FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank decided on Tuesday to let banks pay out part of their cumulated 2019-2020 profits to shareholders if they have enough capital, easing a blanket ban on dividends and buybacks set during the first coronavirus crisis.
“The ECB expects dividends and share buy-backs to remain below 15% of the cumulated profit for 2019-20 and not higher than 20 basis points of the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, whichever is lower,” the ECB said.
“Banks that intend to pay dividends or buy back shares need to be profitable and have robust capital trajectories.”
The recommendation will remain valid until September.
(Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Balazs Koranyi)
