OP Financial Group markedly above the level of the new capital adequacy requirement set by FIN-FSA


OP Financial Group
Stock Exchange Release
6 July 2015 at 11.15 a.m. EEST

OP Financial Group markedly above the level of the new capital adequacy requirement set by FIN-FSA

At its meeting on 6 July 2015, the Board of the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) set a new minimum capital adequacy level for OP Financial Group and for the first time set the Other Systemically Important Institutions (O-SII) buffer, under the Act on Credit Institutions, for major Finnish banks. The buffer of 2.0 percentage points set for OP Financial Group will take effect on 7 January 2016.

In view of the capital buffer requirements, this decision increases the Group's CET1 ratio requirement to 9.0 per cent and total capital adequacy ratio requirement to 12.5 per cent as of 7 January 2016. The Group is markedly above the level of this new minimum capital adequacy requirement.

At the end of March, OP Financial Group's CET1 ratio stood at 16.7 per cent and total capital adequacy ratio at 18.9 per cent.

"We have for many years now been providing for tighter capital adequacy regulation and put high capital adequacy at the top of our agenda as our financial indicator. Our own target is double the ratio what the regulators require of us with their new decision", says Reijo Karhinen, OP's President and Group Executive Chairman.

The Group's minimum CET1ratio target is 18 per cent by the end of 2016. When setting this target, the Group has taken the known capital buffer requirements in full into account. OP Financial Group's capital adequacy is markedly above the required capital buffer requirement measured alone by the CET1 ratio.

An Other Systemically Important Institution (O-SII) is a bank whose balance sheet total exceeds one billion euros and whose failure would risk the financial stability in Finland or in another EU member state. The FSA may set a buffer of a range of 0-2 percentage points based on the bank's systemic importance. The buffer level will be revised on an annual basis.

  
OP Cooperative

Carina Geber-Teir
Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications

For more information, please contact:
OP Communications, media contacts, tel. +358 (0)50 523 9904

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op.fi, pohjola.com

OP Financial Group

OP Financial Group is Finland's leading financial services group providing a unique range of banking, wealth management and insurance services. OP's mission is to promote the sustainable prosperity, security and wellbeing of its customer-owners, customers and operating regions. Its objective is to offer the best and most versatile package of loyal customer benefits on the market. OP Financial Group consists of about 180 member cooperative banks, its central cooperative OP Cooperative, and the latter's subsidiaries and affiliates. The Group has a staff of 12,000 and 4.3 million customers.

As laid down in the applicable law, the member credit institutions and OP Cooperative are ultimately jointly and severally liable for each other's debts and commitments. Joint and several liability within OP Financial Group is based on the Laki talletuspankkien yhteenliittymästä Act (Act on the amalgamation of deposit banks). Pohjola Bank plc and OP Mortgage Bank are responsible for OP's funding on money and capital markets
www.op.fi