AI and massive data technologies are being deployed in all different stages of business ranging from risk management to portfolio optimization.

Assessing the risks and costs arising from climate change – its effects, mitigation and, in the worst case, failure to mitigate – presents a major challenge for financial sector participants.

The current loan-to-value cap on housing loans urgently needs to be accompanied by a new, more comprehensive cap on debt. This would take into account all a loan applicant’s debt relative to their income.

The more debt households take on during an economic upswing, the more likely they are to cut consumption when the economy begins to run out of steam.

The indebtedness of Finnish households relative to income has grown considerably since the turn of the millennium. A proportion of new residential mortgage holders have a heavy debt burden relative to their income.

The accessible summary sums up the solutions presented in the Bank of Finland’s stability assessment that can get a grip on households’ excessive debt levels.

Finnish households have a worrying level of debt. Advance measures should be taken to prevent the accumulation of excessive debt.

The macroprudential toolkit needs to be replenished with borrower-based instruments that take into account loan applicants’ repayment ability and are able to curtail household indebtedness as a whole.