The draft directive introduces additional requirements for a capital conservation buffer of 2.5% CET 1 identical for all banks in the EU, and an institution-specific countercyclical capital buffer , as well as the possibility for member states to introduce a systemic risk buffer of additional CET 1 capital for the financial sector or one or more subsets of it.

The review carried out by the Irish central bank identified capital needs of €13.3 billion for AIB (broken down as €11.9 billion in Core Tier 1 capital and €1.4 billion in contingent capital) and €1.5 billion for EBS (broken down as €1.3 billion in Core Tier 1 capital and € 0.2 billion in contingent capital).

The Commission should also be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU in respect of technical adjustments to Directive 2006/49/EC to clarify definitions to ensure uniform application of that Directive or to take account of developments on financial markets; to adjust the amounts of initial capital prescribed by certain provisions of that Directive and specific amounts relevant to the calculation of capital requirements for the trading book to take account of developments in the economic and monetary field; to adjust the categories of investment firms eligible for certain derogations to required minimum levels of own funds to take a ...[+++]ccount of developments on financial markets; to clarify the requirement that investment firms hold own funds equivalent to one quarter of their fixed overheads of the preceding year to ensure uniform application of that Directive; to align terminology and definitions with subsequent relevant acts; to adjust technical provisions of that Directive on the calculation of capital requirements for various classes of risk and large exposures, on the use of internal models to calculate capital requirements and on trading in order to take account of developments on financial markets or in risk measurement or accounting standards, or in Union legislation, or which have regard to the convergence of supervisory practices; and to take account of the outcome of the review of various matters relating to the scope of Directive 2004/39/EC.

Only if the amount were EUR 21,6 billion would all conceivable risks mentioned above be covered, so that the group banks’ loans to property service companies, which on account of the risks were being committed and drawn down from rent, renewal and the other above‐mentioned guarantees, play no role in the calculation of the subsidiary banks’ and the group’s own‐funds ratios because they have a 0 % weighting in the calculation and are therefore not included and also not set off against the large‐scale lending limits.

As from 10 days after the excess has occurred, the components of the excess, selected in accordance with point 1, shall be allocated to the appropriate line in column 1 of Table 1 in ascending order of specific‐risk requirements in Annex I and/or requirements in Annex II. The additional capital requirement shall be equal to the sum of the specific‐risk requirements in Annex I and/or the Annex II requirements on these components, multiplied by the corresponding factor in column 2 of Table 1.

The European Union's existing legislation on capital requirements (2000/12/EC) has, with some minor revisions, been in place since 1988 and needs now to be updated to make sure that standards reflect market developments and that capital requirements accurately reflect the risks run by banks and investment firms operating within the EU, while at the same time ensuring no deterioration in the overall levels.