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This report dives into the potential value of extending IReF to cover Country Specific Requirements (CSRs) – reporting requirements that do not arise from ECB statistical regulations but are instead covered by national legislation. Doing so would reduce redundant local reporting extensions and standardize reporting across jurisdictions.  

The report reveals that the banking industry considers CSRs to be a significant cost driver in data reporting. Many existing CSRs are covered by IReF due to its high level of detail and granularity, but there is work to be done in determining how to best minimize duplicative reporting efforts. On the whole, however, industry participants do not object to reporting larger amounts of data as such. 

Additional two reports were published on “Additional analytical value and operational aspects” and “Closer alignment with FINREP solo” which provided even more insights into some of the proposed reporting datapoints that the industry feels will be more costly than beneficial: more granular real estate information, origination and termination of loans by type, and information on standardized non-negotiable instruments. The potential focus on loans would require additional detail not currently reported, which could take up additional resources. Lastly, the proposed changes will need to consider how to report granular information on natural persons while remaining compliant with GDPR. 

From an analytical point of view, larger cross-border banks operating in multiple jurisdictions will benefit most from IReF, as their national reporting obligations will decrease. Smaller entities may face a bigger challenge, as the ECB is seeking new data points not used for their current reporting to satisfy the CSRs. Overall, participants affirm that adopting a unified approach to granular data reporting proves beneficial for both reporting banks and supervisory functions, ultimately contributing to the stability of financial systems. 

These are the final reports for the Cost-benefits Assessments before the official IReF proposal. These results will help the IReF team at ECB, along with National Central Banks of Eurosystem, weigh the pros and cons of the scenarios under consideration for all topics and make decisions that minimize the burden on financial institutions while securing the necessary information. We expect to see the proposed framework later this year, with a projected go-live in 2027. 

We see IReF as another part of a larger shift from template-based workflows to granular data reporting. Regnology is more than prepared for this shift thanks to our non-redundant, granular-sourced data model. This model has been in development for over 25 years and has served as the basis for our innovative IReF-specific solution, which will help banks overcome the key challenges of implementation: ensuring data availability and quality, standing up granular data workflows and increasing speed and volume of data processing. With a unique combination of battle-tested RegTech and SupTech solutions, domain expertise across our team and a unique perspective from working with both regulators and the regulated, Regnology is built for a future of regulatory reporting that is defined by granular data. One key feature of our platform is powerful data visualization – data dictionaries, models and processing logic all enable automation and simplification for data transformation, report generation and distribution, enabling financial institutions to respond faster to new requirements.  

In addition, our platform caters to some of the key areas financial institutions will be focusing on as they prepare for IReF. Our cloud-based architecture enables nearly endless scale and ease of interfacing, so users can work with granular data directly on their screens. Our robust suite of data management tools facilitate easy processing and effective validation checks and correction mechanisms throughout the reporting lifecycle, helping to manage larger volumes. Finally, when it comes to submitting and resubmitting granular data to regulators, our exceptions monitor offers comprehensive data quality management tools and Regnology’s Rconnect enables seamless submission and feedback processing between the regulated and regulators.