FMSG Recommends 0% Countercyclical Capital Buffer, Reviews AI and Stablecoins
Summary
The Financial Market Stability Board (FMSG) held its 48th meeting on 09 April 2026, recommending the FMA maintain a countercyclical capital buffer (CyCB) at 0% of domestic risk-weighted assets. At year-end 2025, three of sixteen indicators showed increased cyclical risks, while both Credit-to-GDP gap indicators remained below critical thresholds. The Board also reviewed impacts of AI and stablecoins on financial market stability, assessing stablecoin risks as currently low.
What changed
The FMSG issued Recommendation FMSG/1/2026 maintaining the countercyclical capital buffer at 0%, based on Credit-to-GDP gap indicators remaining below critical thresholds despite three of sixteen cyclical risk indicators showing increases. The Board also discussed potential ancillary risks from the Middle East conflict including weaker economic outlook, inflation, and interest rate pressures, noting the banking sector's sound capitalization and conservative profit distributions provide resilience. The macroprudential strategy was revised in cooperation with the FMA and OeNB to reflect legal framework changes and new methodologies.\n\nBanks operating in Austria should note the maintained 0% capital buffer and review the updated macroprudential strategy. While stablecoin and AI risks are currently assessed as low, the FMSG will continue monitoring these areas, suggesting potential future regulatory attention. The 2025 Annual Report focusing on real estate financing systemic risks and O-SII buffer evaluation provides additional context for risk management practices.
What to do next
- Monitor FMSG publications for updates on AI and stablecoin risk assessments
- Review updated macroprudential strategy on FMSG website
- Access interactive systemic cyclical risk dashboard via OeNB
Archived snapshot
Apr 11, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Press Release about the 48th meeting of the Financial Market Stability Board (FMSG)
- April 2026
The Financial Market Stability Board (FMSG; Finanzmarktstabilitätsgremium) held its 48th meeting on 09 April 2026. The press release about the meeting can be found on the FMSG website (currently in German only) at FMSG – Presseaussendung.
The most important topics of the meeting:
Countercyclical Capital Buffer
The FMSG has issued a recommendation to the FMA to maintain a countercyclical capital buffer (CyCB) of 0% of domestic risk-weighted assets. At year-end 2025, three out of sixteen indicators displayed increased cyclical risks, while both indicators in relation to the Credit-to-GDP gap with a stronger weighting remained below the critical thresholds.
Details are contained in Recommendation FMSG/1/2026 (currently in German only). The dashboard on systemic cyclical risks is published by the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) in an interactive form on its website.
War in the Middle East, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Stablecoins
The Board determined that the Austrian financial sector’s direct exposures to the region exposed to the war in the Middle East are low. Potential knock-on effects such as a weaker economic outlook as well as increasing inflation and interest rates were discussed as ancillary risks.
The existing macroprudential capital buffers and the banking sector’ sound capitalisation make a significant contribution to its resilience. Conservative distributions of profits provide additional support of its risk bearing capacity.
The impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Stablecoins on financial market stability were also established. The risks arising from Stablecoins are currently estimated as being low, although the FMSG will continue to observe developments.
Annual Report 2025
In 2025, the FMSG focused in particular on the systemic risks in commercial and residential real estate financing as well as evaluating the buffer for other systemically important institutions (OSII) as well as determining the Countercyclical Buffer (CCyB) on a quarterly basis.
The 2025 Annual Report will be submitted to the Federal Minister of Finance, the Finance Committee of the National Council and published on the FMSG website.
Macroprudential Strategy
The FMSG’s macroprudential strategy was revised in the meeting in cooperation with the FMA and OeNB. The revisions take into account changes in legal frameworks as well as new findings and methods.
The updated strategy has been published on the Board’s website (in German only).
« Portfolio transfer from ERGO Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft’s Czech branch establishment Back to the list
Named provisions
Get daily alerts for Austrian FMA News
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from FMSG.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when Austrian FMA News publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.