Quotas in the system for the management of bank reserves
[NOT IN FORCE]
Under the current system for managing banks' reserves, interest is paid at the key policy rate on a certain portion of the reserves – a quota. Deposits in excess of the quota are remunerated at a lower rate – the reserve rate. Norges Bank will normally assess the total quota and its distribution among banks twice a year.
The following applies as from 1 October 2015:
- Norges Bank will seek to maintain reserves in the banking system at an average NOK 35 billion with a symmetrical interval of ±5 billion around this level.
- The sum of banks' quotas, the total quota, is set at NOK 45 billion.
Banks are divided into three groups where all banks in the same group are assigned the same quota, with the exception of settlement banks which are assigned higher quotas. The banks are divided into groups as follows (Table 1):
Table 1. Division of banks into groups (as of September 2015)
| Group 1: | Group 2: | Group 3: All B-banks in NBO* (107 banks) |
| DNB Bank ASA** | Sparebank 1 SR Bank | |
| Nordea Bank Norge ASA | Sparebanken Vest | |
| Danske Bank NUF** | Sparebank 1 SMN** | |
| Handelsbanken NUF | Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge | |
| SEB AB NUF | Sparebanken Hedmark | |
| Swedbank NUF | Sparebanken Møre | |
| Storebrand Bank ASA | ||
| Sparebanken Sør | ||
| BNP Paribas Fortis SA-NV Norway Branch | ||
| BN Bank ASA | ||
| Skandiabanken AB NUF | ||
| Bank 1 Oslo Akershus | ||
| Sandnes Sparebank | ||
| Sparebanken Øst | ||
| Citibank NUF |
*Norges Bank's settlement system, **Settlement bank
The quotas that apply as from 1 October 2015 are set on the basis of banks' total assets as at 30 June 2015. The quotas are distributed as follows (Table 2):
Table 2. Banks' quotas to be applied as from 1 October 2015. In thousands of NOK
| Sum TA | Share TA |
Sum quota per group |
Number |
Quota per bank |
|
| Group 1 | 3 146 892 119 | 67.0 % | 30 170 033 | 6 | 5 000 000 |
| Group 2 | 889 479 623 | 19.0 % | 8 527 661 | 15 | 570 000 |
| Group 3 | 657 363 392 | 14.0 % | 6 302 305 | 107 | 59 000 |
| Sum | 4 693 735 134 | 100 % | 45 000 000 | 128 |
TA: Total assets
The settlement banks DNB, SpareBank 1 SMN and Danske Bank are assigned quotas as follows (Table 3):
Table 3. Quotas for settlement banks, DNB, SpareBank 1 SMN and Danske Bank*. In thousands of NOK
| Initial quota | Supplement to quota | Sum quota | |
| DNB Bank ASA | 5 000 000 | 1 300 000 | 6 300 000 |
| SpareBank 1 SMN | 570 000 | 600 000 | 1 170 000 |
| Danske Bank | 5 000 000 | 100 000 | 5 100 000 |
*Settlement banks are assigned a supplementary quota determined by the size of the settlement bank in relation to the size of the B-banks or equivalent banks for which it executes settlements (as measured by total assets). If the estimated quota for the settlement bank is initially NOK K billion, its total assets NOK X billion and the sum of total assets of the B-banks is NOK Y billion, the settlement bank will be assigned a supplementary quota equal to K x (Y/X), but with an upper limit equal to the sum of the quotas for the B-banks for which it executes settlements. The settlement bank's total quota will normally be equal to K+K x (Y/X).
For a further description of the system for the management of bank reserves, see Management of bank reserves: The system in Norway.
For a further discussion of the background for the new system, see Background for the system for the management of bank reserves in Norway.