Decision of the Standing Committee of the EFTA States No. 5/2025/SC of 23 October 2025 on the resetting of the systemic risk buffer pursuant to Article 133 and the Norwegian notification of the setting of an O-SII buffer pursuant to Article 131 of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions, as incorporated into the EEA Agreement by Joint Committee Decision No 79/2019 and later amendments [2026/555]

Official Journal EN of the European Union L series 2026/555 12.3.2026 DECISION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE EFTA STATESNo. 5/2025/SC of 23 October 2025 on the resetting of the systemic risk buffer pursuant to Article 133 and the Norwegian notification of the setting of an O-SII buffer pursuant to Article 131 of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions, as incorporated into the EEA Agreement by Joint Committee Decision No 79/2019 and later amendments [2026/555] THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE EFTA STATES, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (‘the EEA Agreement’), and in particular point 14 to Annex IX thereof, Having regard to the Opinion of the European Systemic Risk Board(1), Whereas: (1) According to Article 131(6), point (b), of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(2) (CRD), competent or designated authorities must review at least annually the other systemically important institutions’ (‘O-SIIs’) buffer rates they require to be maintained. According to paragraph 12, second subparagraph of that Article, competent or designated authorities must also review annually the identification of the O-SIIs to which such buffer rate is imposed. According to Article 131(7) of that Directive, as incorporated into the EEA Agreement, competent or designated authorities must notify the European Systemic Risk Board (‘ESRB’) before setting or resetting a buffer rate for O-SIIs, and the ESRB is to forward such notifications to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States, the European Banking Authority and the competent and designated authorities of the EEA Contracting Parties concerned without delay. (2) According to Article 131(15) of the CRD, in combination with paragraph 5a, third subparagraph of that Article, the Standing Committee of the EFTA States needs to authorise macroprudential measures in an EEA EFTA State that lead to a combined systemic risk buffer (SyRB) rate and O-SII buffer rate that exceeds 5 % of the relevant risk exposure amount for a given credit institution and set or subset of exposures. According to the same Articles of the CRD, the ESRB is to provide the Standing Committee of the EFTA States, within six weeks of receipt of a notification as referred to in Article 131(7) of the CRD, with an opinion on whether the combined SyRB rate and O-SII buffer rate is appropriate. (3) Reference is made to a previous Recommendation by the Standing Committee of the EFTA States No. 1/2020/SC, and Decisions No. 2/2022/SC, No. 3/2023/SC and No. 6/2024/SC regarding notifications by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance under Article 133(1) of Directive 2013/36/EU. (1) Opinion of the European Systemic Risk Board of 22 September 2025 regarding the existing systemic risk buffer pursuant to Article 133 and the Norwegian notification of the setting or resetting of an O-SII buffer pursuant to Article 131 of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions (ESRB/2025/8). (2) Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2013/36/oj). ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2026/555/oj 1/3EN OJ L, 12.3.2026 (4) On 15 August 2025, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance sent a formal notification to the ESRB concerning its intention to review the other systemically important institution (O-SII) buffer rate in accordance with Article 131 of Directive 2013/36/EU. The Authority proposes to continue to require four institutions to maintain an O-SII buffer, and to extend the application of an O-SII buffer of 1 % to an additional credit institution, Sparebanken Norge, following the merger of two credit institutions. The Secretariat of the ESRB forwarded the notification to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States on 18 August 2025, in accordance with Article 131(5a) CRD. (5) The Norwegian Ministry of Finance has identified the credit institutions as O-SIIs pursuant to the following criteria: (i) total assets as share of Norway’s gross domestic product (GDP) and (ii) loans to the private non-financial sector as share of total loans to the private non-financial sector in Norway. These criteria are listed as optional indicators in Annex 2 to the European Banking Authority’s guidelines on the criteria to determine the conditions of application of Article 131(3) CRD in relation to the assessment of O-SIIs(3). In addition to these two main criteria, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance also considered the mandatory indicators of the EBA Guidelines when applying its supervisory judgement. The indicator values for Sparebanken Norge were calculated as the combined indicator values for the merged credit institutions. (6) The notified measures will apply to five domestic credit institutions, one of which is a subsidiary whose parent entity is established in another European Economic Area country. four of the credit institutions will be subject to an O-SII buffer of 1% (Sparebanken Norge, Kommunalbanken AS, Nordea Eiendomskreditt AS and Sparebank 1 Sør-Norge AS) and one will be subject to a buffer of 2% (DNB Bank ASA). (7) As the 4,5 % SyRB and the proposed O-SII buffers will result in combined buffer rates above 5 %, the ESRB provided the Standing Committee of the EFTA States with an opinion on the proposed measure on 3 August 2023 as to whether the level of the combined rate of the O-SII buffer rate and the SyRB rate is deemed appropriate. (8) In its Opinion of 22 September 2025, and the accompanying Assessment Note, the ESRB reviews the risks addressed through the proposed measure and finds that the risks leading to the resetting of the O-SII buffers stem from the particularly important role played by O-SIIs in the Norwegian economy. (9) The ESRB continues to be of the view that the level of the O-SII buffers in cumulation with the SyRB is effective and proportionate to address the identified risks. In that regard the ESRB takes into account that the O-SII buffers are cumulative with the existing SyRB to which the credit institutions are already subject. The ESRB notes in particular that, under the current circumstances, the cumulative O-SII buffer and SyRB rates do not entail disproportionate adverse effects on financial stability in Norway nor are they expected to form or create an obstacle to the proper functioning of the internal market. (10) The Standing Committee of the EFTA States also takes note that the ESRB in the accompanying Assessment Note mentions that its assessment team is of the view that the Norwegian Ministry of Finance may consider a higher level of granularity for the O-SII calibration methodology in applying the EBA Guidelines on the criteria for assessing O-SIIs. Furthermore, the Norwegian authorities are encouraged to monitor the impact of recent regulatory changes on the effectiveness of the SyRB and O-SII buffer measures. (11) The Standing Committee of the EFTA States, after having examined the notification by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance of 15 August 2025 and taking into account the ESRB opinion and the Assessment Note, assesses that the combination of the notified O-SII buffer rate for the credit institutions concerned and the SyRB in place for the exposures and credit institutions concerned does not entail disproportionate adverse effects on the whole or parts of the financial system of other EEA Contracting Parties, or of the EEA as a whole forming or creating an obstacle to the proper functioning of the internal market. (3) EBA/GL/2014/10. 2/3 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2026/555/ojEN OJ L, 12.3.2026 HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 SyRB and O-SII buffer rates The Norwegian Ministry of Finance is hereby authorised to implement the O-SII buffer rates that result in the combined SyRB and O-SII buffer rate in excess of 5 % of the relevant risk exposure amount for the following credit institutions, for a period of up to one year starting on 23 October 2025, provided that the conditions for applying that SyRB and the O-SII buffer rates remain fulfilled: Credit institution Combined SyRB and O-SII buffer rate DNB Bank ASA 6,5 % Kommunalbanken AS 5,5 % Nordea Eiendomskreditt AS 5,5 % Sparebanken Norge 5,5 % Sparebank 1 SR-Bank ASA 5,5 % Article 2 Addressee This Decision is addressed to the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, Finansdepartementet, Akersgata 40, 0180 Oslo, Norway. Article 3 Publication This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Union. Article 4 Entry into force and application This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption. Done at Brussels, 23 October 2025. For the Standing Committee The Chair The Secretary-General Stefán Haukur JÓHANNESSON Kurt JÄGER ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2026/555/oj 3/3