The National Bank of Ukraine in accordance with the updated methodology has increased the number of systemically important banks to 14, whereas since 2016 their number remained unchanged at three, including state-owned PrivatBank, Oschadbank and Ukreximbank, the regulator has said.
The expanded list of such banks also includes state-owned Ukrgasbank and private Alfa-Bank with the merging Ukrsotsbank, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, FUIB, UkrSibbank, TAScombank and Universal Bank controlled by Sergiy Tigipko, Kredobank, OTP Bank and Bank Pivdenny.
The National Bank noted that systemically important banks are the banks whose bankruptcy or improper functioning can lead to systemic risks, while obtaining this status imposes an additional burden on the banks as they must fulfill certain increased requirements to ensure their safety margin.
In particular, the National Bank of Ukraine established special values of quick liquidity ratio for such banks from January 1, 2020: at least 30% of current liabilities (for other banks 20%) and the maximum credit risk per counterparty at no more than 20% of regulatory capital (for other banks 25%).
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) only purchased foreign currency on the interbank foreign exchange market during the period from June 18 until June 21, 2019 and replenished its forex reserves by $40.5 million as compared with $135.1 million last week. Some $40.5 million was acquired at the best purchase and sale price (using the matching tool), the NBU said on its website.
In total, since the beginning of this year, the NBU has bought $1.595 billion on the interbank market, including $278.3 million in June, and sold $231.43 million there (the central bank did not sell foreign currency in June).
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has approved the rules of the UAPAY national payment system and placed the information about the system in the register of payment systems, the NBU has reported on its website.
FC UAPAY LLC (Kyiv) is the payment organization of the UAPAY national payment system.
The UAPAY payment system has become the 11th national payment system on the Ukrainian market created by non-bank financial institutions.
The National Bank of Ukraine has issued a currency transfer license to GlobalMoney LLC.
According to a posting on the website of the NBU, the decision was made on June 4.
GlobalMoney LLC has become the 19th participant in the foreign exchange market, having received the license to carry out foreign exchange operations in accordance with the law on currency and foreign exchange transactions.
The licenses issued on the basis of the law on currency and currency transactions for the implementation of currency transactions will be indefinite, whereas previously the general currency exchange licenses were issued for a period of up to three years.
The NBU provided an opportunity for simplified re-issuance of licenses to all participants in the currency exchange market. To do this, non-bank financial institutions must submit a small package of documents and return the original general license. The regulator makes a decision on reissuing the license within two months after receiving the package of documents.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will continue to study the possibility of issuing its own digital currency – e-hryvnia, the NBU has said, with reference to the results of a pilot project in which the regulator released a limited amount of electronic hryvnia, operations using which were tested by working groups with the participation of the regulator, volunteer companies and the World Bank.
According to the results of the pilot project, the National Bank believes that e-hryvnia can be considered as an alternative to the available means and instruments of retail payments, including cash, payment orders, payment cards and electronic money. The advantages of e-hryvnia are ease of use, availability, security (redemption and payments are guaranteed by the National Bank) and the speed of payments.
The electronic hryvnia can be considered as the so called disruptive technology, since it can potentially significantly change the ecosystem of the payment market of Ukraine and redistribute the existing roles of market participants.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has started the second stage of the resilience assessment of banks – the asset quality review (AQR) confirmed by an external auditor and started stress testing of 29 banks, according to a survey of the banking sector posted on the website of the NBU.
According to preliminary estimates, the number of banks requiring capital injections in the baseline and negative stress test scenario will decrease compared to the previous year, the central bank said in the survey.
As the regulator recalled, by the end of 2019, banks need to form a capital conservation buffer in the amount of 0.625%. It will become mandatory for each bank from the beginning of 2020, when the first stage of the introduction of the capital conservation buffer will begin. In the future, the size of the buffer will increase gradually every year and will reach 2.5% from January 1, 2023. The formation of the corresponding buffer will ensure that banks create a stock of capital in excess of the minimum requirements. In the future, this will provide an opportunity of absorbing the possible losses that may arise in a general economic recession, without violating the capital adequacy ratio.
The NBU also announced that during the second quarter the method for determining systemically important banks will be changed and an updated list of such banks will be made public. In the future, the NBU will require them to form a buffer of system importance.
As reported, in 2019, 29 banks that account for 93% of the banking system will undergo stress testing in addition to the AQR. These 29 banks were rated as the largest ones as of November 1, 2018 by three indicators: risk-weighted assets, retail deposits, and retail loans.
The following banks will be tested: state-owned PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Ukreximbank and Ukrgasbank, private Alfa-Bank, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, FUIB, UkrSibbank, OTP Bank, Credit Agricole Bank, Pivdenny Bank, TAScombank and Kredobank. The list also includes Sberbank, ProCredit Bank, Ukrsotsbank (the results of stress testing for the bank will be assessed taking into account the dynamics of its joining Alfa-Bank), Megabank, Credit Dnipro Bank, Universal Bank, A-Bank, Prominvestbank, Idea Bank, Bank Vostok, MTB Bank, Bank of Investments and Savings, Industrial Bank, Bank Globus, International Investment Bank and Bank Forward.
According to the resilience assessment findings, the regulator will determine the required levels for the regulatory capital adequacy ratio (N2) and the common equity adequacy ratio (N3). The required level of the capital adequacy ratios will be estimated in order to ensure banks’ compliance with the minimum requirements of N2 and N3 according to the baseline scenario (10% and 7%, respectively) and less strict requirements to the said ratios under the adverse scenario (5% and 3.5%, respectively) throughout the entire forecast period.
In 2018, the NBU has launched resilience assessment of banks that includes stress testing a list of banks defined by the NBU.
