Largest Russian banks to begin complying with national short-term liquidity ratio
MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) - Systemically important credit institutions (SICIs) will begin complying with the new National Short-Term Liquidity Ratio (NSLR) starting October 30, replacing the existing Basel ratio.
The changes will allow for a more accurate assessment of risks for SICIs by accounting for the specific features of the Russian financial market. Among the key innovations are the expansion of the composition of highly liquid assets and the clarification of cash outflow coefficients.
Banks will be required to submit their first reporting on the NSLR as of November 1, 2025. Since the reporting form for the new ratio will come into force in January 2026, until then banks will submit NSLR data as part of the existing forms for the Basel ratio. The Central Bank of Russia will provide SICIs with the necessary clarifications on filling out the reporting forms separately.
To reduce concentration risks in highly liquid assets (HLA), the Central Bank has introduced restrictions on investments in securities. Bonds can be included in HLA only if the bank holds no more than 30% of the issue. For investments formed by the bank before January 1, 2025, the transition to this restriction will be gradual - until the end of 2027.
In addition, the regulator eliminated the possibility of improving the ratio through funds on nostro accounts with practically no transactions (that is, effectively long-term placements) and established a transition period for increasing the outflow coefficient for funds of the Federal Treasury (from the current 40% to 45% starting January 1, 2027). The Central Bank also raised the threshold for the size of individual deposits subject to higher outflow coefficients to more accurately differentiate such funds by their level of stability.
To ensure a smooth transition from the LCR, the minimum value of the new ratio will be 80% in 2025, and will increase to 100% starting January 1, 2026.
The Central Bank previously announced that, in connection with the transition of SICIs to compliance with the NSLR, it has canceled the one-year term for irrevocable credit lines (ICLs). The Central Bank also set a fee for the right to use ICLs at 1% per annum of the ICL limit amount included in the NSLR calculation.
The regulator also made changes to the ICL mechanism and revised the approach to using this instrument for compliance with the ratio. Now, ICLs will only cover minor volatility of the ratio (up to 20 percentage points). The amount of the ICL fee will depend on how many days and to what extent the bank actually used the ICL to comply with the ratio.
