PRESS RELEASE
Decisions by the Supervisory Council, 6 November 2024

On 6 November 2024, the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania decided to reduce the policy rate at 2.75%, and the overnight deposit and overnight lending rates at 1.75% and 3.75%, respectively.  The Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania also reviewed and decided to:

• Approve the Regulation on the "Management of Operational Risk by Banks, Payment Institutions, and Electronic Money Institutions"

This new regulation is a result of the Bank of Albania’ work  within the framework of its commitment to draft and review the entire regulatory framework on the management of operational risk, information and security risk, as well as cyber risk for all entities under its supervision.

More specifically, this regulation sets out the minimum requirements and rules dedicated to the management of operational risk for entities such as banks, payment institutions, and electronic money institutions. The regulation defines the roles and responsibilities of the governing bodies and defense lines for operational risk management, as well as the steps and necessary mechanisms for identifying, assessing, measuring, monitoring, controlling, mitigating, and reporting this risk.

• Approve some amendments to the Regulation “ On operational risk management”

The drafting of the new regulation "On operational risk management by Banks, Payment Institutions, and Electronic Money Institutions" has led to the need to approve some other amendments to the current regulation 3/2011 "On operational risk management." With the entry into force of the amendments, the latter will only be applicable to non-bank financial institutions and savings and loan associations. The approved amendments consist of reviewing and adapting the regulatory requirements to the nature and complexity of the activities carried out by these entities.

• Approve amendments to the Regulation "On the reports at the Bank of Albania accordingly to the Unified Reporting System"

The drafting and reviewing of the regulatory framework for the operational risk management by entities supervised by the Bank of Albania (as explained above) was accompanied by new reporting requirements related to early warning indicators and the operational risk register, reflecting the relevant amendments in Regulation 45/2009 "On the reports at the Bank of Albania accordingly to the Unified Reporting System."

• Approve the regulation on "Criteria and Methodology for Setting the Pricing of Numismatic Items"

This regulation aims to define the criteria that should be followed for calculating the selling price of numismatic items sold by the Bank of Albania.

The Supervisory Council was also informed on the daily functional and operational activities of the Bank of Albania.