1.The competent authorities of the Member States shall cooperate closely in the performance of the duties provided for in this Directive, particularly where investment services are provided on the basis of the freedom to provide services or through the establishment of branches.
The competent authorities shall on request supply one another with all information likely to facilitate the supervision of the capital adequacy of institutions, in particular the verification of their compliance with the rules laid down in this Directive.
The competent authorities shall cooperate with EBA for the purposes of this Directive, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010.
The competent authorities shall without delay provide EBA with all information necessary to carry out its duties under this Directive and under Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, in accordance with Article 35 of that Regulation.
2.Any exchange of information between competent authorities which is provided for in this Directive shall be subject to the following obligations of professional secrecy:
for investment firms, those imposed in Article 54 and 58 of Directive 2004/39/EC; and
for credit institutions, those imposed in Articles 44 to 52 of Directive 2006/48/EC.
3.Article 42a of Directive 2006/48/EC, with the exception of point (a) of its paragraph 1, shall apply mutatis mutandis to the supervision of investment firms unless the investment firms fulfil the criteria set out in Article 20(2), 20(3) or 46(1) of this Directive.