The Bank of Portugal has decided to exempt Portuguese credit institutions from reciprocating the macroprudential measure introduced by Sweden’s Finansinspektionen under Article 458 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, on the basis that relevant exposures are not material. The Swedish measure imposes a 25% floor on the average risk weight for mortgage retail exposures in Sweden, applied on an individual and consolidated basis to all credit institutions authorised in Sweden that use the internal ratings-based approach to calculate regulatory capital requirements. The Bank of Portugal adopted the exemption under the de minimis principle in point 15 of European Systemic Risk Board Recommendation ESRB/2015/2, as amended by Recommendation ESRB/2025/5, which permits macroprudential authorities to exempt institutions with non-material exposure to the identified systemic risk in the activating Member State. The exemption will remain in force for as long as the Swedish measure remains in place and each affected Portuguese institution’s exposures stay below the materiality threshold set by the macroprudential authority. The Bank of Portugal also published an accompanying document setting out Finansinspektionen’s rationale for the measure and the reasoning for the Portuguese exemption from reciprocity.
Bank of Portugal 2025-12-22
Bank of Portugal exempts Portuguese credit institutions from reciprocating Finansinspektionen’s 25% mortgage risk weight floor
The Bank of Portugal has exempted Portuguese credit institutions from reciprocating Sweden's 25% risk weight floor on mortgage retail exposures, citing non-material exposure. This decision aligns with the de minimis principle under the European Systemic Risk Board's recommendations. The exemption will persist as long as the Swedish measure is active and exposures remain below the materiality threshold.