Branches — ITS B_01.03

Regulatory Context

The DORA Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) 2024/2956 template B_01.03 requires financial entities to report all branches to their National Competent Authority (NCA). This forms part of the entity identification section of the Register of Information — your NCA needs to know not just who you are, but where you operate.

For financial entities with cross-border operations within the European Economic Area (EEA), the branch register is particularly important. Each branch represents a location where the entity conducts regulated activities, and the NCA must understand the full geographic scope of your operations to assess how ICT third-party dependencies might affect different parts of your business across jurisdictions.

Template B_01.03 feeds into the broader entity identification framework alongside your entity details (B_01.01) and entity group information (B_01.02). Together, these templates provide the NCA with a complete picture of your organisational structure for the purposes of DORA oversight.

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Who needs this? Any financial entity that operates through branches in one or more EEA member states must complete B_01.03. If your entity operates from a single location with no branches, you may still want to record your headquarters here for completeness, though the primary entity details are captured in B_01.01.

Branch List Page

Navigate to DORA > Register of Information > Branches to see the branch management page. The page header displays a building icon, the title "Branches", and the subtitle "Manage organization branches for EBA DORA RoI template B_01.03".

All branches are displayed in a data table with the following columns:

Column Type Required Description
Name Text The branch name displayed in bold heading text (e.g., "Frankfurt Main Office").
Country Code + full name The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code followed by the full country name in muted text (e.g., "DE Germany").
City Text or dash The city where the branch is located. Shows a double dash (--) if not provided.
Branch Code Monospace text or dash An internal branch identifier displayed in monospace font (e.g., "DE-FRA-001"). Shows a double dash if not set.
Address Text or dash The physical address of the branch. Shows a double dash if not provided.
Actions Icon buttons Edit (pencil) and Delete (trash) icons that appear on hover. These are right-aligned in the final column.

Empty State

When no branches exist, the page shows a centred empty state with a building icon, the heading "No branches defined", the message "Add your organization branches to populate the DORA RoI B_01.03 template", and an "Add branch" button.

Adding a Branch

Click the "Add branch" button in the top-right corner of the page (or in the empty state). An inline form panel appears above the table. Complete the fields and click "Add Branch" to save, or "Cancel" to discard.

Step 1 — Enter the branch name

Provide a clear, identifiable name. This should be recognisable to both internal staff and regulatory reviewers. Examples: "Frankfurt Main Office", "Dublin Operations Centre", "Milan Branch".

Step 2 — Select the country

Choose from the dropdown of EU/EEA countries. The dropdown shows the country name followed by its two-letter code (e.g., "Germany (DE)"). Only EU and EEA member states are included: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

Step 3 — Add optional location details

Fill in the city, branch code, and address fields as applicable. While optional, these provide valuable context for the B_01.03 template and make the register more useful for internal reference.

Step 4 — Save

Click "Add Branch" to create the record. The branch appears immediately in the table.

Field Reference

Field Type Required Description
Branch Name Text input Required A human-readable name for the branch. Should be unique within your organisation for clarity. Examples: "Frankfurt Main Office", "Dublin Operations Centre", "London Representative Office".
Country Dropdown (EU/EEA) Required The EU or EEA member state where the branch is located. The dropdown contains all 30 EU/EEA countries. This maps directly to the country field in the B_01.03 ITS template and is used by the NCA to understand your cross-border operational footprint.
City Text input Optional The city or municipality where the branch is located. Examples: "Frankfurt am Main", "Dublin", "Milan". Provides geographic specificity beyond the country level.
Branch Code Text input Optional An internal identifier for the branch. This can follow any convention your organisation uses. Examples: "DE-FRA-001", "IE-DUB-002", "BR-0042". Useful for cross-referencing with internal systems and maintaining consistency across regulatory reports.
Address Text input Optional The full street address of the branch. Example: "Neue Mainzer Str. 52, 60311 Frankfurt". While optional in Venvera, consider providing this for completeness in your regulatory submission.

Inline Editing

To edit a branch, hover over its row in the table and click the pencil icon in the Actions column. The row transforms into an editable state:

  • The Name cell becomes a text input, pre-filled with the current name.
  • The Country cell becomes a dropdown selector, pre-set to the current country.
  • The City cell becomes a text input.
  • The Branch Code cell becomes a text input.
  • The Address cell becomes a text input.
  • The Actions column changes to show a green checkmark (Save) and a grey X (Cancel).

Make your changes directly in the table, then click the green checkmark to save or the X to cancel. The Save button is disabled if the required fields (Name and Country) are empty. After saving, the row returns to its normal display state with the updated values.

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Inline editing is efficient. Because all editing happens directly within the table row, you can quickly update multiple branches without navigating to separate edit pages. This is particularly useful when doing an initial data load or correcting addresses in bulk.

Deleting a Branch

Hover over the branch row and click the trash icon. A confirmation dialog appears: "Deactivate branch [name]? It will be removed from active listings." Confirming the action deactivates the branch — it is removed from the visible list and will not be included in future B_01.03 exports.

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Note that the deletion prompt uses the word "deactivate" rather than "delete". The branch record is soft-deleted (marked inactive) rather than permanently removed, preserving audit trail integrity.

Why Branches Matter for DORA Compliance

The B_01.03 template is part of the foundation of your DORA Register of Information. While it may seem straightforward compared to risk assessments or contractual arrangements, getting your branch data right is important for several reasons:

  • Entity scope definition — The NCA uses branch data to understand the full scope of your regulated operations. If you have branches in multiple jurisdictions, different NCAs may have oversight responsibilities, and the branch register clarifies the operational perimeter.
  • Cross-border reporting — For entities operating across multiple EEA member states, the branch register feeds into cross-border reporting obligations. Each NCA needs to understand which parts of your operations fall within their jurisdiction.
  • ICT dependency mapping — Branches may rely on different ICT infrastructure or providers. Understanding your geographic footprint helps in assessing whether ICT concentration risks differ by location.
  • Resilience planning — Branch locations are relevant to business continuity and disaster recovery planning. A branch in a region prone to specific risks (natural disasters, geopolitical instability) may require different resilience measures.

Tips and Best Practices

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Add all branches before your first export. The DORA regulatory export generates the B_01.03 template from the data in this module. Ensure all branches are recorded before generating your submission to avoid incomplete filings. Missing branches may trigger queries from your NCA.
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Use consistent, unique branch codes. While branch codes are optional, adopting a consistent naming convention (e.g., country code + city abbreviation + sequence number like "DE-FRA-001") makes cross-referencing easier. Branch codes should be unique within your organisation to avoid confusion in regulatory reports and internal systems.
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Only EU/EEA countries are available. The country dropdown is restricted to EU and EEA member states because the DORA framework applies to financial entities within the EEA. If your entity has offices outside the EEA, those are typically not reported under B_01.03. Record them in your internal systems, but they do not form part of the DORA Register of Information.
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Keep branch data current. If you open new branches, close existing ones, or change addresses, update the register promptly. The DORA Register of Information is expected to be a living document, and stale data undermines its value for both regulatory compliance and operational risk management.
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