Austria’s Erste Reaps Most Benefit From SRTs, CreditSights Says

Erste Group Bank AG has reaped more capital relief from issuing significant risk transfers than any other major European bank, according to CreditSights estimates.

The Vienna-based firm last year registered a five-fold increase to the capital relief the instruments provided in its core equity tier 1 ratio — a key measure of strength — the CreditSights research shows. SRTs won the bank an extra 113 basis points of capital relief by the end of 2025, compared with 22 basis points a year earlier.

SRTs are being sold in record numbers by banks looking to pave the way for new ...