·         The temporary directive for dealing with the COVID-19 crisis (Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive no. 250) was first published on March 19, 2020, and has been updated several times since then in accordance with the needs that arose. With the return to orderly economic activity, the need for providing easings to banking corporations in their banking activities declined. Therefore, beginning from January 1, 2022, the temporary directive will expire, except for specific provisions that were assigned a later expiration date in the temporary directive.

 

·         In particular, the Banking Supervision Department is of the view that the return to orderly activity enables the banking corporations to forecast capital needs and to distribute dividends. However, when deciding on the distribution of dividends, the banking corporations are required to act with caution when examining the business model and to take into account that there is still some level of uncertainty in the markets, deriving from, among other things, the development of new mutations of the virus.

 

·         In addition, the Supervisor of Banks decided to update the relevant Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directives and to entrench certain easings that were granted in the temporary provision, in view of the need for aligning the requirements with the permanent changes that have occurred in the economy in recent years, among other things, due to the switch to increasing usage of advanced technological means.

 

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