ECB Unveils Shortlisted Euro Banknote Designs and Launches Public Survey
The European Central Bank has published ten shortlisted design proposals for the next series of euro banknotes, based on two themes: 'European culture' and 'Rivers and birds'. A public online survey is open until 21 September 2026, with the Governing Council expected to select a final design by year-end.
Related updates
NBB maintains countercyclical capital buffer at 1.25% for Q4 2026
The National Bank of Belgium has confirmed that the countercyclical capital buffer rate will remain at 1.25% for the fourth quarter of 2026, applying from 1 October 2026 and corresponding to roughly €3.5 billion of capital. The NBB cites a stabilised financial cycle alongside persistent geopolitical, macroeconomic and public finance uncertainty, and calls on banks to verify that credit risk provisions adequately reflect adverse scenarios.
24 Sep 2026
Pierre Wunsch discusses Europe's economic resilience, regulation and financial transformation
On 22 September 2026, The Brussels Times published an interview with NBB Governor Pierre Wunsch covering European competitiveness, regulation, AI, tokenisation, digital currencies and financial crime. Wunsch highlights Europe's need for greater economic agility while discussing the transformation of financial infrastructure. The interview introduces no new regulatory requirements and is best treated as strategic economic and supervisory context.
21 Sep 2026
ECB Governing Council Decisions: Collateral and Macroprudential Updates (July 2026)
On 24 July 2026 the National Bank of Belgium published the ECB Governing Council's July 2026 decisions taken in addition to interest rate decisions. They include the permanent integration of non-financial corporate credit claims into the Eurosystem general collateral framework, the reclassification of financial subsidiaries of non-financial corporate issuer groups, and the extension of climate factors to NFC credit claims. The Governing Council also adopted Guideline ECB/2026/17 on the enhanced Eurosystem repo facility (EUREP) and published a statement on macroprudential policies.
24 Jul 2026