Nicosia: The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) has completed its annual reassessment of credit institutions, designating Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd, Eurobank Limited, and Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd as Other Systemically Important Institutions (O-SII institutions) for 2025. As part of this designation, the CBC has set the levels of the O-SII capital buffer that these institutions must maintain due to their systemic importance.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the CBC's press release highlighted that the increase in systemic importance of these institutions, whether through organic growth or mergers and acquisitions, has led to an increase in their O-SII capital buffer levels. This adjustment is aimed at enhancing their resilience by channeling part of their profitability towards mitigating the higher risks they pose to the financial system and potential repercussions of their failure.
The CBC, as the national macroprudential authority, continuously monitors financial system developments to identify and assess systemic risks. Currently, it places particular emphasis on geopolitical, country, and concentration risks. If necessary, the CBC may employ additional macroprudential tools to limit systemic risk build-up and further strengthen the financial sector's resilience.
The CBC's policy for designating O-SII institutions and determining the O-SII buffer requirement concluded its annual reassessment on November 21, 2025. The reassessment confirmed the designation of three credit institutions as O-SII institutions for 2025.
Specifically, the Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd has an O-SII score of 4,068 basis points and will have a buffer requirement of 2.25% from January 1, 2026, up from 1.9375% in 2025. Eurobank Limited has an O-SII score of 3,938 basis points, with a buffer requirement increasing to 2% from 1.50%. Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd has an O-SII score of 1,023 basis points, with its buffer requirement rising to 0.50% from 0.25%.