The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) today published its updated “FMA Minimum Standards for lending business and other transactions with counterparty risks (FMA-MS-K)”. They update the rules dating from 2005 and amend them in line with regulatory changes as well as the progress in risk management. In particular they ensure congruence with the “EBA Guidelines on loan origination and monitoring” that have applied since 30 June 2021 which define harmonised requirements at EU level inter alia for internal governance and the control framework for loan origination and the lending decision process. The fact that the requirements generally apply to all credit institutions, and therefore also for small credit institutions is just one innovation. Provided it is guaranteed that its objectives are achieved, requirements for credit risk management and loan origination and processing of small institutions may however be applied proportionally in accordance with the size of the institution and the risk profile of the transactions in question.<\/p>