(AGENPARL) - Roma, 22 Novembre 2024 - (AGENPARL) – ven 22 novembre 2024 Press Release
BY THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTORATE
Rome, 22 November 2024
Identification for 2025 of other systemically important institutions authorized to operate in Italy
The Bank of Italy has identified, for the year 2025, the UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM, BPER Banca,
Mediobanca, Gruppo bancario cooperativo ICCREA and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro banking groups as other
systemically important institutions (O-SIIs) authorized to operate in Italy.
UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM, BPER Banca, Mediobanca, Gruppo bancario cooperativo ICCREA
and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro banking groups will have to maintain from 1 January 2025 an O-SII buffer
of 1.50, 1.25, 0.50, 0.25, 0.25, 0.25 and 0.25 per cent, respectively, of their total risk-weighted exposure (see
Table 1).
Table 1
O-SII buffers
(per cent)
Banking group
UniCredit
Intesa Sanpaolo
Banco BPM
BPER Banca*
MEDIOBANCA*
ICCREA*
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro*
From 1 Jan. 2024
From 1 Jan. 2025
0.125
0.125
0.125
0.125
* For those institutions first identified as O-SIIs last year, a transitional regime was adopted, whereby
a buffer of 0.125 per cent was applied for 2024 and a buffer of 0.25 per cent (i.e. the fully-fledged
value) will be applied from 2025.
The Bank of Italy has decided to exercise its supervisory judgment to maintain UniCredit’s O-SII buffer at
1.50 per cent also in 2025. The decision was taken pursuant to Bank of Italy 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 OSIIs in EU jurisdictions.
The assessment covered all banking groups and stand-alone banks operating in Italy. The identification
considered, for each bank/banking group, the four categories set 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 2023, the overall score that indicates the domestic systemic importance
of UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM, BPER Banca, Mediobanca, Gruppo bancario cooperativo
ICCREA and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro is above the threshold set at 300 basis points that the Bank of Italy
uses to identify O-SIIs, in compliance with the EBA Guidelines (see Table 2).
Media relations Division – Bank of Italy
Table 2
Overall and category scores as at 31 December 2023
(basis points)
Banking group
Overall score
Size Importance Complexity Interconnectedness
INTESA SANPAOLO
2,918
2,466
2,995
3,223
2,988
UNICREDIT
2,862
2,446
2,198
3,999
2,807
BANCO BPM
BPER BANCA
BANCA NAZIONALE
DEL LAVORO
MEDIOBANCA
ICCREA
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]
UniCredit’s overall score fell below the 3,000 threshold in December 2023. If the buckets had been applied
mechanically, the capital buffer would have been 1.25 per cent. However, the drop in the score was concentrate
in the second half of last year, and was mainly driven by the complexity and interconnectedness components,
which are historically volatile. The decrease may therefore be temporary. Based on these assessments, the
Bank of Italy decided to maintain the O-SII buffer for UniCredit at 1.50 per cent for 2025.
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.
Media relations Division – Bank of Italy