Article 1 - Definitions

‘own funds decision’ means any of the following decisions: (a) a decision of the ECB on permission to classify an instrument as a Common Equity Tier 1; (b) a decision of the ECB on permission to classify an instrument as Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 instrument; (c) a decision of the ECB on permission to include interim or year-end profits; and (d) a decision of the ECB on permission for an own funds reduction. For the purposes of this Decision, an own funds decision also includes the approval of the ECB’s response to a consultation request from a resolution authority on the reduction of eligible liabilities instruments;

‘own funds reduction’ means any action referred to in Article 77 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;

‘reductions with replacement’ means own funds reductions as referred to in Article 78(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;

‘reductions without replacement’ means own funds reductions as referred to in Article 78(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;

‘EBA list’ means a list established, maintained and published ¹ by the EBA pursuant to the third subparagraph of Article 26(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, containing all the forms of capital instruments in each Member State that qualify as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments on the basis of information from each competent authority;

‘Common Equity Tier 1 instrument’, ‘Additional Tier 1 instrument’ and ‘Tier 2 instrument’ mean a capital instrument which qualifies as Common Equity Tier 1 instrument, Additional Tier 1 instrument or Tier 2 instrument, respectively, under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;

‘replacing instrument’ means the capital instrument which replaces the capital instrument to be reduced, repurchased, called or redeemed within the meaning of Article 78(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;

‘replaced instrument’ means the capital instrument to be subject to an action referred to in Article 77 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and replaced by a replacing instrument in a reduction with replacement pursuant to Article 78(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;

‘Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio’, ‘Tier 1 capital ratio’ and ‘total capital ratio’ mean Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio, Tier 1 capital ratio and total capital ratio, respectively, as referred to in Article 92(2) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;

‘SREP decision’ means the decision adopted by the ECB on the basis of Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 following the annual supervisory review and evaluation process within the meaning of Article 97 of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ² and which establishes prudential requirements;

‘delegation decision’ and ‘delegated decision’ have the same meaning as in point (2) and point (4) of Article 3 of Decision (EU) 2017/933 (ECB/2016/40), respectively;

‘heads of work units’ means the heads of work units of the ECB to whom the power to adopt own funds decisions is delegated;

‘non-objection procedure’ means the procedure set out in Article 26(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 and further specified in Article 13g of Decision ECB/2004/2;

‘negative decision’ means a decision that does not or does not fully grant the permission as requested by the significant supervised entity. A decision with ancillary provisions such as conditions or obligations shall be considered as a negative decision unless such ancillary provisions (a) ensure that the supervised entity fulfils the requirements of relevant Union law referred to in Articles 3(4), 4(3) and 5(6) and have been agreed in writing or (b) merely restate one or more of the existing requirements that the institution has to comply with pursuant to provisions referred to in Articles 3(4), 4(3) and 5(6) or require information on the fulfilment of one or more of such requirements;

‘significant supervised entity’ means a significant supervised entity as defined in point (16) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/17) ³;

‘significant supervised group’ means a significant supervised group as defined in point (22) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/17) ⁴;

‘general prior permission’ means a general permission to take any of the actions set out in Article 77(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 to reduce own funds which is granted in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 78(1) of that Regulation;

‘sensitivity’ means a characteristic or factor that may have a negative impact on the ECB’s reputation and/or on the effective and consistent functioning of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, including but not limited to any of the following: (a) the relevant supervised entity has previously been, or is currently, subject to severe supervisory measures such as early intervention measures; (b) the draft decision once adopted will set a new precedent that could bind the ECB in the future; (c) the draft decision once adopted may attract negative media or public attention; or (d) a national competent authority that has entered into close cooperation with the ECB communicates its disagreement with the proposed draft decision to the ECB.