Decisions on resolution plans and MREL

Press release 17 December 2021

The Debt Office has made this year’s decisions on resolution plans and minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).

The resolution plans show that the Debt Office considers, as in previous years, that nine Swedish banks (‘banks’ also means credit market companies and certain investment firms) are systemically important and need to be managed through resolution in the event of a crisis.

The purpose of MREL is to ensure that the systemically important banks hold sufficient capital and liabilities that can cover losses and restore the capital in the event of a crisis.

This year’s MREL decisions have been made in accordance with new EU rules that have been implemented in Swedish law during the year. The requirements are determined based on the banks’ capital requirements and consist of a risk-weighted and a non-risk-weighted requirement. The requirements will be phased in from 1 January 2022 with full compliance no later than 1 January 2024.

The nine systemically important banks and their MREL
1 Risk Exposure Amount (total)
2 Leverage Ratio Exposure (total) 
Banks  Total risk-weighted requirement   (percentage of REA1) Total non-risk-weighted requirement (percentage of LRE2)
Handelsbanken 27.86% 6.00%
SEB 27.66% 6.00%
Swedbank 27.46% 6.00%
Landshypotek 22.54% 6.00%
Länsförsäkringar 21.68% 6.00%
SBAB 25.20% 6.00%
Skandiabanken 23.40% 6.00%
Sparbanken Skåne 22.54% 6.00%
Svensk Exportkredit 27.34% 6.00%

For more information on how the MREL requirements are calculated:

The decision memorandum Minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL)

The MREL policy

See the table for all MREL for the Swedish systemically important banks (The table was updated with MREL requirements for Danske Hypotek AB (publ) on 21 December 2021 and for Nordea Hypotek AB (publ) and Nordea Finans Sverige AB (publ) on
16 June 2022.
)

Most banks are not considered systemically important

The Debt Office considers that the majority of the banks that fall within its resolution planning are non-systemically important, and winding them up in the event of their failure is therefore planned through bankruptcy proceedings or liquidation. For the 147 banks in this category, the Debt Office has made decisions on so-called simplified resolution plans and MREL that does not exceed the capital requirements.

Deposit insurance always applies

Irrespective of how a bank is managed in a crisis, deposit insurance always applies. This means that depositors’ money is protected up to SEK 1,050,000 per depositor and institution.

For more information on the Debt Office’s operations within financial stability, see resolution planning and MREL.

Contact

Press phone, 08 613 47 01