Luminor obtains covered bond license from the European Central Bank

On 19 December 2019, the European Central Bank issued a licence to Luminor to issue covered bonds following the assessment of the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority. Luminor is the first bank in the Baltic countries to receive such a license.

Luminor CFO Jonas Eriksson says: “This is a very important step for Luminor to reach a fully independent funding structure and continue to improve our stability and liquidity position. It is also an important milestone in the development of the Baltic financial markets. We are in the process of finalizing our plans for issuance under the program and expect to share this with the market next year.”
 
The legislation enabling the issuance of covered bonds under the Estonian Covered Bonds Act entered into force in Estonia in March of this year.
 
Luminor is the third-largest provider of financial services in the Baltics, with approximately one million clients, 2,500 employees, and market shares of 16.8% in deposits and 19.5% in lending as of the end of the third quarter of 2019. Total shareholders’ equity amounts to EUR 1.6 billion, and Luminor is capitalised with a CET1 ratio of 18.7%.