Capital buffers raised for BoC, Hellenic

The Central Bank of Cyprus raised the level of capital buffers that the Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank need to maintain due to their systemic importance to the sector.

CBC concluded its annual reassessment of the designation of credit institutions that meet the definition of O-SII institutions for 2023.

It designated the Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic Bank, Eurobank, Astrobank and Αlpha Bank as Other Systemically Important Institutions.

It set the level of the capital buffer that they must maintain “as a result of their systemic importance”.

Compared to the last update in December 2022, the Bank of Cyprus must raise its O-SII buffer requirement to 1.875%, up from the 1.50% it was.

Respectively, Hellenic Bank must raise its capital buffer to 1.25% from 1% in 2023.

The capital buffer for Eurobank was left unchanged at 0.75%, whereas Astrobank and Alpha Bank remained at 0.25%.

For 2025, the Bank of Cyprus has to increase its capital buffer to 2.25% and Hellenic Bank to 1.5%.

The rest of the banks described as “systemically important institutions” have to maintain their capital buffer rates at the same level for 2025.