Insights & Banking-​Trends

The EBA/CP/2025/21 consultation paper provides significant impetus for the further development of the banking supervisory framework and defines clear expectations for institutions of all sizes. It aims to achieve greater proportionality, more streamlined procedures and closer integration of key elements of the SREP. At the same time, an effective, cause-orientated assessment is moving more into focus. This requires financial institutions to take action. This article provides an initial orientation on the key content and the regulatory thrust.

The EU AI Act is the world’s first comprehensive regulation governing artificial intelligence (AI). With its risk-based approach, it aims to make AI safe, trustworthy and compliant. The 2025 regulation marks a turning point for the European AI landscape: what the EU AI Act has already changed, where challenges remain and what developments companies can expect in the coming years.

| Part 1 | The year 2025 was also challenging for banks. What can they expect in 2026? We discussed this with our experts Andreas Mach, Rainer Wilken, and Stefan Baumann. This first part of our three-part series “Banking 2026” focuses on the challenges and opportunities for banks in 2026 and the role that artificial intelligence can play in this context.

IT GRC, i.e., the governance of IT, the management of IT risks, and compliance with external and internal requirements, is becoming increasingly important for banks and financial service providers in times of increased cyberattacks, growing digitalization, and stricter regulation. In a conversation with Prof. Dr. Josef Scherer, we discussed the legal foundations of IT/AI governance. It became clear that IT GRC is not a theoretical debate, but a concrete management task.