Decision of the Board of the Financial Supervisory Authority on lowering the additional capital requirements for credit institutions
At its meeting of 6 April 2020, the Board of the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) decided to remove the additional capital requirement referred to in chapter 10, sections 4 and 6a of the Credit Institutions Act (610/2014), determined on the basis of the structural characteristics of the financial system (systemic risk buffer) from the following supervised entities: Nordea Group (previously 3.0%), OP Financial Group (2.0%), Municipality Finance Plc (1.5%) and other credit institutions (1.0%, Aktia Bank Plc, Danske Mortgage Bank Plc, Evli Bank Plc, Handelsbanken Finance Plc, Oma Savings Bank Plc, POP Bank Group, S-Bank Ltd, Mortgage Society of Finland Group, Savings Banks Group and Bank of Åland Plc). The preliminary decision was taken on 17 March 2020.
The FIN-FSA Board also decided to lower the additional capital requirement for other systemically important institutions (O-SII buffer), as referred to in chapter 10, section 8 of the Credit Institutions Act, in the case of OP Financial Group, to 1.0% (2.0%).
The decision enters into force immediately. The aim of the decision is to mitigate the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the stability of financial markets and on credit institutions’ ability to finance the economy.
The FIN-FSA will closely monitor that banks use the positive effects of these measures to mitigate the impact of the crisis and not to channel them into the payment of dividends or performance bonuses.
For further information, please contact
Samu Kurri, Head of Department, tel. +358 9 183 5247
Appendices
- Board’s decision on the lowering of credit institutions’ capital requirements (pdf)
- Principles for determining national systemically important credit institutions (O-SIIs) and setting additional capital requirements (O-SII buffers) (pdf)