EBA publishes new JC Guidelines to credit servicers

Being published under the Credit Servicers Directive, the final Guidelines extend the JC Guidelines on complaints management to credit servicers, with them being required to apply the same transparency on procedures that were applied to other firms in the banking, insurance, and securities industries. In addition, the Guidelines include the complaints management policy, the complaints management function, the registration of complaints, the reporting to the competent authorities or ombudsman, the internal follow-up, the provision of information to the complainant, and the processes for responding to complaints.

Moreover, the EBA issues additional non-substantive modifications to align the Guidelines with the amendments conducted to the EBA Regulation in 2020, which enabled the regulator to remove procedural requirements for national authorities and which are currently no longer demanded. The press release mentions that the EBA Guidelines, as well as the consolidated version of the JC Guidelines, are set to be published in all 24 languages in 2025. This will follow the proposed EU Payment Services Regulation entering into force and the EBA Regulation being adjusted appropriately.

Aiming to support the transposition of Article 24 (1) of the Directive (EU) 2021 on credit servicers and credit purchasers, the EBA introduced the Guidelines, which highlight that member states need to ensure that credit servicers establish and maintain transparent processes for the management of complaints from borrowers.

Before issuing these final Guidelines, the EBA announced that it expanded its Travel Rule regulations to include cryptocurrency service providers and intermediaries. Through this move, the regulator aimed to mitigate money laundering and terrorist financing, with the guidelines being set to come into effect as of 30 December 2024. In addition, the initiative, under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), subjects crypto asset service providers to the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.

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