Macroprudential Decision: National Additional Capital Requirements for Banks and Mortgage Loan Ceiling Remain Unchanged

The Financial Supervisory Authority of Helsinki has maintained the national systemic risk buffer requirement for banks at 1.0% and the additional capital requirements for systemically important credit institutions at 0.5-2.5%. The mortgage loan ceiling will also remain at its basic level, with the maximum loan-to-value ratio for first-time home loans at 95% and for other new mortgage loans at 90%. The decision is based on an analysis that did not identify any factors endangering the stability of the financial system. Global economic growth has been uncertain, with the US trade policy and geopolitical tensions overshadowing the growth prospects of the international economy and the euro area.

Key Takeaways:

• The national systemic risk buffer requirement for banks will remain at 1.0%, with the additional capital requirements for systemically important credit institutions at 0.5-2.5%.
• The mortgage loan ceiling will remain at its basic level, with a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 95% for first-time home loans and 90% for other new mortgage loans.
• The review of additional capital requirements for other credit institutions of financial system significance did not reveal any grounds for changing the capital requirements.
• The variable additional capital requirement for banks will remain at 0.0% due to subdued financial environment and negative trend deviation of the private sector credit stock to GDP ratio.
• The systemic risk buffer requirement will enter into force on 1 October 2025, with a requirement of 4.5% for Finnish banks.
• The Financial Supervisory Authority assesses short- and long-term risks to the stability of the Finnish financial system on a quarterly basis.

Statistics:

• The Finnish economy is forecast to grow by 0.5% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026 (Source: Finnish GDP forecast, Bank of Finland, June 2025).
• House prices have fallen slightly, with housing sales picking up in the second half of 2024 and January-May 2025 (Source: Helsinki Financial Supervisory Authority).
• Household indebtedness has eased somewhat, with new household borrowing low and debt decreasing relative to income (Source: Helsinki Financial Supervisory Authority).

Sources:

• Helsinki: Financial Supervisory Authority (no date)
• Bank of Finland (June 2025)
• Helsinki: Financial Supervisory Authority (no date), Elina Jääskeläinen

(Note: The exact dates of some sources are not provided in the original text; I have only included the year or the time of year, where available.)