(AGENPARL) – Fri 14 November 2025 Press Release
By the Communications Directorate
Rome, 14 November 2025
Identification of other systemically important institutions authorized to operate in Italy
Banca d’Italia has identified the Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Banco BPM, ICCREA, and Banca
Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) banking groups as other systemically important institutions (O-SIIs)
authorized to operate in Italy based on data as at 31 December 2024.
The procedure was initiated before the completion of two recent merger operations, the one between
BPER Banca and Banca Popolare di Sondrio and the one between Monte dei Paschi di Siena and
Mediobanca. Therefore, the effects of the two transactions were not factored into this decision.
However, Banca d’Italia has already initiated procedures for the BPER Banca and Monte dei Paschi
di Siena banking groups to account for their new configurations. The outcomes will be announced
upon completion of the procedures. 1
As of 1 January 2026, Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Banco BPM, ICCREA, and BNL will have to
maintain an O-SII buffer of 1.25 per cent, 1.25 per cent, 0.50 per cent, 0.25 per cent, and 0.25 per
cent, respectively, of their total risk-weighted exposure (see Table 1).
Table 1
O-SII buffers (data as at 31 December 2024)
(per cent)
Banking group
From 1 Jan. 2025 From 1 Jan. 2026
INTESA SANPAOLO
UNICREDIT
BANCO BPM
ICCREA
BANCA NAZIONALE DEL
LAVORO
Banca d’Italia has decided to exercise its supervisory judgment to maintain BNL’s O-SII buffer at
0.25 per cent also in 2026.
The decision was taken pursuant to Banca d’Italia’s Circular No. 285/2013 (prudential regulations
for banks), which implements Directive 2013/36/EU and specifies the criteria on which the
methodology for identifying O-SIIs is based. The assessment was conducted in accordance with the
European Banking Authority Guidelines (EBA/GL/2014/10), which set out the criteria and data
required to identify O-SIIs in EU jurisdictions.
Until the procedure is completed, the BPER Group, already identified as an O-SII for 2025, shall continue to hold a
capital buffer of 0.25 per cent of its total risk-weighted exposure.
Media Relations Division – Banca d’Italia
The assessment covered all banking groups and stand-alone banks operating in Italy at the end of
2024. The identification considered, for each bank/banking group, the four categories established by
the EBA guidelines, i.e. size, importance for the Italian economy, complexity and interconnectedness
with the financial system.
Considering the data as at 31 December 2024, the overall score that indicates the domestic systemic
importance of UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM, and ICCREA is above the threshold of 300
basis points that Banca d’Italia uses to identify O-SIIs, in compliance with the EBA Guidelines (see
Table 2).
BNL’s overall score, instead, fell below the threshold for automatic designation as O-SII. However,
the drop in the score was concentrated in the second half of last year and was mainly driven by
complexity and interconnectedness, which are the most volatile of the four components that make up
the overall score. The decrease may therefore be temporary. Banca d’Italia has thus decided to
exercise its supervisory judgment to maintain BNL’s buffer at 0.25 per cent. 2
Table 2
Overall and category scores as at 31 December 2024
(basis points)
Banking group
INTESA SANPAOLO
UNICREDIT
BANCO BPM
ICCREA
BANCA NAZIONALE
DEL LAVORO
Overall score
Importance
Complexity
Interconnectedness
2,933
2,820
2,402
2,481
2,972
2,036
3,372
3,887
2,986
2,876
The buffer assigned to BNL is defined in compliance with Article 131(8) of CRD 5 (as transposed by Circular No.
285/2013).
Media Relations Division – Banca d’Italia
The scheme used to support the calibration of the O-SII buffer is the one defined last year, which
consists of eight buckets of systemic importance; each bucket is associated with a higher buffer (see
Table 3).
Table 3
Categories of systemic importance
(basis points and per cent)
Bucket
O-SII score
interval
O-SII buffer
5,000 and more
[4,000-4,999]
[3,000-3,999]
[2,000-2,999]
[1,200-1,999]
[800-1,199]
[400-799]
[300-399]
Pursuant to the regulations, the identification of O-SIIs and the level of the O-SII buffers will be
reviewed at least once a year. As noted above, Banca d’Italia has initiated procedures for the BPER
Banca and Monte dei Paschi di Siena banking groups to account for their systemic relevance
following the recent merger operations.
Media Relations Division – Banca d’Italia