Banking Regulation Review: near-term plans and implemented initiatives
In 2026 Q3, the Bank of Russia plans to finalise draft amendments to the procedure for creating loan loss provisions. The new rules aim to improve the quality of banks’ credit portfolios, including by tightening the requirements for the reliability of information used to analyse borrowers’ financial position. Specifically, banks will be required to use only official documents to verify individuals’ incomes, while the assessment of large companies’ risks will take into account the availability of IFRS statements.
In addition, the regulator plans to update the requirements for banks’ internal capital adequacy assessment processes (ICAAPs). An ICAAP add-on will become part of the minimum capital adequacy ratio and will be differentiated – from 0% to 5%. This is to encourage banks to manage risks more efficiently, thus helping enhance their financial resilience.
The amendments are expected to take effect in January 2027.
Additionally, the Bank of Russia plans to hold discussions with the banking community on a possible structure of a new foreign currency liquidity ratio. It is intended as an incentive for banks to accumulate a buffer of such liquidity to be protected in case of cash outflows.
As part of the key initiatives that have already been implemented, the Bank of Russia has:
- published a new concept for regulating credit concentration risk;
- presented a report on the updated method of assessing banks’ economic situation to market participants;
- released a report containing new minimum capital requirements for banks;
- put forward a concept for regulating subordinated instruments; and
- proposed updated approaches to regulating consolidated ratios, following consultations with market participants for regulatory impact assessment.
More details are available in the Banking Regulation Review for 2026 Q2.