Historically, banks have always had a central role in the economy. Their decisions do not only affect their shareholders and customers but the whole economic system. As a consequence, the financial crisis of 2007-2008 has shown that bank management is a huge matter and that the failure of one bank can affect tremendously the whole banking system and the economy. For these reasons, banks need to be regulated by external organisations that constrain them to adjust their regulatory capital via their risk weighted assets. This paper examines the significant factors of the spread between the scenarios on Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) of the 2016 stress test for EU banks. CET1 is a component of capital adequacy ratio and measures the connections between capital euntens’ris-weighted assets. On a methodological standpoint, this research is based on a positivist approach this meaning that a quantitative analysis has been performed. The sample used in this research is composed of 51 banks from 15 countries across EU and European Economic Area. All of these banks have been analysed by the European Banking Authority (EBA) which has conducted stress test in order to assess CET1 as regards to Basel III framework. The researchers have elaborated a conceptual model in order to select the most relevant variables that might affect the spread of CET1. The hypotheses are based on previous researches and take into account the following independent variables: Size, Stock Exchange Listed, Leverage ratio, Loans on Assets, Net Interest Margin, Risk-Weighted Assets to Total Assets and Profitability. Simple linear regression and multiple linear regressions have been performed to test the impact of all the independent variables on the spread of CET1. The statistical analyses have revealed that there are no significant relationships between the selected variables, except for size that has a significant negative impact on the spread as part of the multiple regression. Therefore, none of the hypotheses can be supported. These results provide new insights in the banking sector and to a larger extent for finance. They may be considered as a basis for future research on the spread of CET1.

Syfte: Att påvisa eventuella förändringar på svenska bankaktiebolags förväntade kreditförluster, kärnprimärkapitalrelation samt utlåning till allmänheten under inledningen av Covid-19-pandemin, för att belysa den praktiska tillämpningen av IFRS 9 under en period av ekonomisk kris. Metod: Denna studie applicerar en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi där tre hypoteser deduceras utifrån tidigare forskning. Vidare används en longitudinell design där empiri inhämtas manuellt från svenska bankaktiebolags finansiella rapporter. Parade t-test används för att undersöka statistisk signifikans mellan slutet av räkenskapsåret 2019 och första halvåret 2020.  Resultat & slutsats: Resultaten visar en ökning av både förväntade kreditförluster och utlåning till allmänheten under Covid-19-pandemins inledning där resultaten är av statistisk signifikans. Vidare visar kärnprimärkapitalrelationen ingen signifikant ökning eller minskning under inledningen av Covid-19-pandemin. Slutsatsen är att IFRS 9 till synes har påverkats av interventioner från internationella myndigheter varför konklusionerna gällande den första ekonomiska krisen sedan införandet av IFRS 9 inte kan projiceras autonomt.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens teoretiska bidrag består av att belysa det implicerade utfallet av IFRS 9 under den första ekonomiska krisen sedan införandet av redovisningsstandarden. Det teoretiska bidraget sträcker sig också till att applicera Intressent- och Legitimitetsteorin på svenska bankaktiebolag med avstamp i tillfredsställandet av deras huvudintressenter samt legitimering gentemot samhället. Det främsta praktiska bidraget riktar sig gentemot samhället i stort där bankerna innehar en central ställning. Även IASB, EBA och andra redovisningsreglerare och -granskare torde vara intresserade av resultaten för att komparera dessa mot avsedda intentioner.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Framtida forskning kan bedrivas på andra banker inom EU samt kring Covid-19-pandemins senare skeden och dess efterdyningar. Även de potentiella procykliska effekterna av bankernas förhöjda nivå av förväntade kreditförluster kan studeras för att utforska dess inverkan. / Aim: To exhibit any changes on Swedish banking limited companies' expected credit losses, Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio and lending to the public sector in the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, to illustrate the practical application of IFRS 9 during a period of economic crisis.  Method: The study applies a quantitative research strategy where three hypotheses are deducted based on previous research. Furthermore, a longitudinal design is used where empirical data is obtained manually from Swedish banking limited companies’ financial reports. Paired t-tests are used to examine statistical significance between the end of the fiscal year 2019 and the first half of 2020. Result & Conclusion: The results show an increase in both expected credit losses and lending to the public during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, where the results are statistically significant. Furthermore, the Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio does not show a significant increase or decrease during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The conclusion is that IFRS 9 likely has been affected by interventions from international authorities, which is why the implications regarding the first economic crisis since the introduction of IFRS 9 cannot be projected autonomously.  Contribution of the thesis: The study's theoretical contribution consists of highlighting the implied outcome of IFRS 9 during the first economic crisis since the introduction of the accounting standard. The theoretical contribution also extends to applying the Stakeholder and Legitimacy Theory on Swedish banking limited companies based on the satisfaction of their main stakeholders as well as legitimation towards society. The main practical contribution is directed towards the society in a wider perspective, where the banks hold a central position. The IASB, EBA and other accounting regulators and supervisors should also be interested in the results to compare these with its intentions. Suggestions for future research: Further research can be conducted on other banks within the EU as well as on the later stages of the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath. The potential procyclical effects of the banks’ increased level of expected credit losses can also be studied to explore its impact.