The Santander is once again the only Spanish bank to appear on the list of 29 financial institutions of global systemic importance in 2023, according to the classification drawn up by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and published in the newspaper Cinco Días. Inclusion in this systemic bank category means that banks will have to assume additional capital requirements to cover the risk in the system due to their size.
In this respect, the FSB establishes five levels of extra capital, ranging from 1% to 3.5%. Santander is in the lowest risk category of the five, which means that it would only have to assume an extra capital surcharge of 1%.
This list is updated in November each year. It usually consists of 30 banks, but this time the number has dropped to 29, as the Italian bank Unicredit has fallen off the list as a global systemic institution. Also the Swiss bank Credit Suisse has gone after being absorbed by the Swiss group UBS. Instead, China’s Bank of Communications has joined the list.