Article 70
Effective application of administrative penalties and other administrative measures, and exercise of powers to impose penalties by competent authorities
1.
Member States shall ensure that, when determining the type and level of administrative penalties or other administrative measures, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant circumstances, including, where appropriate:
(a)
the gravity and the duration of the breach;
(b)
the degree of responsibility of the natural or legal person responsible for the breach;
(c)
the financial strength of the natural or legal person responsible for the breach, as indicated, inter alia, by the total turnover of a legal person or the annual income of a natural person;
(d)
the importance of profits gained or losses avoided by the natural or legal person responsible for the breach, insofar as they can be determined;
(e)
the losses for third parties caused by the breach, insofar as they can be determined;
(f)
the level of cooperation of the natural or legal person responsible for the breach with the competent authority;
(g)
previous breaches by the natural or legal person responsible for the breach;
(h)
any potential systemic consequences of the breach;
(i)
criminal penalties previously imposed for the same breach on the natural or legal person responsible for that breach.
2.
In the exercise of their powers to impose administrative penalties and other administrative measures, competent authorities shall cooperate closely to ensure that those penalties and measures produce the results aimed at by this Directive. They shall also coordinate their actions to prevent accumulation and overlap when applying administrative penalties and other administrative measures to cross-border cases.
3.
Competent authorities may apply penalties in relation to the same natural or legal person responsible for the same act or omission in the case of an accumulation of administrative and criminal proceedings related to the same breach. However, such accumulation of proceedings and penalties shall be strictly necessary and proportionate to pursue different and complementary objectives of general interest.
4.
Member States shall have in place appropriate mechanisms ensuring that competent authorities and judicial authorities are duly informed, in a timely manner, where administrative proceedings and criminal proceedings are initiated against the same natural or legal person that may be held responsible for the same conduct in both proceedings.
5.
By 18 July 2029, EBA shall submit a report to the Commission on the cooperation between competent authorities in the context of the application of administrative penalties, periodic penalty payments and other administrative measures. In addition, EBA shall assess any divergences in the application of administrative penalties between competent authorities in that respect. In particular, EBA shall assess:
(a)
the level of cooperation between competent authorities in the context of penalties applicable to cross-border cases or in the case of accumulation of administrative and criminal proceedings;
(b)
the exchange of information between competent authorities when dealing with cross-border cases;
(c)
best practices developed by any competent authority which might be of benefit for other competent authorities to adopt in the area of administrative penalties, periodic penalty payments and other administrative measures;
(d)
the effectiveness and the degree of convergence reached with regard to the enforcement of national provisions transposing this Directive and Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, including the administrative penalties, periodic penalty payments and other administrative measures imposed on natural or legal persons identified as responsible for the breach under national law.