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Since April 1, 2026, ESG risks are legally embedded in the German Banking Act (Sections 26c and 26d KWG) through BRUBEG. Financial institutions must integrate ESG risks into their risk management and establish an ESG risk plan. Regulatory resilience depends on effective coordination between the three lines of defense, robust documentation, and methodologically sound monitoring and audit processes.

The 9th amendment to the MaRisk marks one of the most significant structural overhauls in years. It pursues two main objectives: reducing complexity and strengthening proportionality. To this end, the existing regulations are being streamlined and a more risk-based approach is being adopted, which will grant supervised institutions greater self-responsibility in future.

With around 100 participants, five high-calibre specialist presentations and fascinating discussions, our 14th Trend Conference Regulatory Law took place once again in a hybrid format on 10 March 2026 – and impressed attendees both on-site in Frankfurt am Main and online with its high-quality content and in-depth exchanges. Below is a professional review of the conference day.

Our analysis of BaFin’s Digital Supervisory Briefing 2026 highlights the strategic shift toward greater proportionality and principle-based supervision (9th MaRisk amendment). The focus is on the increasing demands on the governance professionalism of management boards and the management of systemic risks through geopolitics, NPL increases, and DORA. At the same time, it highlights operational relief for SNCI institutions under the small banking regime and the LSI stress test. The article serves as a well-founded guide for institutions to understand regulatory leeway and ensure the expertise of their committees.