Crédit Agricole announced on Wednesday that it had been included in the list of globally systemically important institutions (G-SIB) in category 2, following a notification from the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR).
This designation is accompanied by “an increase in the additional capital requirement ('GSIB cushion'), raised from 1% to 1.5% of total weighted employment from January 1, 2026“, indicated the banking group in a press release.
Crédit Agricole adds that this “additional capital requirement applies only to the highest level of consolidation of the group (…) whose level of capitalization is the strongest of European G-SIB establishments, with a CET1 ratio at 17.4% as of September 30 2024, i.e. a distance of 760 basis points from the SREP requirement in effect as of September 30, 2024“. The SREP requirement is set by the European Central Bank as part of its prudential supervision and evaluation process.
The green bank was unable to comment on Wednesday evening on why it is considered more systemic.
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No change at BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas, which also communicated on the subject on Wednesday evening, has not changed its status this year and remains in category 2. Consequently, the G-SIB buffer requirement for the group “remains at 1.5% of the total amount of weighted assets from January 1, 2025, unchanged from the level which currently applies,” indicates the bank. She specifies that she “is well above regulatory requirements, with as of September 30, 2024 a CET1 ratio of 12.7%, a Tier 1 ratio of 14.7% and a Total Capital ratio of 16.7%“. In the same way, the ranks of BPCE and Société Générale do not vary, the two banks remaining in category 1.
Established after the 2008 financial crisis, the list of globally systemically important banks is updated each year in November by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). This list, which includes 29 groups, classifies “G-SIBs” into different categories according to several criteria such as size, complexity of activities and their interconnection with the rest of the financial system. Moving into each category results in an additional capital buffer requirement.
