Pursuant to Art. 126¹ of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 99/2006 on credit institutions and capital adequacy, the National Bank of Romania may impose capital buffers following the recommendation of the inter-institutional structure coordinating the macroprudential oversight of the national financial system. Until that structure became operational, the National Committee for Financial Stability (NCSF) adopted the recommendations.

The National Committee for Macroprudential Oversight (NCMO) was set up on 20 March 2017, the newly-established entity taken over the NCFS tasks in the field of financial stability and macroprudential policies, as well as those related to financial crisis management. The recommendations on the implementation of the macroprudential policy were, hence, transferred to the NCMO, after it became operational. The recommendations on the implementation of macroprudential measures issued by the NCSF, as an inter-institutional cooperation entity, remain valid if they are not contrary to the recommendations subsequently issued by the NCMO.

In accordance with Art. 4 of Law no. 12/2017 regarding the macroprudential supervision of the national financial system, for the implementation of the necessary measures in order to prevent or reduce systemic risks, the National Committee for Macroprudential Supervision (NCMO) is empowered to:

1. issue recommendations and warnings addressed to the National Bank of Romania (NBR) and the Financial Supervision Authority (FSA), as national sectoral financial supervision authorities;
2. issue recommendations addressed to the Government, in order to maintain financial stability;
3. request the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) to issue a recommendation for the recognition by one or more member states of the macroprudential instruments recommended by the Committee (NCMO).

The addressees of NCMO recommendations or warnings can take the appropriate measures, including issuing regulations, in order to comply with the recommendations or, as the case may be, they can take actions in order to reduce the risks they were warned about. The addressees inform the Committee (NCMO) about the measures adopted or, if they have not adopted such measures, the information will include the reasons for not adopting them.

Specifically, according to legal provisions, following the recommendations issued by the national macroprudential authority, the National Bank of Romania applied additional capital requirements consisting in the capital conservation buffer, the countercyclical capital buffer, the buffer relating to other systemically important institutions (the O-SII buffer) and the systemic risk buffer. The decisions on the implementation of capital buffers were published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I.

The documents can be accessed by following the links below:

1. Additional capital requirements implemented at the recommendation of the National Committee for Macroprudential Oversight (starting April 2017);
2. Additional capital requirements implemented at the recommendation of the National Committee for Financial Stability.

Regulation texts available only in Romanian language

• NBR Order no. 9/2023 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and designated as other systemically important institutions (O-SIIs) (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1177/27.12.2023).
• NBR Order no. 8/2022 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and designated as other systemically important institutions (O-SIIs) (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1187/12.12.2022).
• NBR Order no. 7/2022 for the amendment of the Order of the National Bank of Romania no. 12/2015 on the capital conservation buffer and the countercyclical capital buffer (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1187/12.12.2022).
• NBR Order no. 7/2021 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and designated as other systemically important institutions (O-SIIs) (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1174/13.12.2021).
• NBR Order no. 6/2021 for the amendment of the Order of the National Bank of Romania no. 12/2015 on the capital conservation buffer and the countercyclical capital buffer (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1130/26.11.2022).
• NBR Order no. 5/2020 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and designated as other systemically important institutions (O-SIIs) (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1222/14.12.2020).
• NBR Order no. 10/2019 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and designated as other systemically important institutions (O-SIIs) (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 933/20.11.2019).
• NBR Order No. 9/2018 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and designated as other systemically important institutions (O-SIIs) (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1110/28.12.2018).
• NBR Order No. 8/2018 on the systemic risk buffer (published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1031/05.12.2018).
• Order No. 4/2018 on the systemic risk buffer published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 433/ 22.05.2018
• Order No. 12/2017 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and identified by the National Bank of Romania as other systemically important institutions (O-SII) published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1009/ 20.12.2017
• Order No. 2/2017 repealing National Bank of Romania Order No. 1/2016 on the systemic risk buffer, published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 130/20.02.2017
• Order No. 1/2017 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and identified by the National Bank of Romania as other systemically important institutions (O-SII), published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 130/20.02.2017
• NBR Order No. 8/2016 on extending the suspension of the application of NBR Order No. 1/2016 on the systemic risk buffer, published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 1043/23.12.2016
• Order No. 4/2016 on the suspension of the application of Order No. 1/2016 on the systemic risk buffer, published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 4246/6.06.2016
• NBR Order No. 1/2016 on the systemic risk buffer, published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 193/15.03.2016
• NBR Order No. 12/2015 on the capital conservation buffer and the countercyclical capital buffer, published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 980/30.12.2015
• NBR Order No. 11/2015 on the buffer for credit institutions authorised in Romania and identified by the National Bank of Romania as other systemically important institutions (O-SII), published in Official Gazette, Part I, No. 980/30.12.2015

Capital buffers are implemented so as to have positive effects on individual credit institutions, by increasing their resilience to potentially adverse developments, as well as on the banking sector as a whole, by strengthening financial stability.

The actions taken by the addressees to NBR in order to implement the recommendations issued by the National Committee for Macroprudential Oversight

¹ Pursuant to legal provisions (Art. 126 of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 99/2006 on credit institutions and capital adequacy, as approved, amended and supplemented by Law No. 227/2007, as subsequently amended and supplemented), during the transition period until the interinstitutional structure for coordinating the macroprudential oversight of the national financial system becomes operational, the NCSF adopted recommendations with regard to the capital buffers that may be applied to credit institutions.