The Board of the National Bank of Ukraine adopted Resolution No 479 of 28 December 2011 (registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 23 January 2012 under No 96/20409), which introduced amendments to the Instruction on the Procedure for Regulating Banks’ Activities in Ukraine.

The introduction of these amendments stemmed from the necessity to bring the above-mentioned regulation in line with provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine with regard to Regulation of Banks’ Activities” No3024-VI of 15 February 2011 (hereinafter referred to as the – Law) and improve supervisory approaches to calculating certain economic ratios.

In order to complete the process of capitalization, Resolution No 479 allows for the contributions (paid in but not registered) to the authorized capital to be included in the capital for the period until 1 July 2012.

Pursuant to the provisions of the present Law, a new ratio of regulatory capital to bank liabilities will be introduced. This new ratio, which will service as an additional indicator for assessing the level of protection of creditors and depositors, will become effective from 1 January 2013.

Given the experience gained in the post-crisis period, the terms and conditions for including subordinated debt in the capital have been revised.

With a view to enhancing the liquidity of banks and ensuring timely fulfillment of obligations to depositors and creditors, approaches to calculating liquidity ratios have been improved, which will become effective from 1 July 2012.

In order to implement the requirements of this Law, criteria for determining related parties (insiders) of the banks have been amended.

In addition, the calculation of investment ratios has been altered and the procedure for granting permission for banks by the National bank of Ukraine to make investments has been established, taking into account the current requirements with regard to the amount of regulatory capital.

The banking community, including banking associations, has made efforts to introduce amendments to the regulations. A newly created Independent Banking Association of Ukraine has actively participated in this work.

The implementation of these amended regulations will improve the quality of regulatory capital, enhance the soundness of the banking system as well as its ability to withstand the negative developments in the market and safeguard the interests of depositors and creditors.