Activating the SyRB will make it possible to address systemic risks, to the extent that these are not already covered by the capital buffers for systemically important institutions (G-SIIs/O-SIIs), the countercyclical capital buffer, or other measures under the European Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR).

The SyRB is intended to address systemic risk, i.e. the risk of a disruption within the financial system with potentially serious adverse effects on the financial system and the real economy in a specific member state. The SyRB can apply to all risk positions or to a (sectoral) subgroup, e.g. residential or commercial real estate. The SyRB can be set for all banks or for banking subgroups. It can only be mandated for risk positions within a domestic market, within an EU member state or in a third country. In such cases, the buffer rate is at least 0.5% and is not subject to a cap.

The systemic risk buffer is enshrined in section 10e of the Banking Act. The interaction of the various capital buffers is governed by section 10h of the Banking Act. It must be complied with in addition to the G-SII and O-SII buffers.

Rate of the sectoral systemic risk buffer