Decision (EU) 2017/935 of the European Central Bank of 16 November 2016 on delegation of the power to adopt fit and proper decisions and the assessment of fit and proper requirements (ECB/2016/42)

Article 1

Definitions

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:

• (1) ‘fit and proper requirements’ means the requirements that the members of the management body of a significant supervised entity must fulfil at all times in accordance with Article 91 of Directive 2013/36/EU and any other applicable law;

• (2) ‘fit and proper decision’ means an ECB decision (i) stating whether an individual fulfils the fit and proper requirements, or (ii) authorising a member of a management body to hold one additional non-executive directorship pursuant to Article 91(6) of Directive 2013/36/EU;

• (3) ‘applicable law’ means relevant Union law within the meaning of Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013, and any national law which is relevant for the assessment of the fit and proper requirements;

• (4) ‘participating Member State’ means a participating Member State as defined in point (1) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013;

• (5) ‘significant supervised entity’ means a significant supervised entity as defined in point (16) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17);

• (6) ‘supervised entity’ means a supervised entity as defined in point (20) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17);

• (7) ‘significant supervised group’ means a significant supervised group as defined in point (22) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17);

• (8) ‘delegated decision’ means a decision adopted on the basis of a delegation of power by the Governing Council pursuant to Decision (EU) 2017/933 (ECB/2016/40);

• (9) ‘management body’ means a management body as defined in point (7) of Article 3(1) of Directive 2013/36/EU, subject to Article 3(2) thereof;

• (10) ‘member’ means any one or more of the following: (i) a proposed or appointed member of a management body; (ii) where applicable, a proposed or appointed key function holder as defined in accordance with applicable law; (iii) a proposed or appointed branch manager as defined in accordance with applicable law; and (iv) a person to whom the management body delegates, partially or fully, the executive function, whether or not that person has been proposed or appointed as a formal member of the institution’s governing body or bodies under national law;

• (11) ‘heads of work units’ means the heads of work units of the ECB to whom the power to jointly adopt fit and proper decisions is delegated;

• (12) ‘national competent authority’ means a national competent authority as defined in point (2) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013;

• (13) ‘non-objection procedure’ means the procedure set out in Article 26(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 and further specified in Article 13g of Decision ECB/2004/2;

• (14) ‘guide to fit and proper assessments’ means a document with this title including future versions thereof and including any other document containing guiding principles for fit and proper assessments that may in future replace or complement it, adopted and amended from time to time in accordance with the non-objection procedure and published on the ECB’s website;

• (15) ‘credit institution’ means a credit institution as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0001]);

• (16) ‘negative decision’ means a decision that does not or does not fully grant the authorisation as requested by the significant supervised entity or the member. A decision with ancillary provisions such as conditions or obligations shall be considered as a negative decision unless such ancillary provisions (a) ensure that the supervised entity fulfils the requirements of relevant Union law referred to in Article 4 and have been agreed in writing or (b) merely restate one or more of the existing requirements that the institution has to comply with pursuant to provisions referred to in Article 4 or require information on the fulfilment of one or more of such requirements;

• (17) ‘ECB Guide on options and discretions available in Union law’ means a document with this title including future versions thereof and including any other document containing guiding principles on options and discretions available in Union law that may in future replace or complement it, adopted and amended from time to time in accordance with the non-objection procedure and published on the ECB’s website;

• (18) ‘sensitivity’ means a characteristic or factor that may have a negative impact on the ECB’s reputation and/or on the effective and consistent functioning of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, including but not limited to any of the following: (a) the relevant supervised entity has previously been, or is currently, subject to severe supervisory measures such as early intervention measures; (b) the draft decision once adopted will set a new precedent that could bind the ECB in the future; (c) the draft decision once adopted may attract negative media or public attention; or (d) a national competent authority that has entered into close cooperation with the ECB communicates its disagreement with the proposed draft decision to the ECB.

Article 2

Delegation of fit and proper decisions

• (a) the ECB’s adoption of supervisory decisions;

• (b) the ECB’s adoption of instructions addressed, pursuant to Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013, to the national competent authorities with which the ECB has established close cooperation.

Article 3

Scope of delegation

• (a) the relevant supervised entity is one of the following:
• (i) the supervised entity at the highest level of consolidation within the participating Member States of a significant supervised group;
• (ii) the credit institution with the largest total value of assets in a significant supervised group, if this entity is different to that referred to in point (i);
• (iii) a significant supervised entity that is not part of a significant supervised group;

• (b) the decision is a negative decision;

• (c) any of the following facts is submitted to the ECB:
• (i) the member is currently subject to criminal proceedings before a court of law or has been convicted of a criminal offence at first or final instance; or
• (ii) an investigation has been or is currently being carried out in relation to, or an enforcement action or an administrative sanction is pending against or has been imposed upon, the member for non-compliance with any financial services legislation or regulatory provisions; unless the relevant fact does not impact the reputation of the member based on an assessment in accordance with the criteria specified in the Guide to fit and proper assessments, in particular regarding the nature of the charge or accusation, the severity of the penalty and the time passed (at least five years since the imposition of a sanction or measure);

• (d) the complexity of the assessment or the sensitivity of the matter requires that the fit and proper decision is adopted under the non-objection procedure.

Article 4

Fit and proper assessment

• (a) Experience. The member shall have sufficient knowledge, skills and experience to fulfil their functions.

• (b) Reputation. The member shall at all times be of sufficiently good repute to ensure the sound and prudent management of the supervised entity. The principle of proportionality shall not apply to the assessment of good repute.

• (c) Potential conflicts of interest and independence of mind. The member shall have the ability to act independently. The assessment of any potential conflicts of interest and independence of mind shall include an assessment of the supervised entity's governance arrangements for disclosing, mitigating, managing or preventing conflicts of interest.

• (d) Time commitment. The member shall have the ability to dedicate sufficient time to the performance of their functions in the supervised entity. The assessment may be impacted by several factors, such as the number of directorships held by the member, the nature, scale and complexity of the supervised entity's activities, and other relevant commitments.

• (e) Collective suitability. The member shall be assessed with respect to the collective suitability requirement at the time of their initial fit and proper assessment, taking into account the ongoing supervision of the governance of the supervised entity, as well as the self-assessment of the management body, in particular with regard to its composition and collective suitability needs.

Article 5

Transitional provision

This Decision shall not apply to proposals for a fit and proper decision submitted by a national competent authority to the ECB prior to the entry into force of this Decision.

Article 6

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

[^E0001]: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 1).