Norway rejects bank regulator proposal, seeks other capital measures

Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge

23/05/2019 07:14

OSLO, May 23 (Reuters) - Norway's finance ministry has
rejected a proposal by the country's bank regulator to change
the way systemically important banks are identified and instead
will consider alternative measures, the ministry said on
Thursday.
    The proposal had been opposed by regional banks, which would
have been identified as systemically important under the
regulation and could therefore have faced increased capital
buffer requirements.
    The government will still consider making changes in banks'
capital requirements, however, the ministry said.
    The primary purpose of a change would be to mitigate the
effects on the capital of Norwegian banks from recently adopted
European Union regulations.
    If no change is made, some Norwegian banks would potentially
be allowed to reduce the buffer capital they currently hold, the
ministry said.

 (Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Jason Neely)
 ((terje.solsvik@thomsonreuters.com; +47 918 666 70; Reuters
Messaging: terje.solsvik.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))