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EBF BOARD COMMUNIQUÉ
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Banks stand by their customers in the second wave of Covid-19
- Unprecedented action from banks and authorities to help mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19
- Further measures to be considered to free up additional lending capacity
- New capital regulation to be delayed or amended until pandemic situation has stabilised
BRUSSELS, 20 November 2020 – European banks stand ready to keep up their support for businesses and households amid growing uncertainty around the speed and strength of the recovery.
While it is too early to assess the full impact of the second ongoing wave of Covid-19 on the economy, it is clear that extraordinary support will still be needed in the next months to help the European economy to regain its full strength. Board members of the European Banking Federation (EBF), bringing together national banking associations from 32 countries, met on Friday by video conference. They reviewed recent actions taken by banks, supervisors and regulators and renewed their commitment to continuing playing a constructive role in the crisis.
Board members welcomed, in particular, the combined measures adopted by the EU institutions, as the Banking package to facilitate banks’ lending to households and businesses in the EU. They would also welcome a quick adoption of the Capital Market Recovery package to make it easier for capital markets to support European businesses to recover from the crisis.
Still, as the health situation is worsening again, the Board urges lawmakers to consider further measures to free additional lending capacity, such as adopting a cap of the Single Resolution Fund target level. The idea of the EU legislators was to have a fund of around 55bn Euro. Due to the dynamic calculation method, the fund has grown up to more than 70bn Euro – an increase which does not correspond with the underlying risks.
Also, new tools to deal with non-performing loans resulting from this crisis without major economic disruptions should be considered, including a review of the NPL backstop regulation, a more pragmatic securitisation framework to stimulate the NPLs secondary market and a consistent framework for Asset Management Companies.
Despite the fact that the post-financial crisis regulatory architecture has greatly increased the resilience of the sector, it appears opportune to proceed with an in-depth review of the current regulatory framework in light of its effect during the pandemic crisis. European lawmakers should first postpone the timetable for implementation of Basel IV until the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is sufficiently clear. Importantly, the transposition of the outstanding parts of the Basel IV agreement into EU law should be done taking European specificities into account and with a view to allow banks to support the recovery of the EU economy.
European banks are part of the solution to this crisis. They are serving their clients and the economy at large. At the same time, banks need to be able to attract capital in the same way as in other parts of the world such as in the US.
“European banks are strong and face the crisis generated by Covid-19 with high capital levels. The sector is making a tremendous effort to encourage recovery while putting in place pre-emptive actions to manage loan loss provisions. The focus must remain on supporting the real economy, ensuring that clients and communities are equally successful in facing these unprecedented challenges. The role of the EBF is key in making sure that the regulatory environment continues to allow banks to remain an important part of the solution.” says Jean Pierre Mustier, President of the EBF”
Furthermore, the EBF Board encouraged ongoing efforts by the European Union and the United Kingdom to reach a free trade agreement as soon as possible. Starting next year, UK Finance will cease to be a full member of the EBF. However, members unanimously and amicably agreed to create a new category of membership in order to allow the UK association to continue to engage in the work of the EBF.
Finally, the EBF Board stressed that as a result of the pandemic, deep structural changes such as digitalisation and the so-called greening of the economy, have been accelerated and need to be properly managed in order to reap the full benefits. In order to manage this transition, Europe will need deep and liquid capital markets as well as a complete Banking Union. European banks encourage regulators to pursue those goals with renewed ambition.
“To create a single banking and capital market, EU rules and regulations must be further harmonised. In particular, in new fields, such as digitalisation or the market for sustainable products, we need to ensure from the outset that we do not end up with a patchwork regime. A completed single market will make European banks stronger and only strong banks guarantee a long-term reliable supply of credit.”, says Christian Ossig, Chairman of the EBF Executive Committee.
Media contact:
EBF Media Centre, press@ebf.eu, +32 2 508 3732
About the EBF:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
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]]>EBF PRESS RELEASE
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Basel III: EBF comments on EBA updated impact assessment
BRUSSELS, 17 December 2020 – The European Banking Federation notes the publication this week by the European Banking Authority (EBA) of its updated assessment[1] of the impact of the forthcoming Basel III agreement implementation on the capital requirements of Europe’s banks.
The EBA study shows that the impact on banks’ balance sheets remains very significant (+ 18.5%, and even more for Europe’s largest banks which account for most of the region’s assets: + 22.4%). The assessment still amounts to a capital shortfall of between €33 billion and €52.2 billion, most of it in large banks. Important is to note that the EBA’s analysis does not consider any detailed quantification of the financial impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, although its simulations suggest further material increases in capital shortfalls.
Contrary to the study[2] published by Copenhagen Economics, the EBA study still does not take into account the current capital ratios of banks. Banks indeed typically operate with capital buffers, e.g., as capital ratios fluctuate as part of the daily business and due to expectations from supervisors as well as investors. The current crisis has laid bare the importance of the management buffers. Thanks to the management buffer European banks have been able to withstand a major economic shock and keep up the level of lending. Therefore, the EBF reiterates that the EBA should use as main reference the sheer amount of capital needed to restore the current capital ratios.
It appears therefore essential that the European Commission implement the Basel IV framework at the European level with no significant adverse impact on any jurisdiction while respecting the international level playing field in banking and taking into consideration the European specificities.
The EBF believes that appropriate implementation of Basel IV is even more important in the context of the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis for banks to be able to continue providing
the very much needed financing for corporates, SMEs, and households. Doing it diffidently would put at risk the chance of a sustainable recovery in Europe.
To mitigate this adverse impact, the EBF has identified a number of concrete implementational options to make the package more suited to the European specificities, including the possibility to implement the output floor as a separate capital requirement where only internationally agreed capital buffers are applied (the so-called parallel stack approach), solutions to avoid penalising unrated corporates which form the vast majority of companies in Europe, a cap to the operational risk requirement in line with other jurisdictions, as well as maintaining the options already enacted in European legislation (CVA, SME supporting factor, etc.).
[1] https://eba.europa.eu/sites/default/documents/files/document_library/Publications/Reports/2020/961423/Basel%20III%20reforms%20-%202019Q4%20update%20and%20Covid%20impact.pdf
[2] https://www.copenhageneconomics.com/publications/publication/eu-implementation-of-the-final-basel-iii-framework#:~:text=In%20December%202017%2C%20the%20Basel,for%20different%20types%20of%20portfolios.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ruta Barthet, Senior Communications and Media Officer
r.barthet@ebf.eu, +32 492 46 73 04
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Raymond Frenken, Director of Communications
r.frenken@ebf.eu +32 2 508 3732
ABOUT THE EBF:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
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Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
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]]>EBF STATEMENT
EBF acknowledges ECB decision to extend its recommendation on dividend distributions
- Banks resilient to stress caused by coronavirus shows ECB vulnerability study
BRUSSELS, 28 July 2020 – The European Banking Federation (EBF) takes note of the European Central Bank’s decision to extend its recommendation on banks dividend distributions, asking now not to pay dividends and not to buy back shares until January 2021. The ECB will review its recommendation in the fourth quarter of 2020. The EBF also understands from ECB’s recommendation that should the environment not worsen by that time, banks will be allowed to pay dividend and buy back shares on 2019 and 2020 net income or from excess capital.
Banks acknowledge the importance of being precautionary, as well as their essential role to continue supporting businesses and households in this environment of exceptional uncertainty due to the COVID19 pandemic. Still dividends suspension should remain an extraordinary measure. Important will be for banks and investors to understand on what criteria the ECB will assess again the situation in Q4 2020. Clarity will be needed on who can pay what and when, based on clearly defined objective criteria. The decision should be made on a case by case basis recognising the macroeconomic environment and the financial stability.
The recently published results of the ECB vulnerability analysis on the Euro area banking sector also shows that the sector remains resilient to stress caused by coronavirus. Under the central scenario, the most likely to materialise according to ECB, banks at an aggregate level can withstand the pandemic stress, and therefore continue fulfilling their role of lending to the economy. The European banking sector reiterates its commitment to helping businesses and households navigate the unprecedented challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
BACKGROUND:
MEDIA CONTACT:
EBF Media Centre, press@ebf.eu, +32 2 508 3732
ABOUT THE EBF:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
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EBF LETTER – 27 MARCH 2020:
EBF assessment of reporting requirements in light of Covid-19
Ms Silke STAPEL-WEBER
Director General
Directorate General Statistics
European Central Bank
Mr Piers HABEN
Director
Banking Markets, Innovation and Consumers
Euorpean Banking Authority
SUBJECT: EBF assessment of reporting requirements in light of Covid-19
Dear Ms Stapel-Weber,
Dear Mr Haben,
In the course of the global Covid-19 pandemic, its effects are been felt in every nation and every industry. While banks are taking all possible measures to weather the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, a close interaction with authorities is vital to be truly effective.
In a previous letter to the EU authorities, the EBF suggested various important proposals to neutralize the effects of the Covid-19 on the economy which was swiftly followed by very encouraging statements by the EBA and the ECB including references to the area of supervisory reporting and suggesting the possibility to have flexibility for non-critical supervisory measures and data requests.
It is in this context that we have performed an assessment of the banks’ reporting requirements identifying those where leeway in the remittance dates or implementation and completeness of the data submitted would be greatly welcomed by the industry since there is a risk that deadlines may not be met because of potential operational burdens during the coming weeks/months. On the one hand, some reports rely on a macro-economic scenario that under current circumstances both industry and authorities cannot accurately foresee, resulting in the most appropiate alternative to wait until the impact of the Covid-19 on the economy is properly measured. On the other hand, the massive teleworking efforts, never previously tested at this scale in a real situation, of the banks’ reporting teams imply some work absences due to the disease. The significant difficulties for the teams that are developing the new templates result in a slowdown of the project.
At present, it is not possible to predict whether firms will have problems submitting reports on time. Should this be the case, however, it would be very helpful if supervisors were to accept some minor delays and late submissions of reports and refrain from allowing them to have a negative effect on their standardised assessment of punctuality, completeness, and number of correction reports (DQ index for SREP).
Lastly, existing requirements should, in principle, be retained in their present form for the time being and no adjustments or new requirements should be introduced.
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]]>Wim Mijs, Chief Executive of the European Banking Federation, talks to EIT Digital CEO Willem Jonker
BRUSSELS, 13 July 2020 – How can the banking sector help to mitigate the impact of the Corona crisis? What is the role – and responsibility – of the European financial sector in boosting entrepreneurship? What impact will the Covid-19 crisis have on the digital transformation of the finance sector? Will it accelerate open banking? And how will incumbent banks, insurers or investment funds react to the pressure of new players pushing on the market? What is the role of the financial sector to address the shortage of digital talent? And how can we strike the right balance between innovation and regulation when it comes to privacy and financial services?
The interview is part of the Makers & Shapers video journey, produced by EIT Digital in the context of its 10-year anniversary, in which 20 top-level decision-makers from industry and EU institutions provide their views on the future digital development of Europe.
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
The post Wim Mijs interviewed by EIT Digital CEO Willem Jonker, July 2020 – VIDEO appeared first on EBF.
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European employers are committed to create the conditions for return to employment, job creation and better skills matching as part of the recovery
JOINT STATEMENT
BRUSSELS, 24 July – With this statement, the European Banking Federation and the signatory European sectoral employers express the clear message to public authorities and trade unions at all levels that European employers are committed to make their best efforts to continually employ and create new job opportunities in Europe, highlighting at the same time their needs to be able to do so.
The EU, in common with the rest of the global economy, is presently experiencing the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Whilst the situation remains very uncertain, the European Commission forecast is for the EU economy to fall by about 8.3% this year, far deeper than during the Global Financial crisis in 2009.
Europe’s response to the crisis has so far allowed to contain the employment and social impact of the crisis in a more effective way than has been the case in other world regions. Strong and autonomous social partners in Europe have been an asset for rapidly designing and implementing fairly balanced crisis-related solutions, including the role of collective bargaining.
In particular, BusinessEurope and the signatory European sectoral employers have engaged in a variety of initiatives and activities in the last months, with their respective trade union counterparts, aiming to inform the European response to the crisis based on their real time analysis of economic and social trends deriving from the Covid-19 crisis.
MEDIA CONTACT:
EBF Media Centre, press@ebf.eu, +32 2 508 3732
ABOUT THE EBF:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
The post European employers reach agreement on job recovery appeared first on EBF.
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Joint Business Position: Export Credits and Covid-19 x
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Publication date: 22 July 2020
EBF joins BIAC (Business at OECD) and ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) in a business position on Covid-19 and Export Credits.
Summary of key policy recommendations
A) General considerations and short-term liquidity support
- Improving access to liquidity
- Evaluating credit impact
- Broadening financial products offering
- Enhancing re-insurance agreements with other ECA’s
- Restructuring the existing loan portfolio
B) Actions specifically related to the OECD Arrangement
- Increasing the current local costs limitation to 50% of the total scope
- Greater flexibility for ECAs in covering the minimum 15% down payment
- Allow market-reflective repayments to better align with the nature of different projects
- Increase the maximum repayment term to 18 years and cease to distinguish between different sectors
- Revise the premiums applied to private borrowers in high-income OECD countries
- Introduce an easy to define, transparent & predictable CIRR to provide a level playing field
- Temporary suspension of country risk category reviews until at least 31 December
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
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]]>Supporting EU’s vision for a responsible and strong economic recovery
EBF STATEMENT
BRUSSELS, 21 July – With full commitment to mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and building a more resilient economy, the European Banking Federation supports the vision of the EU to put into motion a responsible and qualitative economic recovery. The EBF acknowledges the unique milestone reached this morning by EU leadership with a formal agreement of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) and the Next Generation EU Recovery Fund (NGEU). With an important role for the financial sector, this deal with enable Europe to take on the multi-faceted challenges in the coming years, not only by boosting public and private investment to secure jobs, help the most affected sectors and regions and protect European citizens from the worst, but also by putting Europe at the forefront of the green and digital revolutions as the propellers of recovery, resilience and competitiveness.
The EBF, together with the community of European banks, stands ready to help their public and private partners by ensuring the effective implementation of the MFF and NGEU. Since the start of the global pandemic, the banking industry has supported its clients – both households and businesses of all types and sizes – wherever possible and will continue to do so. Finance is an essential part of the European recovery phase and economic growth, not only through lending, but also through the range of capital markets services and products they offer. Ultimately to serve the collective purpose of a speedy and effective recovery that will lead to enhanced resilience for the benefit of all EU citizens.
BACKGROUND:
MEDIA CONTACT:
EBF Media Centre, press@ebf.eu, +32 2 508 3732
ABOUT THE EBF:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
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]]>EBF STATEMENT ON EC INITIATIVE ON COVID-19 RELIEF MEASURES
- Banking sector continues to stand with businesses and households
BRUSSELS, 14 July 2020 – The European Banking Federation, along with other financial industry associations and representatives of consumers and businesses in the European Union, notes today’s announcement by the European Commission concerning best practices in relation to relief measures offered in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.
Throughout this crisis, the banking industry has continued to stand with its clients – both businesses and households – in support of the European economy. Across the EU, banks remain committed to serving their customers and work closely in partnership with public institutions in national programmes to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.
The EBF appreciates the European Commission’s initiative to bring together Brussels-based representatives in this context and is pleased to note that the Commission recognizes the efforts by financial services providers to adequately support customers during the pandemic.
The EC’s initiative has led to a high-level agreement among all the participants of two roundtables on best practices organised in May and June 2020. Best practices identified in this document outline temporary, non-binding relief measures that financial institutions are encouraged to implement, when appropriate, on a best-effort basis and as long as they are still relevant depending on the situation in Member States.
All roundtable participants agree to continue the dialogue on the Covid-19 crisis and its impacts in the coming months.
BACKGROUND:
MEDIA CONTACT:
EBF Media Centre, press@ebf.eu, +32 2 508 3732
ABOUT THE EBF:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
The post Banking sector continues to stand with businesses and households – Statement appeared first on EBF.
]]>EBF PRESS RELEASE
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Covid-19: Banks acting responsibly as part of society, EC Roundtable is told
- Banking sector fully committed to helping its clients – businesses and households
- Support for EU plan to propel recovery, with twin revolution in sustainability, digital
BRUSSELS, 28 May 2020 – At the invitation of European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Banking Federation on Thursday took part in the EC’s Roundtable videoconference to review relief measures for businesses and consumers designed to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Throughout this crisis the banking industry continues to stand with its clients – both businesses and households. The EBF is grateful to governments and supervisors for the swift actions they have taken to mitigate the potential economic impact of this unprecedented crisis and for the role banks now play in this effort, by supporting businesses experiencing funding shortfall, helping companies remain in business and retain employees, and assuring the continuity of essential services.
While the health crisis is still ongoing, the focus is on ensuring the safety of clients, employees, and families. For all of us the coming months will be a very difficult period during which risks will have to be managed responsibly. We see value in the collaboration of providers of finance and consumers and companies, and are grateful to the European Commission for its leadership in this regard.
Says Wim Mijs, CEO of the European Banking Federation:
“Our industry is part of society and is responsible in the execution of its task. We support the ambitious plan to propel the EU’s recovery by accelerating the twin revolution of industrial digitalization and transition towards a sustainable, inclusive and resilient economy. It is also important that we collectively take a good look at the existing banking regulation and determine where the legal framework has supported the economy and where procyclical measures have caused obstacles, notably in the further implementation of the Basel3 finalisation and in the IFRS9 accounting framework.”
SPEAKING POINTS WIM MIJS IN THE EC ROUNDTABLE: CLICK HERE
As governments, businesses, and households start to look beyond the crisis, banks stand ready to help finance the recovery. To adapt and thrive in the world beyond the crisis, the EU will need to invest in activities that generate long-lasting value for society – be it public health, employment preservation, crisis prevention, or environmental priorities. During the crisis, banks have increased financing of projects with clear social objectives and benefits, and will continue doing so. Banks support the ambitious plan to propel the EU’s recovery by accelerating the twin revolution of industrial digitalization and transition towards a sustainable, inclusive and resilient economy.
Putting companies, especially the small ones, back on their feet and ensuring their competitiveness and future resilience will require improving access to finance and diversifying funding sources to fund innovation. More generally, European banks seek to ensure that financial market products and services are available to meet client needs, recapitalize companies, finance innovation and support the sustainability transformation.
The European Banking Federation and SMEunited on Wednesday agreed a joint statement on recommendations to improve the flow of financing towards small and medium-sized enterprises. The organisations agreed in the importance of an adequate, speedy and smooth credit flow and provision of other critical services to Europe’s SMEs at a time of extraordinary challenges for small companies in Europe.
BACKGROUND:
- Data reported by the European Central Bank in its May 2020 Financial Stability Review shows that loan provisions in March 2020 increased by around 120 billion euro flow– the highest monthly level on record.
- It is estimated that, through the dividends decision coordinated by the EBF, banks have freed up hundreds of billions Euro for lending to European citizens/businesses, by allowing a total of 30 billion Euro of additional capital of the highest quality to be kept within the system.
- Data collected so far by various national banking associations indicate that the state-supported schemes have mostly functioned as intended and the banks have fulfilled their transmission function. Banks are applying interest rates in compliance with the measures established by the law; in most of the cases, interest rates are well below that cap. Early data collected shows that a very high rate of loan applications is fulfilled.
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Policy contact: Media contact:
Burçak Inel Raymond Frenken
Director of Financing the Economy Director of Communications
European Banking Federation European Banking Federation
+32 496 34 47 88 +32 2 508 37 32
b.inel@ebf.eu r.frenken@ebf.eu
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About the European Banking Federation:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu Twitter: @EBFeu.
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the EBF Morning Brief
The EBF Morning Brief is published Monday through Friday morning and brings you the top banking headlines, relevant announcements from the EU institutions and the latest from the EBF and its members, national banking associations in 32 countries in Europe. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
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