AIB and Bank of Ireland to undergo ECB stress tests

Irish banks among 37 institutions to be scrutinised

The ECB will examine banks’ ability to absorb financial shocks. Photograph: EPA

Patrick Smyth Europe Editor, in Brussels

Wed Jan 31 2018 - 18:24

AIB and Bank of Ireland Group will be among 37 banks in the euro zone to undergo stress testing by the European Central Bank, the bank announced on Wednesday.

The examinations will be part of the bank's 2018 stress-testing programme with the European Banking Authority and will cover banks which are supervised by the ECB and which represent some 70 per cent of euro-area banking assets. Individual bank results are expected to be published by November.

The tests will provide information on banks’ resilience, notably their ability to absorb shocks and meet capital requirements under adverse macroeconomic conditions.

In addition, four Greek banks supervised by the ECB will face an accelerated testing to complete them before the end of the third European Stability Mechanism stability support programme for Greece at the end of May.