DnB NOR passes EBA's sovereign exposure buffer requirements

DnB NOR has undergone the European Banking Authority's (EBA) sovereign exposure buffer requirements test of European banks. This was carried out in cooperation with Finanstilsynet (the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway).

The conclusion is that DnB NOR will pass the sovereign exposure buffer requirements and that the bank has no government bonds which have been written down in its portfolio. The bank does not have a need for a buffer to be held against sovereign debt exposures based on current market prices. 

The EBA has set the limit for common equity Tier 1 capital at minimum 9 per cent. According to the test, DnB NOR Bank ASA has a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 7.9 per cent. However, the Group can raise this level to 9 per cent with immediate effect by using available internal funds.

In line with the Group's capitalisation policy, DnB NOR has chosen to keep a significant liquidity reserve in DnB NOR ASA (the holding company) for capitalisation of DnB NOR Bank ASA and other subsidiaries. The DnB NOR Group is able to meet EBA's sovereign exposure buffer requirements by redistributing available internal capital resources. No external capital injection is required.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements according to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Contact person for analysts:
Per Sagbakken, head of IR/Long-term Funding, tel.: +47 90 66 11 59

Contact persons for the press:
Bjørn Erik Næss, CFO, tel.: +47 41 50 52 01
Trond Bentestuen, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications, tel.: +47 95 02 84 48