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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
The author is chair of Société Générale and a former member of the manager board of the European Central Financial institution
European central bankers have repeatedly referred to as for accelerating progress in direction of the long-sought deepening of capital markets unification within the EU.
Such backing for the capital markets union (CMU) venture is extremely welcome. Nevertheless, some additional concrete motion on the a part of the European Central Financial institution to extend monetary integration is much more vital. Not less than three strains of motion come to thoughts.
The primary is for the ECB to make sure that financial institution liquidity can flow into freely within the Eurozone. This can be a key requisite for any well-functioning monetary system. Surprisingly, that is nonetheless not the case, particularly for banks that function in numerous jurisdictions.
The reason being that some nationwide authorities use loopholes in European laws to forestall banks from utilizing deposits collected in a single nation to finance credit made in different international locations. The governors of nationwide central banks who sit on its ECB governing council ought to be made to behave persistently with the requires a unified capital market.
The second line of motion is to replace the EU supervisory toolkit with a view to assuaging the constraints that forestall banks from growing the European capital market. Though one of many goals of the CMU is to cut back reliance on their financing and encourage extra market-based sources of funding, banks stay important actors in these markets.
The present regulatory and supervisory framework creates an pointless burden. It’s overly complicated, extremely unpredictable and limits cross-border consolidation. Take into account just some examples of initiatives that could possibly be taken by the ECB, along with different European authorities, to enhance and simplify it.
For instance, having totally different necessities throughout Eurozone international locations on the quantity of capital banks want to carry as cyclical buffers doesn’t make a lot sense. Likewise, the ECB ought to rethink its strategy to the laws on the extent of debt and fairness banks ought to maintain to make sure the orderly wind down of a failed lender — the minimal necessities for personal funds and eligible liabilities (MREL). These at current exceed the calls for in different elements of the world, notably the US. It additionally makes European banks unduly depending on overseas markets that may take in the issuance of eligible liabilities.
As well as, the ECB ought to observe by means of on earlier commitments over the calculation of discretionary capital necessities it will possibly impose on banks to handle danger on prime of industry-wide stipulations. It ought to keep away from double-counting danger for these necessities, often known as the 2 pillars in regulatory terminology, according to the practices of different jurisdictions such because the UK and US.
Final, however not least, the ECB ought to help the postponement of the adoption of the so-called Basel III reforms associated to financial institution buying and selling actions till at the very least 2027 or when the US Federal Reserve comes up with a transparent plan and implementation date for them. This would scale back aggressive distortions throughout the Atlantic and provides regulators time to mirror completely on the soundness of those guidelines and their undesired results, together with the rising shift of a big a part of capital market actions to the non-regulated sector.
The third line of motion is for the ECB to have interaction extra straight with the monetary {industry} — not solely banks — to higher perceive the considerations which were expressed in opposition to the creation of a “European SEC”. The principle concern is the addition of one more layer of regulation and supervision with no accountability and regard for the competitiveness of the European system. That is why most monetary gamers, particularly these from third international locations, desire to keep up the present fragmented system that provides them the luxurious of selecting which EU nation to find their headquarters in, relying on the prevailing guidelines and prudential practices.
The ECB could possibly be greater than only a easy advocate of the financial savings and investments union (the brand new wording for CMU). It ought to lead by instance, displaying how prudential and regulatory actions may be simplified and be market-friendly.
