Reuters: Regulatory News: EU seeks elusive deal on bank capital cushion

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EU seeks elusive deal on bank capital cushion May 1st 2012, 23:01 Tue May 1, 2012 7:01pm EDT * EU faces summer deadline to agree capital rules * Countries divided as Britain, Sweden push for autonomy * Spanish banks grapple with property slump, recession By Robin Emmott and John O'Donnell BRUSSELS, May 2 (Reuters) - EU finance ministers will attempt to reach a deal to force European banks to set aside more capital to cushion losses on Wednesday, with Britain and Sweden demanding even stricter rules than those on the table. The EU's 27 members are divided over how much capital lenders should have to set aside to cover risks, one of the central questions raised by a five-year-long financial crisis that toppled dozens of banks in Europe and the United States. Denmark, holder of the bloc's six-month rotating presidency, has stepped up efforts to find a deal. "This is a very important lesson from the crisis. I see a strong willingness to compromise but the countries have very different opinions," Denmark's economic affairs minister, Margrethe Vestager, said. The meeting takes place as many of Europe's banks continue to struggle. Standard & Poor's cut the credit rating of 11 Spanish banks earlier in the week, as Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, sunk into a second recession in just over two years. Spain's Central Bank is consulting experts on setting up a holding company to value and sell off toxic property assets from the country's financial sector, two sources said on Monday. Denmark aims to find consensus among countries about new capital rules and strike an accord with the European Parliament by the end of June. Their aim is to have a deal, translating higher capital standards set by the Basel Committee of regulators into EU law, and turn it into reality for banks by the start of next year. "We believe that the matter is ready - that the issues have been clarified to a sufficient extent," said a Danish diplomat who is preparing the talks. DIVISIVE ISSUE Higher capital buffers strengthen banks to withstand shocks, such as the slump in property prices or recession now hitting Spain. Banks with higher-than-average capital, such as Switzerland's UBS, attract deposits. If financial markets shunned Italy and it needed emergency funding, for example, more capital would help banks resist contagion. But the issue of bank capital has been divisive in Europe and many diplomats do not expect a deal on Wednesday. British officials see the meeting as the first of several to discuss the issue. London is cautious about the new EU capital regime and does not want to sign away too much national control over its banks. "The simple fact is that ministers haven't discussed this legislation in detail yet and we're likely to need more discussion before an agreement can be finalised," said one British diplomat. "You can't ignore the reality that the costs of getting this wrong are profound." The next meeting of finance ministers is set for May 15. Europe's capital regime, when decided, will be closely studied in Washington and may influence how policy makers there interpret the Basel standards on Wall Street. EU countries have yet to signal whether they will back a push by the European Parliament to use the new capital law to curb pay, so that a bankers' bonus could not exceed his salary. MORE POWER TO BRUSSELS? At the heart of the dispute is the freedom EU countries have to enforce capital rules. Britain and Sweden, which have two of the largest banking sectors in Europe relative to the size of their economies, want the freedom to take extra steps to make banks safer. London and Stockholm argue they need to protect the interests of taxpayers who could be called on to bail banks out if they face collapse. France wants capital standards to be more uniform across the EU and is concerned that international banks based in London could cut lending elsewhere in Europe if Britain forces them to beef up capital. Some diplomats suspect the dispute is fuelled by concern that deposits and other business might flow to British banks were they to be better capitalised than French and German rivals and thus safer in the eyes of investors. One compromise is to allow a margin of flexibility so that countries that want to can require banks to increase their capital buffers up to a certain limit, perhaps up to as much as 10 or 12 percent of risky assets for up to two years. This compares with Basel's minimum of 7 percent. There is a split over whether the green light is needed from the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, before a country can require capital levels above the Basel minimum. Handing more power to Brussels is an anathema to Britain, which is fighting to maintain its autonomy in policing the City of London, Europe's financial capital. Sweden and some Eastern European countries including Poland are also wary over who should have the final say over the extent to which a country may demand banks hoard higher capital. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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