The ECB recommends that until 30 September 2021 significant credit institutions exercise extreme prudence when deciding on or paying out dividends or performing share buy-backs aimed at remunerating shareholders.

Credit institutions that intend to decide on or pay out dividends or perform share buy-backs aimed at remunerating shareholders should contact their joint supervisory teams, as part of their supervisory dialogue, to discuss whether the level of intended distribution is prudent.

This Recommendation applies on a consolidated level of a significant supervised group as defined in point (22) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/17)

Recommendation on dividend distributions during the COVID-19 pandemic and repealing Recommendation ECB/2020/35 (europa.eu)

Note that Credit Suisse and UBS should profit from this, as they continue to pay out. This may also be the reason warrants (table) and options on 2020-12-15 in banks in Switzerland were more active than usual.

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