Indeed, the Core Tier 1 ratio – the ratio of a bank’s higher quality capital to its risk-weighted assets – increased steadily from 6.8% at the end of 2008 to 8.5% in September 2011.
Banks’ financial robustness improved due to a considerable strengthening of the capital base: the cumulative increase of the Core Tier 1 capital in the banking system was 28.6% over the period, with risk-weighted assets increasing by 2.8%. All but two of the main banks are expected to have met the 9% target by the end of 2011.