Central banks of the Baltic states and Sweden signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Management of a Financial Crisis in Banks

“Swedish banks manage some banks in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, therefore, it is useful for the central banks of these states to cooperate in the area of information exchange and to plan the actions to be taken, if one of the members of a bank group faces problems in any country. For this purpose, the agreement of the central banks of these four states was prepared”, said Mr. Darius Petrauskas, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, who signed the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the bank of Lithuania.

The Document establishes that the central bank that first identifies a potential crisis should contact the other central banks. In addition, it indicates which central bank should be responsible for coordinating information and contacts and states the type of information considered relevant. It also provides for a closer cooperation of central banks in a regular exchange of information about the operation of the banks mentioned in the Memorandum in the above-mentioned states.

The signed Memorandum of Understanding supplements those signed earlier between the authorities within the EU on the management of financial crises in cross-border banks. It deals only with the cooperation between the central banks and does not affect other international agreements.

After signing the Memorandum, the meeting of the central bank representatives of four states took place, which was also attended by the governors of SEB and Swedbank. The activity of the banks operating on a cross-border basis was discussed at the meeting.