FRANKFURT (MNI) – Swedish banks remain well capitalized and
continue to have access to market funding, but uncertainty regarding the
Eurozone economic outlook poses a risk to Sweden’s financial system, the
Riksbank said on Tuesday.
“If concerns over soveriegn debt problems increase further, Swedish
banks may also be affected,” the central bank said in its Financial
Stability report.
The Riksbank added that, while its stress tests show banks have
sufficient capital to buffer them from current market turbulence,
liquidity risks in Swedish banks are still higher than in many other
European countries — “though the risks have on the whole declined
somewhat over the year.”
Aiming to reduce the vulnerabilities of the Swedish banking system,
the Riksbank outlined a number of recommendations, including calling for
the four major Swedish banks to hold at least 10% of risk-weighed assets
in core tier one capital starting from 2013. This proportion would rise
to 12% two years later.
“They should already today meet the minimum requirement for the
Basel Committee’s short-term liquidity measure (the Liquidity Coverage
Ratio, LCR),” the centrak bank added.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: frankfurt@marketnews.com —
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