The performance of the mapping of a group of institutions, which would identify the group entities in the Union or a third country and which would describe for each group entity its nature, location, the authorities involved in its supervision, the applicable prudential exemptions, its importance for the group and importance for the country in which it is authorised or established as well the criteria for determining that importance, is considered as a vital element for the identification of college members and potential observers. In this context, information on the importance of a branch for the group and importance of that branch for the Member State in which it is established is essential in order to determine the participation of the competent authorities of that Member State in college activities. Information on the nature of the group entities, whether institutions, branches or other financial sector entities, as well as on their country of authorisation or establishment, whether a Member State or a third country, is also important for identifying college members and potential observers.

Information on the importance of a group entity for the group and its importance for the Member State in which it is authorised or established is essential for determining the level of engagement of the competent authority of that Member State in the activities of the college, and, in particular, for carrying out the supervisory review and evaluation process.

In order to perform all college activities, the consolidating supervisor and the other members of the college should have an overview of the activities carried out by all group entities, including by those carrying out financial activities without being qualified as institutions and by those operating outside the Union. Interaction between the consolidating supervisor, college members, third-country supervisory authorities, public authorities or bodies which are responsible for or involved in the supervision of a group entity, including authorities responsible for the prudential supervision of the group's financial sector entities or competent authorities responsible for the supervision of markets in financial instruments, the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing, or consumer protection, should be promoted by allowing these third-country supervisory authorities and public authorities or bodies to participate in college work as observers, as appropriate.

College members should discuss and agree on the scope and level of involvement of observers, if any, in the college. The framework of participation of observers in the college should be clearly stated in the written coordination and cooperation arrangements and should be communicated to the observers.

Members of the college of supervisors should work together, coordinating their supervisory actions to the maximum extent possible and cooperating closely in order to better perform their duties, to avoid duplication of tasks, including duplication of information requests addressed to the supervised entities of the group. In this context, agreements on entrustment of tasks and delegation of responsibilities should be considered on a regular basis by the members of the college, and at least when college members develop their college supervisory examination programme.

The consolidating supervisor should have access to all information necessary for the performance of its tasks and responsibilities and should act as the coordinator for the collection and dissemination of information received from any college member or observer or from any entity of the group, or any input received from the resolution college, in particular from the relevant group-level resolution authority. The same applies also for the members of the college. In particular, where the consolidating supervisor determines the relevance of particular information for another member of the college, including the competent authority in a host Member State where a significant branch is established, it should refrain from unjustifiably excluding members of the college from receiving information.

Members of the college participating in the performance of the tasks referred to in Article 113 of Directive 2013/36/EU should be encouraged to exchange information on the assessment of the main elements of the supervisory review and evaluation process as referred to in Article 97 of that Directive, recognising at the same time that the supervisory review and evaluation process may be performed differently across Member States depending on the transposition of those Union rules into the national legislation taking also into account the guidelines issued by the EBA under Article 107(3) of Directive 2013/36/EU.

To facilitate cooperation between competent authorities and to coordinate any decisions intended to address issues of compliance by an institution with the requirements regarding approaches that need permission by competent authorities before being used for the calculation of own fund requirements (use of internal models for credit risk, market risk, counterparty risk and operational risk), the conditions of cooperation between the consolidating supervisor and the relevant competent authorities for exchanging information on the performance of those internal approaches, and for discussing and reaching agreement on measures to address inefficiencies identified should be specified.

To develop the college supervisory examination programme, college members shall take into account the group risk assessment report and the outcome of the capital and liquidity joint decision so as to better identify the priorities of common work. Thus, the development of the college supervisory examination programme should start once the group risk assessment and joint decision process have been concluded, while for its finalisation the competent authorities should consider the tasks they have committed to perform at national level, the resources allocated to those tasks and the respective timelines for their performance.

Members of the college should coordinate their activities in preparation for and during emergency situations such as adverse developments which may seriously jeopardise the orderly function and the integrity of the financial markets or the stability of the whole or part of the financial system of the Union, or other situations that affect or might explicitly affect the financial and economic situation of a banking group or any of its subsidiaries. Therefore, the planning and coordination of the competent authorities' activities in preparation for and during emergency situations should include, but not be limited to the activities referred to in the relevant provisions of Directive 2014/59/EU; in particular activities aiming at coordinating the group recovery planning and at providing coordinated input to resolution authorities, where needed, should be seen as examples of activities in preparation for and during emergency situations.

When dealing with an emergency situation, college members, under the coordination of the consolidating supervisor, should aim to develop a coordinated supervisory assessment of the situation, agree on a coordinated supervisory response and monitor the implementation of their response to ensure that the emergency situation is properly assessed and addressed. They should also ensure that any external communication is done in a coordinated way and covers elements which are agreed ex-ante between the members of the college.

The provisions in this Regulation are closely linked to one another, since they deal with the general conditions of the functioning of the colleges of supervisors. To ensure coherence between those provisions, which should enter into force at the same time, and to facilitate a comprehensive view and compact access to them by persons subject to those obligations it is desirable to include all the regulatory technical standards required by Article 51(4) and 116(4) of Directive 2013/36/EU in a single Regulation.

As the vast majority of supervisory colleges across the EU are formed in accordance with Article 116 of Directive 2013/36/EU it appears more appropriate to first specify the conditions regarding colleges under Article 116 of Directive 2013/36/EU before specifying those regarding colleges under Article 51 of Directive 2013/36/EU, the former appearing more as a general case, the latter as a special case.

This Regulation is based on the draft regulatory technical standards submitted by the European supervisory authority (European Banking Authority) (EBA) to the Commission.

The EBA has conducted open public consultations on the draft regulatory technical standards on which this Regulation is based, analysed the potential related costs and benefits and requested the opinion of the Banking Stakeholder Group established in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010,