THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC [OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338.], and in particular Article 131(18) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Directive 2013/36/EU empowers competent or designated authorities of the Member States to impose higher own funds requirements on global systemically important institutions (G-SIIs) in order to compensate for the higher risk that G-SIIs represent for the financial system and the potential impact of their failure on taxpayers. That Directive outlines certain basic principles of a methodology for the identification of G-SIIs and for the allocation of G-SIIs to subcategories in accordance with their systemic relevance. In accordance with that allocation they will be assigned an additional Common Equity Tier 1 capital requirement, the G-SII buffer. That methodology of identification and allocation of G-SIIs is based on five categories measuring th ee systemic significance of a bank for the global financial market, and is further specified in this Regulation.