Capital Management

Our Treasury function manages solvency, capital adequacy, leverage and bail-in capacity ratios at Group level and locally in each region, as applicable. Treasury implements our capital strategy, which itself is developed by the Group Risk Committee and approved by the Management Board. Treasury, directly or through the Group Asset and Liability Committee, manages, among other things, issuance and repurchase of shares and capital instruments, hedging of capital ratios against foreign exchange swings, setting capacities for key financial resources, design of shareholders’ equity allocation, and regional capital planning. We are fully committed to maintaining our sound capitalization both from an economic and regulatory perspective. We continuously monitor and adjust our overall capital demand and supply in an effort to achieve an appropriate balance of the economic and regulatory considerations at all times and from all perspectives. These perspectives include book equity based on IFRS accounting standards, regulatory and economic capital as well as specific capital requirements from rating agencies.

Treasury manages the issuance and repurchase of capital instruments, namely Common Equity Tier 1, Additional Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital instruments as well as TLAC/MREL eligible debt instruments. Treasury constantly monitors the market for liability management trades. Such trades represent a countercyclical opportunity to create Common Equity Tier 1 capital by buying back our issuances below par.