Financial market and credit institutions are regulated in Estonia in accordance to Credit Institutions Act and EU Regulation No 575/2013. EU-legislation on broker and capital adequacy rules are strongly based on international Basel II and Basel III regulation.
Initial capital requirements in Estonia
In Estonia the initial capital of credit institutions must not be less than five million euros and only the amounts actually paid in may be reflected as share capital.
In the case of an operating company the initial capital of the bank shall make up at least five million euros. The initial capital consists of the capital and reserves specified in Article 26 (1) (a)-(e) of Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council:
- shares, as well as other capital instruments and respective premiums;
- retained earnings or losses;
- other accrued income indicated in the statement of comprehensive income;
- other reserves;
- profit of the current business year.
Capital adequacy rules in Estonia
Capital banks are required to hold to guard against the operational and financial risks. As the main principle, the greater the risk to which a particular bank is exposed, the greater the amount of capital that the bank needs to hold as buffer to safeguard its economic stability, and solvency.
According to Credit Institutions Act a credit institution may not use its Common Equity Tier 1 capital. EU regulation No 575/2013 requires that a credit institution maintains its Common Equity Tier 1 indicator at 4.5 per cent of the total exposure value. The specific risk own funds requirement for non-securitization debt instruments is 8.0 per cent. This includes the total capital and assets of the bank.
It is required that institutions disclose the following information regarding compliance with the requirements for a counter-cyclical capital buffer:
- the geographical distribution of its credit exposures relevant for the calculation of its counter-cyclical capital buffer;
- the amount of its
institution specific counter-cyclical capital buffer.