€30 billion investment firms face new bank reclassification rules
Investment firms with assets exceeding €30 billion face updated criteria for mandatory reclassification as credit institutions under draft technical standards published by the European Banking Authority. The consultation runs until November 25, 2026.
From broker to banking license
Under the Capital Requirements Directive, investment firms exceeding €30 billion in total assets must secure credit institution authorization instead of operating under a MiFID license.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has detailed the calculation methodology for assessing asset thresholds at solo and group levels following the 2024 directive amendments.
The package includes three draft Regulatory Technical Standards covering threshold computation, regulatory reporting, and supervisory waiver criteria.
In parallel, investment firms with total assets above €5 billion face dedicated reporting obligations under the Investment Firms Regulation to enable ongoing monitoring by national competent authorities.
Waivers, deadlines and hearings
For the first time, the standards establish explicit criteria for supervisory waivers, allowing qualifying firms to retain their MiFID status when systemic risks remain contained.
The EBA has opened the public consultation on the draft standards until November 25, 2026, with a virtual public hearing scheduled for September 30, 2026.
Market participants and affected institutions must complete registration for the hearing by September 25, 2026.
All stakeholder submissions will be published after the process concludes.
Closing the shadow banking loophole
Subjecting massive trading houses to bank-like oversight is necessary to prevent regulatory arbitrage in European capital markets.
However, the true test lies in whether national supervisors apply the new waiver criteria consistently across member states.
Without uniform enforcement, the risk of cross-border forum shopping remains high.