ECB Fines Nordea Finance Finland €2.26 Million for Reporting Breaches

ECB Banking Supervision

Filed March 10th, 2026

Detected March 10th, 2026

Summary

The European Central Bank (ECB) has imposed a €2.26 million penalty on Nordea Finance Finland Ltd for breaching reporting requirements and the large exposures limit over 13 consecutive quarters. The breaches, classified as severe, stemmed from incorrect reporting of guaranteed receivables and deficiencies in internal controls.

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What changed

The European Central Bank (ECB) has sanctioned Nordea Finance Finland Ltd with an administrative penalty of €2.26 million due to serious negligence in reporting its largest exposures and breaching the large exposures limit. The breaches occurred over 13 consecutive quarters between 2021 and 2024, involving the incorrect assignment of guaranteed receivables and exceeding the 25% capital limit for single large exposures, a violation of regulatory changes introduced in 2021. Deficiencies in the bank's internal controls contributed to the duration and occurrence of these breaches.

This enforcement action highlights the critical importance of accurate reporting and adherence to large exposure limits for EU banks. Regulated entities must ensure robust internal controls and compliance mechanisms are in place to prevent similar breaches. While the document does not specify a compliance deadline for Nordea, the penalty underscores the ECB's commitment to enforcing banking rules, with potential consequences for non-compliance including significant financial penalties.

What to do next

Review internal controls for large exposure calculations and reporting accuracy.
Ensure compliance with the 25% large exposure limit and correct assignment of receivables.
Consult the ECB's Guide to the method of setting administrative pecuniary penalties for understanding penalty frameworks.

Penalties

€2.26 million administrative penalty

Source document (simplified)

PRESS RELEASE

ECB sanctions Nordea subsidiary for breaching limit on large exposures

10 March 2026

Nordea Finance Finland Ltd breached reporting requirements and limit on large exposures
ECB imposes penalty of €2.26 million The European Central Bank (ECB) has imposed an administrative penalty of €2.26 million (€2,260,000) on Nordea Finance Finland Ltd (Nordea Rahoitus Suomi Oy) after the bank wrongly reported its largest exposures and breached the large exposures limit.

EU banking rules define large exposures as exposures to a counterpart or group of connected counterparts that exceed 10% of a bank’s capital. Banks are prohibited from allowing any single large exposure to exceed 25% of their capital.

For 13 consecutive quarters between 2021 and 2024, the bank incorrectly assigned guaranteed receivables to the debtors instead of the guarantors when calculating large exposures. This was prohibited by a regulatory change introduced in 2021. As a consequence, the bank exceeded the large exposures limit of 25% set out in EU law.

The bank committed the breaches with serious negligence. Deficiencies in its internal controls also contributed to the occurrence and duration of the breach.

When deciding on the amount of a penalty to sanction a bank, the ECB applies its Guide to the method of setting administrative pecuniary penalties. The ECB classified these two breaches as “severe”. The range of severity categories comprises “minor”, “moderately severe”, “severe”, “very severe” and “extremely severe”.

More details on sanctions imposed by the ECB are available on our supervisory sanctions web page.

The bank has the right to challenge the ECB’s decision before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

For media queries, please contact Lina Bennar , tel.: +49 152 06556600.

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