Banking regulator keeps stability buffer at top end of range amid uncertainty

Canada's banking regulator has kept the domestic stability buffer at the top end of the range to help address heightened financial uncertainty.

As the buffer stands, banks have to hold capital equivalent to 2.5 per cent of total risk-weighted assets.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions introduced the buffer in 2018 as an addition to existing requirements for Canada's largest banks. 

OFSI said in its announcement of maintaining the rate that it expects large banks to "exercise vigilance and heightened prudence in their capital management practices with a view to preserving capital."