Capital structures vary across EU banks

European banks differ in the types of capital that make up their regulatory buffers, Risk Quantum analysis shows.

Bank capital is divided into three categories by its capacity to absorb losses if a bank runs into trouble: Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1); additional Tier 1 (AT1); and Tier 2.

CET1 constitutes the highest-quality capital – namely, shareholder equity. AT1 is generally made up of debt that can be written down or converted to equity to absorb losses, and Tier 2 subordinated bonds with a