The European Banking Authority has published its final report on Recommendations on outsourcing by financial institutions to cloud service providers. The EBA has developed the Recommendations on its own initiative as part of its broader work on FinTech, given the increasing importance and popularity of cloud services as an enabling technology used by financial institutions.

The Recommendations are designed to complement the guidelines on outsourcing issued by the EBA's predecessor, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors on December 14, 2006. The Recommendations further specify the CEBS guidelines in five key areas: the security of data and systems; the location of data and data processing; access and audit rights; chain outsourcing; and contingency plans and exit strategies.

The Recommendations are addressed to credit institutions, investment firms and national regulators and will apply from July 1, 2018.

View the EBA Final Report.