On Wednesday 23 July, the European Banking Authority (EBA) took the view that the provisions of the banking prudential rules (Article 21 of Directive 2024/1619), relating to the prohibition of financial institutions from third countries from directly providing core banking services (deposits, repayable funds, granting of loans or guarantees) without being established in the European Union, should not be amended.
However, these provisions could be clarified by means of specific guidance, in particular the interaction with the UCITS Directive (2009/65) governing harmonised investment funds and the AIFMD Directive (2011/61) governing alternative investment fund managers.
In its report, the authority points out that three exceptions to this prohibition are possible: - in the event of reverse solicitation of the provision of services by a customer established in the EU; - in the case of provision of services to a credit institution; - when the provision of services benefits an entity of a group from a third country.
Apart from these three exceptions, it is mandatory to open a branch in the EU in order to provide core banking services.
See the EBA report: https://aeur.eu/f/HZT (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)