ECB Agrees to Capital Buffer Changes Notified by National Authorities
ECB supports the measures taken by euro area macro-prudential authorities to address the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the financial sector. ECB has assessed the notifications submitted by national macro-prudential authorities for each proposed measure provided for in the Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive and has issued a non-objection decision endorsing these measures. The measures include releases or reductions of the countercyclical capital buffer, systemic risk buffer, and buffers for other systemically important institutions. In addition, some authorities have postponed or revoked earlier announced measures to avoid placing pressure on banks to accumulate capital buffers in a downturn.
The measures announced by national macro-prudential authorities since March 11, 2020 will free up more than EUR 20 billion of Common Equity Tier 1 capital held by euro area banks. These macro-prudential actions complement and reinforce the measures announced by ECB Banking Supervision since March 12, 2020. The following are the key developments in this area:
- Among the seven euro area countries with positive rates, authorities in France, Ireland, and Lithuania reduced the countercyclical capital buffer to 0% and those in Belgium and Germany revoked the previously announced countercyclical capital buffer activations. In turn, euro area banks have seen their requirements reduced by the countercyclical capital buffer reductions in Denmark, Hong Kong, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and UK.
- The authorities in Estonia and Finland dropped the systemic risk buffer to 0% while the authority in the Netherlands reduced the existing 3% systemic risk buffer for three institutions.
- In combination with the reductions in the systemic risk buffer, Finland and the Netherlands also decided to lower the other systemically important institution buffer for one bank each. For the institutions in Finland this ensures that the combined structural buffers are effectively reduced by 1% of risk-weighted assets.
- Cyprus announced that it will delay the phase-in of other systemically important institution buffers by one year, while the Netherlands postponed the introduction of capital surcharges on domestic mortgage loan exposures under Article 458 of the Capital Requirements Regulation.
Related Links
Keywords: Europe, EU, Banking, COVID-19, CCyB, SRB, O-SII, CRR/CRD, Systemic Risk, Basel III, Regulatory Capital, ECB
Featured Experts
María Cañamero
Skilled market researcher; growth strategist; successful go-to-market campaign developer
Nicolas Degruson
Works with financial institutions, regulatory experts, business analysts, product managers, and software engineers to drive regulatory solutions across the globe.
Patrycja Oleksza
Applies proficiency and knowledge to regulatory capital and reporting analysis and coordinates business and product strategies in the banking technology area
Related Articles
EBA Clarifies Use of COVID-19-Impacted Data for IRB Credit Risk Models
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published four draft principles to support supervisory efforts in assessing the representativeness of COVID-19-impacted data for banks using the internal ratings based (IRB) credit risk models.
EP Reaches Agreement on Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The European Council and the European Parliament (EP) reached a provisional political agreement on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
PRA Consults on Model Risk Management Principles for Banks
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) launched a consultation (CP6/22) that sets out proposal for a new Supervisory Statement on expectations for management of model risk by banks.
EC Regulation Amends Standards for Calculating Credit Risk Adjustments
The European Commission (EC) published the Delegated Regulation 2022/954, which amends regulatory technical standards on specification of the calculation of specific and general credit risk adjustments.
HKMA Announces Launch of Data Repository on Sustainable Finance
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that the Green and Sustainable Finance (GSF) Cross-Agency Steering Group has launched the information and data repositories and outlined the progress made in advancing the development of green and sustainable finance in Hong Kong.
BIS Hub Updates Work Program for 2022, Announces New Projects
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub updated its work program, announcing a set of projects across various centers.
EIOPA Issues Cyber Underwriting Proposal, Statement on Open Insurance
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published two consultation papers—one on the supervisory statement on exclusions related to systemic events and the other on the supervisory statement on the management of non-affirmative cyber exposures.
NGFS Report on Integration of G-Cubed Model into NGFS Scenarios
The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) published a report that explores the feasibility of integrating the G-Cubed general equilibrium model into the NGFS suite of models.
US Senate Members Seek Details on SEC Proposed Climate Disclosure Rule
Certain members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs issued a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
EIOPA Consults on Review of Securitization Framework in Solvency II
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published a consultation paper on the advice on the review of the securitization prudential framework in Solvency II.
