European Banking Authority issues no-action letter on the application of ESG disclosure requirements
On 6 August 2025, the European Banking Authority (“EBA”) published a no-action letter on the application of its provisions relating to disclosures on ESG risks (the “No-action Letter”), whilst also updating its ESG Dashboard with December 2024 data.
Background
On 22 May 2025, the EBA launched a consultation paper on amending its Pillar 3 disclosure framework by incorporating the Capital Requirements Regulation III (“CRR”) requirements on ESG-related risks, equity exposures and the aggregate exposure to shadow banking entities (the “Consultation Paper”). To allow for supervisory flexibility during the transitional phase for the implementation of these proposed amendments, which you can read about in more detail in our earlier update here, the Consultation Paper proposed the No-action Letter, advising regulators not to prioritise the enforcement of specific ESG disclosure templates during the transition phase. Although the Consultation Paper is open for comment until 22 August 2025, the EBA has now published the No-action Letter.
EBA Recommendations
In respect of the period from 30 June 2025 until the date the amendments proposed in the Consultation Paper enter into force, the No-action Letter recommends that EU competent authorities do not prioritise the enforcement of:
- the disclosure of certain ESG disclosure templates (notably EU 6 to EU 10, and specific columns in Templates 1 and 4) of the European Commission’s Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3172, for large institutions with listed securities;
- the collection of templates EU 6 to 10, and specific columns in Templates 1 and 4 of the EBA Decision EBA/DC/498 of 6 July 2023, for large institutions with listed securities; and/or
- the disclosure of the corresponding ESG templates under the European Commission’s Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3172 for all other institutions recently brought under the scope of Article 449a of the CRR.
ESG Dashboard
The EBA has also published an updated version of its ESG dashboard. In doing so, the EBA noted that “the ESG risk landscape across EU/EEA banks appears stable, thus reflecting the long-term horizon of climate-related risks and the gradual pace of change in banking portfolios”.
Comment
Despite the publication of the No-action Letter, uncertainties remain in respect of how the EBAs’ Pillar 3 disclosure framework will overlap with the new EU Taxonomy. For example, it is still not clear how the recommendations included in the No-action Letter will align with the new “opt-out” of reporting detailed Taxonomy information and KPIs which financial undertakings can use until 31 December 2027 (you can read more about the new Taxonomy in our earlier updates here and here). We anticipate that the EBA will address this when publishing the outcome of the Consultation Paper. We will keep you updated as and when this happens.
