PRESS RELEASE
Decisions of the Supervisory Council, 2 December 2020

In its meeting, on 2 December 2020,  the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania reviewed and decided to:

• Approve the Regulation “On the net stable funding ratio of banks"

The purpose of this Regulation is to lay down the criteria and rules for calculating the net stable funding ratio of banks and the minimum level of net stable funding ratio. This regulation aims  to  further  approximate  the  regulatory  framework  of  the  Bank  of  Albania  to  the  requirements of the Basel Committee and the European Union directives on liquidity risk management, in compliance with the strategic objectives of the Bank of Albania for the implementation of  Basel III requirements.

• Approve amendments to the Regulation "On reporting to the Bank of Albania according to the Unified Reporting System"

The amendments aim at adopting  the reporting system of savings and loan associations and their unions to the revised requirements of the Regulation 105/2020 " On risk management in the activity of savings and loan associations and their unions".  They will provide for more information related to the off-site supervision of these entities, and more statistical data.

• Approve the Regulation “On the functioning of Credit Registry at the Bank of Albania, and the conditions and procedures on the information, use and revision of data being administered in this Registry”

This Regulation aims at regulating the functioning of the new system of Credit Registry, the required conditions and procedures on the information, use and revision of data, as well as the fees applied on the use of data which are reported to this system. The Credit Registry was established in 2008, and recently the Bank of Albania has undertaken a project for improving it. Its operation will start in December 2020.

The new system will: provide a contemporary technological infrastructure; enhance the efficiency of its use by all groups of interest; and address the issues raised from banks, non-bank financial institutions, savings and loan associations and their unions.

• Preliminary approve the conduction of the additional financial activity by American Bank of Investments sh.a.

According to the approval, the American Bank of Investments sh.a. will conduct the additional financial activity, such as:

a. trade on behalf of clients, whether in a foreign exchange, in an over-the-counter market (OTC), or differently as follows:

- participation in the issue of all types of securities, including the signing in and acting as an agent (both public and private one) and the conduction of services related to these issuances;

b. advisory, intermediation services and other auxiliary services  related to the above-stated activity, including: credit and analysis reference; research and advisory related to investments and portfolio; as well as the advisory service on: purchases, strategy and restructuring of associations.

• Preliminary approve the conduction of the additional financial activity by  Credins Bank sh.a.

According to the approval, Credins  Bank sh.a. will conduct the additional financial activity, such as:

a. commitments;

b. trade on behalf of clients, whether in a foreign exchange, in an over-the-counter market (OTC), or differently as follows:

i. derivative products (derivative instruments), including futures contract and options contract;

ii. other negotiable instruments and financial assets;

iii. participation in the issue of all types of securities, including the signing in and acting as an agent (both public and private one), and the conduction of services related to these issuances;

c. intermediation for the following monetary transactions:

i. management of assets, such are: money and portfolio management; funds management;

ii. the service for the compensation and settlement of financial assets payments, including securities, derivative products and other negotiable instruments;

iii. providing and transferring the financial information, processing of financial data and the related software, from the providers of the other financial services;

d. advisory, intermediation services and other auxiliary services.

• Select the London School of Economics, Institute of Global Affairs as an external collaborator of the Bank of Albania

Based on this decision, the Supervisory Council approved the cooperation agreement of the Bank of Albania with the London School of Economics (LSE), the Global Affair Institute. LSE is ranked at the top 10 universities in the world in the field of social, economic, political and international studies.

This cooperation aims at  enhancing the analyses and research capacities of the Bank of Albania, to strengthen the knowledge on political and economic developments and challenges that Albania and South-Eastern Europe is facing.

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