The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) stated that the large Spanish bank Cecabank will withdraw from the Euribor contributory bank panel starting from September 30, 2026.

The regulatory authority for the European Money Market Institute (EMMI) stated that this withdrawal has been assessed and will not threaten the representativeness of Euribor as the benchmark for the euro unsecured money market.

Cecabank will exit the Euribor panel in September 2026.

According to EMMI, Cecabank will withdraw from the Euribor panel, and September 30, 2026, will be the last day for them to submit data for calculating this benchmark input. After that, this Spanish bank will no longer participate in the daily pricing process by submitting data.

Regulators believe that withdrawal will not affect the representativeness of the benchmark.

The national regulatory authorities within the ESMA and Euribor supervisory colleges reviewed the impact of Cecabank's withdrawal from representing the euro in the unsecured money market. The conclusion is straightforward: this withdrawal will not pose a risk to the representativeness of Euribor.

This means that regulatory authorities believe that the remaining panel members, along with the data pool on which the benchmark is based, are sufficient to maintain the reliability of the benchmark without interruption.

ESMA's supervisory role over EMMI

ESMA is responsible for supervisory duties here, rather than directly operating Euribor. EMMI is the institution in charge of managing, calculating, and releasing Euribor.

As the financial market regulatory authority of the European Union, ESMA continuously oversees how EMMI compiles and maintains this benchmark. It is for this reason that ESMA, rather than Cecabank or EMMI, has issued this statement regarding changes to the Euribor dashboard alone, and endorses the continuous reliability of this benchmark.

Since 2022, four new banks have joined.

The exit of Cecabank is not an isolated incident. Since 2022, four new banks have joined this panel, with the latest addition being KBC Bank in May 2026.

ESMA pointed out that the expansion of the panel size is one of the important factors in their judgment that the withdrawal of a single bank will not weaken the benchmark, as the panel continues to attract new participants while losing one contributor.

ESMA continues to encourage more banks to join

ESMA is still working to get more banks to join. Regulatory authorities stated that they continue to encourage credit institutions active in the euro unsecured money market to consider becoming members of the Euribor panel, as broader participation is seen as key to enhancing the robustness and representativeness of this benchmark.

ESMA indicates that this is not just a one-time call for Cecabank to withdraw, but rather a continuous priority. The four new banks added since 2022, including KBC Bank, show that progress has been made in this recruitment effort.

Euribor's Importance in the EU Financial System

Euribor is the foundation for a large number of loans and financial contracts in Europe, therefore regulatory authorities regard the composition of the panel as a financial stability issue, rather than just a routine administrative change. For such a widely used benchmark, maintaining a broader base of contributing banks with higher activity is seen as key to preserving its credibility.

ESMA also indicates a hope to continue maintaining this standard in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Cecabank When will it be discontinued? Euribor Panel? Cecabank It will be discontinued starting from September 30, 2026.
• Will the departure of Cecabank affect the representativeness of Euribor? ESMA and national regulatory authorities believe that it will not.
• What role does ESMA play in Euribor? ESMA is responsible for supervising and managing the European Money Market Institute of Euribor.
• Have any new banks joined the Euribor panel recently? Yes, since 2022, four new banks have joined, including KBC Bank which joined in May 2026.

This article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and has been reviewed by an editorial team.