Central Bank approves changes to Criteria for assessing banks as systemically important banks and to Regulation on calculation of bank capital and its adequacy

03-09-2026

3 September 2026, Baku: To improve the current approach to certain indicators used in assessing systemically important banks in the banking sector and optimize the implementation process, amendments have been approved to the Criteria for assessing a bank as a systemically important bank and the Regulation on calculation of bank capital and its adequacy.

The changes are intended to refine the methodology used to assess systemically important banks (SIBs), align the assessment with the Central Bank’s Guidelines on risk-based supervision of banks and clarify when changes to capital-buffer requirements take effect. The revised criteria draw on practices in several European countries and other international approaches.

One change clarifies the scope of the “Assets placed with financial institutions” indicator. Assets that banks place with the regulatory authority will no longer be included in the calculation. For the “Transactions conducted through payment systems” indicator, the calculation will include only customer transfers and interbank payment transactions conducted through the AZIPS system. The Central Bank’s Management Board will approve the list of systemically important banks each year by Sept. 1.

The amendments also change when higher capital-buffer requirements take effect. If a bank is newly designated as systemically important based on the systemic importance index, or is moved to a higher systemic importance group, the increased requirement for the “systemically important bank capital buffer” will take effect on Jan. 1 of the year following approval of the SIB list.

A lower capital-buffer requirement will take effect immediately after the SIB list is approved if a bank is removed from the list or moved to a lower systemic importance group. Such a change should first be confirmed by calculations conducted for two consecutive years.

The amendments are intended to make the assessment of systemically important banks more effective and improve the overall supervisory process.

The approved amendments can be reviewed via the link below:

https://e-qanun.az/framework/62488