The Austria Financial Market Authority (FMA) and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) published five thematic priorities for their 2026 banking supervision work, centring on further strengthening banks’ resilience, enhancing ICT security, developing supervisory engagement on artificial intelligence, embedding ESG risks in risk management expectations and improving the efficiency of regulation and supervisory processes. Resilience priorities include ensuring banks remain well capitalised in the face of geopolitical uncertainty, weak economic conditions and elevated credit risk in real estate and industry, alongside a sustained reduction in non-performing loans (NPLs). Banks with higher NPL ratios will face intensified monitoring and be a focus of on-site inspections. On ICT risk, supervision will include controlled cyber-attack simulations and the development of a structured dialogue format with relevant national stakeholders. The supervisors also plan to engage banks on specific AI use cases to develop and communicate their supervisory approach, integrate the European Banking Authority’s guidelines on ESG risk management into the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process for less significant institutions (LSI-SREP), and implement efficiency gains including potential simplification of national reporting and assessing the use of new AI applications in supervision. The joint priorities are set annually and are intended to be considered alongside the Single Supervisory Mechanism’s supervisory priorities for 2026, aligning with the European Banking Authority’s objectives and work programme.

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