Sweden's Riksbank published an Economic Commentary on financial crisis preparedness in the Nordic-Baltic region, finding that strong cross-border banking interconnections can transmit shocks across countries but that the region’s collective capacity to manage crises has improved over the past 15 years. The analysis links the improvement to regulatory and institutional changes and to more structured cooperation among authorities, including central bank arrangements to secure foreign exchange liquidity. Key developments highlighted include Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joining the euro area and thereby moving into the euro area’s common banking regulation, supervision and bank crisis-management framework, alongside strengthened cross-border coordination through bodies such as the Nordic-Baltic Stability Group and the Nordic-Baltic Macroprudential Forum. The commentary also points to practical preparedness measures, including regional crisis simulation exercises (covering liquidity support, solvency assessment and resolution decisions) and central bank agreements on emergency liquidity assistance for cross-border banking groups, with mechanisms for assisting each other via currency repurchase agreements where banks need liquidity in multiple currencies. Looking ahead, cooperation is described as ongoing, with the Nordic-Baltic Stability Group increasing its focus on operational incidents such as cyber-attacks. The note also flags planned further consolidation of Nordic-Baltic banking structures, including SEB’s plan to merge its Baltic subsidiaries into a single bank headquartered in Estonia with branches in Latvia and Lithuania, targeted for implementation by 2027.

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