Identification by Italy of material third countries pursuant to Recommendation ESRB/2015/1 of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB)

In December 2015, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) adopted Recommendation ESRB/2015/1 to standardize decisions by individual Member States on the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) to be applied to exposures to residents in non-European Economic Area countries (third countries)[1] The recommendation provides that the designated national authorities for macroprudential policies annually identify the third countries to which their domestic banking sectors are materially exposed and monitor the risks to financial stability stemming from excessive credit growth in those countries.

Based on the data at 31 December 2021, the Bank of Italy has identified for the year 2022 the following material third countries for Italy's banking system: Russia, the United States, Switzerland and the UK. The risks to financial stability stemming from excessive credit growth in those four countries will be monitored directly by the ESRB, which has included them among those identified as material for the entire European Economic Area.

The identification of the four countries was made in accordance with the criteria laid down in Decision ESRB/2015/3. The assessment considered all the countries to which Italian banks are exposed and examined three indicators relating to original exposures (i.e. non-risk-weighted), risk-weighted exposures and defaulted exposures towards each country, all as shares of the corresponding total exposures of the Italian banking system. The countries that were identified as material are those for which at least one of the three indicators was equal to or exceeded 1 per cent in each of the last two quarters and in the last eight quarters on average.

With reference to Russia, it should be noted that since the invasion of Ukraine, the Bank of Italy has been constantly following developments in the risks to financial stability (including other than those connected with excessive credit growth in third countries) deriving from Italian intermediaries' exposures towards the countries involved in the conflict (see Financial Stability Report, 1, 2022).