capital instruments issued by mutuals, savings institutions, cooperative societies and similar institutions for the purposes of Article 29(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and Article 78(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. An institution may issue Common Equity Tier 1 instruments with a possibility to redeem only where such possibility is foreseen by the applicable national law.

2. The ability of the institution to limit the redemption under the provisions governing capital instruments as referred to in Article 29(2)(b) and 78(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, shall encompass both the right to defer the redemption and the right to limit the amount to be redeemed. The institution shall be able to defer the redemption or limit the amount to be redeemed for an unlimited period of time pursuant to paragraph 3.

3. The extent of the limitations on redemption included in the provisions governing the instruments shall be determined by the institution on the basis of the prudential situation of the institution at any time, having regard to in particular, but not limited to:

(a) the overall financial, liquidity and solvency situation of the institution;

(b) the amount of Common Equity Tier 1 capital, Tier 1 and total capital compared to the total risk exposure amount calculated in accordance with the requirements laid down in point (a) of Article 92(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, the specific own funds requirements referred to in Article 104(1)(a) of Directive 2013/36/EU and the combined buffer requirement as defined in point (6) of Article 128 of that Directive.

Article 11 U.K. Limitations on redemption of capital instruments issued by mutuals, savings institutions, cooperative societies and similar institutions for the purposes of Article 29(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and Article 78(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

1. The limitations on redemption included in the contractual or legal provisions governing the instruments shall not prevent the competent authority from limiting further the redemption on the instruments on an appropriate basis as foreseen by Article 78 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.

2. Competent authorities shall assess the bases of limitations on redemption included in the contractual and legal provisions governing the instrument. They shall require institutions to modify the corresponding contractual provisions where they are not satisfied that the bases of limitations are appropriate. Where the instruments are governed by the national law in the absence of contractual provisions, the legislation shall enable the institution to limit redemption as referred to in paragraphs 1 to 3 of Article 10 in order for the instruments to qualify as Common Equity Tier 1.

3. Any decision to limit redemption shall be documented internally and reported in writing by the institution to the competent authority, including the reasons why, in view of the criteria set out in paragraph 3, a redemption has been partially or fully refused or deferred.

4. Where several decisions to limit redemption are taking place in the same period of time, institutions may document these decisions in a single set of documents.

(1)

Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338).

(2)

[F1 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 680/2014 of 16 April 2014 laying down implementing technical standards with regard to supervisory reporting of institutions according to Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( OJ L 191, 28.6.2014, p. 1 ).]

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards, (OJ L 243, 11.9.2002, p. 1).

(4)

Directive 2002/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate (OJ L 35, 11.2.2003, p.1).

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/850 of 30 January 2015 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for Own Funds requirements for institutions (Text with EEA relevance).