Elke König of SRB on Liquidation Rules for Small and Medium-Size Banks
SRB published an article that advocates developing a common set of rules for liquidation of small and medium-size banks in EU. The article was written by the SRB Chair Elke König and was originally published in Views, the magazine of the Eurofi Forum held in Helsinki in September 2019. The article notes that building the capital buffers may be challenging for smaller fully deposit-funded banks. Therefore, a common set of rules for winding down such banks—for some SRB banks and all less significant banks—could be beneficial.
The article highlights that the decision to put a failing institution into resolution depends on the outcome of a “public interest assessment,” determining if the preservation of a bank’s critical functions is required to maintain financial stability. If outcome of the public interest assessment is negative, a failing bank will be sent into national insolvency. To increase transparency, SRB recently published a paper on public interest assessment, presenting the methodology and how SRB assesses the criteria set out by the EU law.
In due consideration of proportionality in resolution planning, the loss-absorption requirements for each institution are carefully adjusted to the choice of resolution tools. The banks, for which (in case of failure) no resolution is foreseen, do not have to build the Minimum Requirement for own funds and Eligible Liabilities (MREL) on top of their supervisory capital requirements for going concern. In contrast, for banks, whose preferred strategy is resolution, the MREL policy of SRB and its expectations for resolvability provide for certain adjustments to allow for proportionality as well. SRB can also grant transitional periods for banks to allow for a gradual build-up of MREL requirements. SRB must strike a careful balance between feasibility of the build-up of MREL and the credibility of the resolution strategy.
While there is one common European resolution scheme in the Banking Union, there are 19 national insolvency laws when winding-down a (cross-border) bank. A set of common standards, practices, and harmonized rules for the liquidation of banks would considerably facilitate resolution planning, increase predictability, and prevent diverging outcomes in different member states. Needless to say that administrative procedures might be preferable to judicial procedures. At the end of this process might stand the creation of a European bank liquidation regime—a European FDIC. Not only would this ensure centralized decision-making but also the application of a harmonized and effective toolbox supported by a European deposit insurance.
Related Link: Article
Keywords: Europe, EU, Banking Union, MREL, Resolution Planning, Proportionality, Capital Buffers, Deposit Insurance, Capital Requirements, SRB
Featured Experts
María Cañamero
Skilled market researcher; growth strategist; successful go-to-market campaign developer
Pierre-Etienne Chabanel
Brings expertise in technology and software solutions around banking regulation, whether deployed on-premises or in the cloud.
Nicolas Degruson
Works with financial institutions, regulatory experts, business analysts, product managers, and software engineers to drive regulatory solutions across the globe.
Related Articles
ECB Allows Temporary Relief in Leverage Ratio Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
ECB published a decision allowing the euro area banks under its direct supervision to exclude certain central bank exposures from the leverage ratio.
ESAs Launch Survey on Templates for Product Disclosures Under SFDR
ESAs launched a survey seeking feedback on the presentational aspects of product templates under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR or Regulation 2019/2088).
ECB Proposes Integrated Reporting Framework to Reduce Burden for Banks
ECB published input of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) into the EBA feasibility report on reducing the reporting burden for banks in EU.
ECB Finalizes Methodology to Assess CCR and A-CVA Risk of Banks
ECB finalized the guide on assessment methodology for the internal model method for calculating exposure to counterparty credit risk (CCR) and the advanced method for own funds requirements for credit valuation adjustment (A-CVA) risk.
EBA Provides Opinion on Definition of Credit Institution in CRR
EBA published an Opinion addressed to EC to raise awareness about the opportunity to clarify certain issues related to the definition of credit institution in the upcoming review of the Capital Requirements Directive and Regulation (CRD and CRR).
APRA Consults on Alignment of Daily Liquidity Report for Banks
APRA is consulting on updates to ARS 210.0, the reporting standard that sets out requirements for provision of information on liquidity and funding of an authorized deposit-taking institution.
FED Releases Scenarios for Second Round of Stress Tests on Banks
FED released hypothetical scenarios for a second round of stress tests for banks.
FED to Temporarily Revise FR Y-14 Reports to Conduct Stressed Analysis
FED is proposing to temporarily revise the capital assessments and stress testing reports (FR Y-14A/Q/M) to implement the changes necessary to conduct stressed analysis in connection with the re-submission of capital plans, using data as of June 30, 2020.
FED Revises Information Collection Under Market Risk Capital Rule
FED adopted a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the information collection under the market risk capital rule (FR 4201; OMB No. 7100-0314).
EBA Seeks Input on ESG Disclosure Practices of Banks
EBA published a voluntary online survey seeking input from credit institutions on their practices and future plans for Pillar 3 disclosures on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks.
