Updated 4 May 2023
In December 2010, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published Basel III: A global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems which presents the details of global regulatory standards on bank capital adequacy and liquidity, including a countercyclical capital buffer. The countercyclical capital buffer aims to ensure that banking sector capital requirements take account of the macro-financial environment in which banks operate. Its primary objective is to use a buffer of capital to achieve the broader macroprudential goal of protecting the banking sector from periods of excess aggregate credit growth that have often been associated with the build-up of system-wide risk. Due to its countercyclical nature, the countercyclical capital buffer regime may also help to lean against the build-up phase of the credit cycle in the first place. In downturns, the regime should help to reduce the risk that the supply of credit will be constrained by regulatory capital requirements that could undermine the performance of the real economy and result in additional credit losses in the banking system.
The Basel III countercyclical capital buffer is calculated as the weighted average of the buffers in effect in the jurisdictions to which banks have a credit exposure. It is implemented as an extension of the capital conservation buffer. It consists entirely of Common Equity Tier 1 capital and, if the minimum buffer requirements are breached, capital distribution constraints will be imposed on the bank. Consistent with the capital conservation buffer, the constraints imposed relate only to capital distributions, not the operation of the bank.
Banks must ensure that their countercyclical buffer requirements are calculated and publicly disclosed with at least the same frequency as their minimum capital requirements. In addition, when disclosing their buffer requirement, banks must also disclose the geographic breakdown of their private sector credit exposures used in the calculation of the buffer requirement.
Jurisdictional reciprocity will be applied when it comes to internationally active banks in member jurisdictions. The countercyclical buffer regime was phased-in in parallel with the capital conservation buffer between 1 January 2016 and year-end 2018 and became fully effective on 1 January 2019. Jurisdictions may choose to implement larger countercyclical buffer requirements. In such cases the reciprocity provisions of the regime will not apply to the additional amounts or earlier time-frames.
The document entitled Guidance for national authorities operating the countercyclical capital buffer, sets out the principles that national authorities have agreed to follow in making buffer decisions. To give banks time to adjust to a buffer level, a jurisdiction will pre-announce its decision to raise the level of the countercyclical buffer by up to 12 months. Decisions by a jurisdiction to decrease the level of the countercyclical buffer will take effect immediately. The pre-announced buffer decisions and the actual buffers in place for all Committee member jurisdictions are published below. A set of frequently asked questions on implementation of the CCyB can be found here. To be notified of updates, subscribe to the designated email alert.
For queries, please write to Basel3CCYB@bis.org.
Basel Committee member jurisdictions
|
Jurisdiction
|
CCyB regulations
|
Current CCyB |
Future CCyB |
Table last updated
|
| Policy announcement |
Effective date |
Add-on (per cent of RWA) |
Policy announcement |
Effective date |
Add-on (per cent of RWA) |
| Argentina |
Compiled text on Profits distribution (in Spanish only) |
BCRA decision on counter cyclical buffer (Communication "A"5938, 31.03.2016, in Spanish only) |
01.04.2016 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
31.03.2016 |
| Australia |
Prudential Standard APS 110 - Capital Adequacy |
APRA issues annual update on CCyB setting (21.12.2022) |
01.01.2023 |
1.00% |
n/a |
01.01.2023 |
1.00% |
01.05.2023 |
| Belgium |
Arrèté royal portant approbation du règlement du 24 novembre 2015 de la Banque national de Belgique relatif à la détermination du taux de coussin de conservation des fonds propres de base de catégorie 1 contracyclique (available in French and Dutch only) |
The NBB keeps the CCyB rate at 0% (23.12.2020) |
01.10.2020 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
25.10.2021 |
| Brazil |
Implementation of the CCyB in Brazil (Resolution 4,193, 03.01.2013, Articles 8 and 9, as amended by Resolution 4.443, 10.29.2015) |
Central Bank of Brazil announces Countercyclical Capital Buffer in Brazil (Comunicado 32.794, 22.11.2018) Rationale for the CCyB rate in Brazil (Financial Stability Report, 04.2017) |
29.10.2015 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
22.11.2018 |
| Canada |
Capital Adequacy Requirements |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
05.03.2017 |
| China |
Capital Rules for Commercial Banks (Provisional) (Decree of the CBRC, No 1, 2012)(in English) Capital Rules for Commercial Banks (Provision), (Decree of the CBRC, No 1, 2012 |
PBC and CBIRC Issue Notice on Establishing Mechanism of Countercyclical Capital Buffer (01.10.2020) |
01.10.2020 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
18.12.2020 |
| France |
n/a |
HCSF Press Release (24.03.2022) |
07.04.2023 |
0.50% |
HCSF Press Release (15.09.2022) |
02.01.2024 |
1% |
07.04.2023 |
| Germany |
German Banking Act (KWG) - Article 10d |
BaFin Board Decision regarding the counter cyclical buffer rate |
31.01.2021 |
0.00% |
BaFin Board Decision regarding the counter cyclical buffer rate (31.01.2022) |
01.02.2023 |
0.75% |
11.05.2022 |
| Hong Kong SAR |
Implementation of the CCyB in Hong Kong |
HK decision to maintain the countercyclical capital buffer at 1.0% (12.10.2020) |
12.10.2020 |
1.0% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
18.12.2020 |
| India |
Guidelines for implementation of Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCCB) |
First Bi-monthly monetary policy statement, 2018 (05.04.2018) |
05.02.2015 |
0% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
05.04.2018 |
| Indonesia |
BI CCyB regulation(available in Indonesian only) |
Bank Indonesia holds countercyclical capital buffer (CCB) at 0% (16.05.2019) |
01.01.2016 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
16.05.2019 |
| Italy |
Bank of Italy's Circular No. 285 - Supervisory instructions for banks (available in Italian only) |
Bank of Italy (21 December 2018) |
01.01.2016 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
30.12.2018 |
| Japan |
Ordinances and notices on capital buffer ratios(available in Japanese only) |
Ordinances and notices on capital buffer ratios(available in Japanese only) |
31.03.2016 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
31.03.2016 |
| Korea |
Notice of the amendments to the banking regulation (in Korean only) |
FSC announced CCyB rate for South Korea |
31.03.2016 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
31.03.2016 |
| Luxembourg |
CSSF Regulation N° 15-04 on the setting of a countercyclical buffer rate (only in French) CSSF Regulation N° 15-05 on the exemption of investment firms that qualify as small and medium-sized enterprises from the requirements of countercyclical capital buffer and capital conservation buffer (only in French) |
CSSF Regulation No 23-01 of 31 March 2023
on the setting of the countercyclical buffer rate for the second quarter of 2023 (only in French) |
01.04.2023 |
0.50% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
31.03.2023 |
| Mexico |
General Provisions Applicable to the Credit Institutions (Chapter VI Bis 2, Title First Bis; in Spanish only) |
Current Countercyclical Capital Charges |
07.04.2016 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
11.05.2022 |
| Netherlands |
CRD IV, Articles 135 and 136 ESRB Recommendation on Guidance for Setting CCyB Rates Financial Supervision Act, Article 3:62a (in Dutch, 13.07.2015) Decree on prudential rule under the Financial Supervision Act, Article 105 and 105b |
DNB leaves countercyclical buffer unchanged at 0% (26.03.2021) |
01.01.2016 |
0.00% |
DNB increases countercyclical capital buffer to 1% - May 2022 |
25.05.2023 |
1.00% |
06.07.2022 |
| Russia |
Bank of Russia Ordinance No. 3855-U, dated 30 November 2015, 'On Amending of Bank of Russia Instruction No. 139-I, Dated 3 December 2012, On Banks' Required Ratios' (available in Russian only) Instruction No. 180-I, Dated 28 June 2017, On Banks' Required Rations' (replaced Instruction No. 139-I) (with updates) (available in Russian only) |
Bank of Russia retains national countercyclical capital buffer (25.06.2021) |
10.08.2020 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
25.10.2021 |
| Saudi Arabia |
On applicability of the countercyclical capital buffer (04.01.2016) |
On applicability of the countercyclical capital buffer (04.01.2016) |
01.01.2016 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
28.02.2016 |
| Singapore |
MAS Notice 637 on Risk Based Capital Adequacy Requirements for Banks Incorporated in Singapore |
Decision on Singapore's countercyclical capital buffer rate for 2020 (MAS Financial Stability Review 2018, Overview) |
01.01.2017 |
0.00% |
Decision on Singapore's countercyclical capital buffer rate for 2023 (MAS Financial Stability Review 2022) |
01.01.2023 |
0.00% |
19.12.2022 |
| South Africa |
Banks Act Circular 8 of 2015 - Countercyclical capital buffer for South Africa based on the Basel III framework |
Financial Stability Review, Second edition 2018 (30.11.2018) |
30.11.2017 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
30.11.2018 |
| Spain |
European Union regulations on the CCyB: Directive 2016/36/EU "CRD IV" (Articles 136-140) and Recommendation ESRB/2014/1 on guidance for setting CCyB rates. Spanish regulations on the CCyB: Law 10/2014 (Title II, Chapter III), Royal Decree 84/2015 (Title II, Chapter II) and Circular 2/2016 (Rules 8-12, ES version only). |
The Banco de España holds the countercyclical capital buffer at 0% (31.03.2023) |
01.04.2023 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
19.12.2022 |
| Sweden |
Swedish Buffer Capital Act (in Swedish only) Regulations regarding the countercyclical buffer rate Swedish implementation of overall capital requirements, including combined buffer and reciprocity of CCyB |
The countercyclical buffer rate will be raised (29.09.2021) |
29.09.2022 |
1.00% |
The countercyclical buffer rate will be raised (22.06.2022) |
23.06.2023 |
2.00% |
19.12.2022 |
| Switzerland |
Capital Ordinance Article 44 and 44a (available in German, French, and Italian) |
Stance of the Basel III countercyclical capital buffer in Switzerland (21.02.2023) |
21.02.2023 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
21.02.2023 |
| Türkyie |
Regulation on Capital Conservation Buffer and Countercyclical Capital Buffer (available in Turkish) |
Banking Regulation and Supervision Board Resolution on Principles and Procedures on Countercyclical Capital Buffer Implementation and Profit Distribution to be Made by Banks (available in Turkish) Board Resolution on the Countercyclical Capital Buffer Rate (available in Turkish) |
01.01.2016 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
24.12.2015 |
| United Kingdom |
Statutory Instruments - Financial Services and Markets: The Capital Requirements (Capital Buffers and Macroprudential Measures) Regulations 2014 |
Financial Policy Summary and Record - December 2021 (13.12.2021) |
24.03.2020 |
1.00% |
Setting of the Countercyclical Capital Buffer Rate for UK exposures (06.07.2022) |
05.07.2023 |
2.00% |
06.07.2022 |
| United States |
See section 11 of the regulatory capital rules for each U.S. federal banking agency: Federal Reserve Board: 12 CFR § 217.11 The Federal Reserve Board's Framework for Implementing the Countercyclical Capital Buffer (08.09.2016) Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: 12 CFR § 3.11 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: 12 CFR § 324.11 |
Press release: Federal Reserve Board votes to affirm the Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) at the current level of 0 percent (18.12.2020) |
18.12.2020 |
0.00% |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
19.12.2022 |
Non-member jurisdictions
