Public consultation on the draft Guide to qualifying holding procedures

On 28 September 2022, the European Central Bank (ECB) will launch a public consultation on the draft Guide to qualifying holding procedures.

The guide aims to clarify how the ECB assesses applications to acquire qualifying holdings in banks in order to increase the transparency of this process for market participants. It builds on the applicable legal framework and on the experience gained over the years in assessing this type of transactions.

The guide explains who is obliged to undergo qualifying holding assessments, the documentation required to apply and how the ECB assesses these transactions. It also provides information on complex acquisition structures, the application of the principle of proportionality and specific procedural elements.

Deadline for submitting comments: midnight CET on 9 November 2022.

Only comments received before this deadline will be considered.

Submit your comments by midnight CET on 9 November 2022 using this template.

So that comments can be processed automatically, please do not change the template structure or the file format.

Where appropriate, please provide relevant examples or data.

Only comments sent using the above template will be published after the close of this public consultation.

Submitting comments by email:

Using the above template, send your comments to: SSMPublicConsultation@ecb.europa.eu.

In the subject line, please write “Public consultation on the draft Guide to qualifying holding procedures”.

Submitting comments by post:

Using the above template, send your comments to:

European Central Bank Secretariat to the Supervisory Board
“Public consultation on the draft Guide to qualifying holding procedures”
60640 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

For details on how your personal data and contribution will be handled, please see this privacy statement:

As part of the public consultation process, the ECB is planning to organise a stakeholder meeting for a targeted audience consisting of experts handling qualifying holding procedures or other stakeholders being impacted by such (e.g. lawyers, consultants, banking associations, etc.). 

Attendance of the meeting is by invitation only. The purpose of the meeting is to introduce the guide, explain its main characteristics and objectives, and answer any questions that participants may have.

The meeting, which will be held in English, will take place on 19 October 2022 at 13:45 CET via the Webex teleconferencing platform.

If you are an expert in qualifying holding procedures or a stakeholder being impacted by such procedures and are interested in joining, please send an email to Authorisation@ecb.europa.eu and we will send you a meeting invitation.

Deadline for stakeholder meeting registration: midnight CET on 12 October 2022.

Questions should preferably be submitted in advance to ensure the meeting runs smoothly.

Submitting questions for the stakehoder meeting:

Send your questions to: SSMPublicConsultation@ecb.europa.eu.

Deadline for submitting questions: midnight CET on 12 October 2022.