From 1 January 2026, EU authorities will require institutions to use the revised NACE Rev. 2.1 classification when reporting counterparty economic activity. Below is a clear FAQ to help Irish regulated firms understand what’s changing and how to prepare.
What is NACE Rev. 2.1?
NACE Rev. 2.1 is the updated EU statistical classification of economic activities. It replaces older versions of the NACE standard, ensuring consistent categorisation of businesses and sectors across regulatory reporting, risk modelling, and economic analysis.
What is changing in 2026?
EU authorities have confirmed a coordinated transition across reporting frameworks:
- NACE Rev. 1.1 is now obsolete and will no longer be accepted for mandated reporting.
- NACE Rev. 2.1 has become the required code list for all reporting reference dates since 1 January 2026.
- Reporting frameworks are aligning so institutions do not have to work across multiple NACE standards.
- Impact for Ireland: All Irish banks, lenders, credit providers, and reporting entities must update their sector classifications to avoid regulatory errors.
When is the deadline?
The new standard applies from 1 January 2026. Submissions referencing earlier NACE versions will be rejected.
Why does this matter?
NACE codes are used directly in regulatory templates and data validation. If sector data is outdated or inconsistent, it can:
- Cause submission errors or rejected files.
- Create manual remediation workload late in the reporting cycle.
- Lead to misclassification across credit risk, portfolio analysis, and ESG reporting.
Which reporting frameworks use NACE codes?
NACE classification is referenced across key EU reporting frameworks, including:
- AnaCredit: Used to classify counterparty economic activity for granular credit data reporting.
- FINREP: Used for sector breakdowns of exposures by NACE code sections.
- EBA ESG disclosures / Pillar 3 reporting: Used for climate-related and environmental risk metrics linked to counterpart activity.
Who will be affected?
Any institution reporting to the Central Bank of Ireland or the ECB, including:
- Retail and commercial banks
- Credit unions reporting under specific templates
- Alternative lenders
- Leasing and finance providers
- Institutions preparing ESG disclosures
- Firms analysing sectoral exposure (e.g., agriculture, hospitality, property-related sectors)
What should institutions in Ireland do now?
- Review customer and counterparty records for obsolete or missing NACE codes.
- Update internal mapping tables to NACE Rev. 2.1.
- Validate sector allocation across regulatory, risk, and ESG systems.
- Plan test submissions ahead of 2026 to reduce error risk.
How Can We Help?
CRIFVision-net supports institutions with NACE batch enrichment and upgrades, enabling you to fulfil your regulatory reporting requirements:
- Cleanse and update customer/portfolio datasets to the latest NACE standard.
- Ensure consistent sector tagging across regulatory submissions.
- Reduce reporting risk while improving portfolio insight and analytics.
