Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority sets MREL for 15 banks with full requirements from 1 January 2026 and simplified compliance by 1 January 2028

The Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) has set bank-specific minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) for 15 banks as part of its annual resolution planning. Eight banks have been assigned a full MREL requirement with a subordination requirement, while seven banks have been given a simplified MREL requirement without subordination. For the eight banks under full MREL, applicable from 1 January 2026, the risk-weighted MREL ratios range from 25.97% to 27.06% of adjusted risk-weighted exposures, with “effective MREL” ratios of 35.44% to 37.18% once the combined buffer requirement is added (reflecting restrictions on using buffer capital to also meet risk-weighted MREL). The full-scope banks are DNB Bank ASA, Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge, Sparebank 1 SMN, Sparebank 1 Sogn og Fjordane, Sparebank 1 Sør-Norge, Sparebank 1 Østlandet, Sparebanken Møre and Sparebanken Norge. The subordination requirement is set using a formula of twice the pillar 1 requirement plus twice the pillar 2 requirement plus the combined buffer requirement. The simplified MREL framework, intended for banks where the preferred resolution strategy is bail-in combined with a transfer of the entire business and therefore excludes the market confidence buffer, applies to BN Bank ASA, Landkreditt Bank AS, OBOS-banken AS, Sparebank 1 Helgeland, Sparebank 1 Ringerike Hadeland, Storebrand Bank ASA and Sparebanken Øst. Banks that were not previously subject to MREL must meet the simplified requirement by 1 January 2028, while OBOS-banken and Sparebanken Øst move to the simplified requirement from 1 January 2026. Finanstilsynet also noted that Santander Consumer Bank AS’s MREL decision will be set in coordination with the group resolution college in the first half of 2026.