Norway Countercyclical Buffer Held at 2.5%: Foreign-Bank Reciprocity

Norges Bank’s Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee decided on 12 August 2026 to keep Norway’s countercyclical capital buffer rate unchanged at 2.5%, a decision the bank published on 13 August 2026. The Committee reached it unanimously. For a reporting officer the headline is that nothing in the number moves, but the calendar behind it does: Norges Bank sets the rate each quarter, so the 2.5% figure is a live value; future increases and reductions must be applied under the applicable legal application-date rules rather than assumed to take effect on the decision date.

The rate reaches well beyond Norwegian banks. For institutions subject to the EEA CRD/CRR countercyclical-buffer framework, relevant credit exposures located in Norway enter the institution-specific buffer calculation at Norway’s applicable rate. UK PRA firms reach Norwegian exposures under the separate UK capital-buffer regime; institutions authorised elsewhere must follow their own home-jurisdiction rules. That is where a hold decision earns a place on a cross-border reporting desk: the Norwegian rate is currently 2.5% and enters the institution-specific countercyclical-buffer calculation as a jurisdictional input; for Article 440 CRR disclosures, the Norwegian rate must be the rate applicable at the relevant disclosure computation date.

Related reading: EBA O-SII Buffer Opinion: Combined Systemic Buffers

The operative dates

• 12 August 2026: Norges Bank’s Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee decided to hold the rate at 2.5%.
• 13 August 2026: the decision was published on the Norges Bank website.
• 31 March 2023: the date from which the 2.5% rate has applied, following the March 2022 decision to raise it.
• Quarterly: Norges Bank sets the countercyclical capital buffer rate each quarter, so the next assessment falls in the following quarter.

What the Committee weighed before holding

The buffer is intended to strengthen banks’ solvency and mitigate the risk that banks amplify an economic downturn. Norges Bank says the rate is intended in principle to range between 0% and 2.5%, is normally set in the upper part of that range and may exceed 2.5% when cyclical vulnerabilities are particularly high. In August 2026 it kept the rate at 2.5% and assessed the Norwegian financial system as robust. Its supporting assessment said households and firms had ample access to credit, twelve-month household credit growth had remained stable at around 4.7% so far in 2026, seasonally adjusted house prices fell 1.1% in July, and banks remained highly profitable and above capital and liquidity requirements by a solid margin; the 2026 H1 solvency stress test showed banks could absorb large credit losses while maintaining lending capacity.

Because the rate is reassessed quarterly, 2.5% is the current applicable Norwegian rate. A future change must be reflected from its legally applicable date: for the EEA institution-specific calculation, a reduction applies immediately under Article 140(6)(d) CRD, while an increase applies from the relevant published application date.

How Norway’s countercyclical buffer reaches a foreign bank’s capital stack

Under Articles 130 and 140 CRD, as incorporated into the EEA framework, the institution-specific countercyclical capital buffer equals total risk exposure amount multiplied by the weighted average of the applicable jurisdictional rates. Each jurisdiction’s weight is based on the share of own-funds requirements attributable to relevant credit exposures in that jurisdiction. For relevant exposures located in Norway, the 2.5% Norwegian rate enters that weighted-average calculation; it is not a flat 2.5% charge on the Norwegian exposure amount itself.

For an EEA institution, the institution-specific rate is the weighted average of the rates applying where its relevant credit exposures are located, with location determined under the applicable geographical-location RTS. A German or French institution with relevant credit exposures located in Norway therefore includes the Norwegian 2.5% rate in that calculation.

Why 2.5% is the number that avoids a recognition question

Article 137 CRD concerns recognition of countercyclical buffer rates only where they exceed 2.5%. Under Article 140, an institution within the EEA CRD/CRR framework includes the applicable jurisdictional rate in its institution-specific weighted-average calculation; where another EEA state’s rate exceeds 2.5%, an institution authorised elsewhere applies 2.5% unless its home designated authority recognises the excess. Norway’s current rate is exactly 2.5%, so there is no excess rate requiring an Article 137 recognition decision.

What changes in your COREP and Pillar 3 filing

Operationally, a hold means no change to the applied rate, and that is the answer your reporting still has to produce and evidence. The institution-specific countercyclical buffer sits inside the combined buffer requirement, alongside the capital conservation buffer and, as applicable, any G-SII, O-SII and systemic risk buffer, and a shortfall against that combined requirement triggers the maximum distributable amount restrictions on dividends, buybacks, variable remuneration and Additional Tier 1 coupons (Article 141 of Directive 2013/36/EU). The 2.5% Norwegian slice feeds the own funds and buffer templates in COREP own funds reporting, and it surfaces in the Pillar 3 disclosures on the geographical distribution of credit exposures relevant for the countercyclical buffer.

The Article 440 CRR countercyclical-buffer disclosures are governed in 2026 by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3172, Article 5 and Section 5 of Annex I, with the detailed templates and instructions maintained in the EBA IT solutions under Article 24. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/637 ceased to apply from 1 January 2025 for these disclosures. Following Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/722, Article 15 and Annexes XXIX and XXX of Regulation (EU) 2021/637 continue to apply until 31 December 2026 only for the market-risk disclosures covered by Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3172. Use the current EBA IT solution and instructions for the applicable-rate and template-population rules. As at 13 August 2026, Norway’s applicable rate is 2.5%. At each Article 440 disclosure computation date, firms should confirm the Norwegian rate then applicable before populating the Norway country row in the current EBA disclosure solution. For the wider disclosure architecture, see our guide to Pillar 3 disclosure requirements.

The onshoring trap for UK banks with Norwegian exposures

A PRA firm calculates its institution-specific countercyclical capital buffer under the PRA Rulebook, Capital Buffers 3.1. For exposures outside the UK, the applicable rate is determined under that Rulebook together with Part 2 of the Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/653), which governs the FPC’s recognition or setting of overseas rates. Norwegian exposures therefore enter a UK firm’s calculation through the current UK regime; the CRD is not the governing UK instrument.

Frequently Asked Questions

If we have no lending booked in Norway but hold Norwegian government bonds, does the 2.5% apply?

The buffer attaches to relevant credit exposures as defined for the calculation, which turn on the own funds requirements for credit risk, certain trading-book specific-risk positions and securitisations. Exposures that fall outside those categories, including exposures excluded under the relevant credit-exposure definition, do not carry the countercyclical buffer weight. The classification of a specific holding is a determination to make against Article 140(4) of Directive 2013/36/EU, read from the exposure category itself.

Norges Bank held the rate. Do we still need to refresh anything in our next disclosure?

Yes. The disclosed rate is the applicable rate as at the disclosure computation date, so a hold has to be confirmed for the current period. The value is the same 2.5%, but the CCyB1 template still requires the current applicable rate per country, and the accompanying weights move with your exposure mix even when the rate holds.

What happens to the Norwegian slice if Norges Bank later cuts the rate?

Under Article 140(6)(d) CRD, a reduction in the applicable countercyclical buffer rate applies immediately for the institution-specific calculation, while an increase follows the application-date rules in Article 140(6)(a)-(c). A future Norwegian reduction would therefore reduce the Norwegian contribution immediately for the EEA institution-specific calculation.

Related Articles

• COREP Reporting Explained: how own funds and buffer requirements are structured in the COREP returns.
• Pillar 3 Disclosure Requirements: the disclosure templates that carry buffer and capital data to the market.
• EBA O-SII Buffer Opinion: Combined Systemic Buffers: how systemic buffers stack alongside the countercyclical buffer.
• CRR3 Output Floor Phase-In 2026: the capital-floor change reshaping risk-weighted requirements.
• ICAAP and ILAAP: the internal capital and liquidity assessments that sit around the regulatory buffers.

Key Takeaways

• Norway’s countercyclical capital buffer stays at 2.5% following the unanimous Norges Bank decision of 12 August 2026, published 13 August 2026.
• The 2.5% rate has applied since 31 March 2023 and is reassessed every quarter, so treat it as a live value in the capital stack.
• An institution subject to the EEA CRD/CRR countercyclical-buffer framework includes the applicable Norwegian rate for relevant credit exposures located in Norway in its institution-specific buffer calculation under Articles 130 and 140 of Directive 2013/36/EU, as incorporated into the EEA framework.
• Within the EEA CRD/CRR framework, Article 137 recognition concerns rates above 2.5%; Norway’s current 2.5% rate therefore does not require a separate Article 137 recognition decision.
• Confirm that the Norwegian row in the applicable Article 440 countercyclical-buffer disclosure uses the Norwegian rate applicable at the disclosure computation date, and that COREP reflects the institution-specific countercyclical buffer rate and requirement calculated from the weighted jurisdictional inputs.
• UK PRA firms determine the rate applicable to Norwegian exposures under the current PRA Rulebook and the Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/653).

Sources and References

• Norges Bank, “Countercyclical capital buffer rate unchanged at 2.5%”, decision of 12 August 2026, published 13 August 2026: norges-bank.no
• Norges Bank, “The countercyclical capital buffer will be raised to 2.5 percent” (effective 31 March 2023): norges-bank.no
• Directive 2013/36/EU (CRD), Articles 130, 136, 137, 140 and 141 on the institution-specific countercyclical buffer, recognition of rates and distribution restrictions: eur-lex.europa.eu
• Directive 2019/878/EU (CRD V) amendments to the buffer and maximum distributable amount provisions: eur-lex.europa.eu
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3172, Article 5 and Section 5 of Annex I, on Article 440 CRR countercyclical-buffer disclosures: eur-lex.europa.eu
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3117, Article 5 and Annex I, on current supervisory reporting of own funds and own-funds requirements: eur-lex.europa.eu
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/722 of 26 March 2026, amending Regulation (EU) 2024/3172 and extending the market-risk disclosure transitional period under Article 16 to 31 December 2026: eur-lex.europa.eu
• Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/653), Part 2 (Regulation 9), on buffer rates for UK institutions with exposures outside the UK: legislation.gov.uk

Your next Norwegian-exposure checkpoint

The immediate action is narrow: at the relevant reporting or disclosure computation date, verify the Norwegian jurisdictional rate then applicable, recalculate the jurisdictional weights, and ensure COREP reflects the resulting institution-specific countercyclical buffer while the Article 440 country disclosure reflects the applicable Norwegian rate. As at 13 August 2026, that Norwegian rate is 2.5%.

The next Norges Bank decision is due to be published on 11 November 2026. That is the next decision point to monitor; any changed rate must then be applied from the legally applicable date rather than from the decision date by default.

Disclaimer: The information on RegReportingDesk.com is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, tax, or compliance advice. Always consult your compliance officer, legal counsel, or the relevant supervisory authority for guidance specific to your institution.