PRESS RELEASE
Decisions by the Supervisory Council, 5 February 2020

On 5 February 2020, in addition to the decision to keep the key interest rate unchanged  at 1.0%, as well as overnight deposit and overnight loan rates at the Bank of Albania at 0.1 and 1.9%, respectively, the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania reviewed and decided to:

• Approve the regulation “On determining the conditions for granting preliminary approval to the agreement of intra-group financial support”

This Regulation is pursuant to the Law 133/2016 “On the recovery and resolution in banks, in the Republic of Albania”. The Law stipulates the obligation of the Bank of Albania to determine, by sub-legal act, the conditions for granting preliminary approval to the agreement of intra-group financial support. The adopted Regulation defines the conditions when financial support within the banking group can be provided, as well as the requirements for documentation and its content in order to obtain approval from the Bank of Albania.

• Approve amendments to the Regulation “On Capital Adequacy Ratio”

The amendments adopted to the Regulation "On Capital Adequacy Ratio" aim primarily at ensuring further compliance with the requirements of EU Directive 575/2013. They also address some of the issues encountered during the implementation of bank regulation requirements and the supervision process carried out by the Bank of Albania.

• Review the fees for using information in the Credit Registry of the Bank of Albania.

This decision stipulates the change of fees for the provision of the Borrower's Report, generated by the Credit Registry, as below:

• Removal of the 500 Lek fee, paid by individuals when provided with this report;
• Increase by 50% of fees when the Credit Registry system is used by banks and other financial institutions.
• Preliminary approve the conduction of the additional financial activity by Tirana Bank sh.a.

According to this approval, Tirana Bank may conduct the additional financial activity of intermediation in insurance and reinsurance, hence operating as an insurance broker.

The Supervisory Council reviewed additional information related to the daily operational and functional activity of the Bank of Albania.