Statement from the NBS Bank Board’s 20th meeting of 2020

The Bank Board of Národná banka Slovenska today (29 September) held its 20th meeting of 2020, chaired by NBS Governor Peter Kažimír.

The Bank Board took note of NBS’s September 2020 Monthly Bulletin, which will be published on the NBS website.

The Bank Board took note of NBS’s September 2020 Medium-Term Forecast (MTF-2020Q3), which will be published on the NBS website.

The Bank Board approved the Financial Market Situation and Trend Report for the First Half of 2020.

The report describes developments in the domestic financial sector in the first half of 2020 and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The main risk for the banking sector during the crisis will be credit risk. So far, however, the non-performing loan ratios for loans to households and loans to non-financial corporations have remained low. Government measures, in particular a measure allowing borrowers to defer loan repayments, have played a significant role during this period.

A number of measures have been promptly adopted to mitigate the fallout from the coronavirus crisis in the financial sector. NBS issued Recommendation No 1/2020 on capital and profit distribution by banks and insurers, in which it urged the largest banks and insurers in Slovakia to refrain from paying dividends to their shareholders until the end of 2020. NBS also decided to reduce the countercyclical capital buffer rate. Given the situation, NBS aims to improve conditions for economic recovery and financial sector stability by having financial institutions increase their own funds.

The Bank Board approved a document entitled “Proposed changes to the regulation of financial intermediation and financial advisory services”.

The opportunity to propose regulatory changes in this area arises from tasks set out in the Slovak Government Policy Statement’s section on financial services distribution. The proposed changes reflect both the findings of NBS supervision and an experience-based knowledge of needs. Having evaluated the functioning of the regulation of financial intermediation and financial advisory services, NBS is proposing both substantial and technical changes to that regulation.

Peter Majer
NBS Spokesperson

National Bank of Slovakia
Communications Section
Imricha Karvasa 1, 813 25 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel.: +421-2-5787 2142, +421-2-5865 2142, +421-2-5787 2169, +421-2-5865 2169
Internet: http://www.nbs.sk

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