Brussels, 16/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 16 February, the European Parliament took over the position of its economic and monetary affairs committee on the review of European rules on bank deposit guarantee schemes (see EUROPE 10385). In so doing, it has brought pressure to bear on the Council where negotiations on the draft directive are at a standstill, as the Parliament first reading vote means the Council must now state its position. Once it does so, it will have a maximum of four months to reach an inter-institutional agreement with the Parliament. “The European Parliament is calling on EU governments to accept the need for a strong fund to be built up in advance. This fund should be financed by contributions from the banks, representing 1.5% of their deposits over a period of 15 years. Without such a fund, taxpayers will end up bailing out banks and reimbursing depositors”, said Peter Simon (S&D, Germany) in a press release. The Council is likely to call for a contribution from banks to the fund of 0.5% of deposits.
In the event of a bank's failing, depositors should be able to receive a €5,000 quick payout to allow them to meet their expenses. By January 2017, national funds will have five working days but not less than a week to pay out up to €100,000 per depositor, under the terms of an amendment put down by the EPP, S&D, ALDE, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL Groups. Member states may apply an exception extending this deadline to 20 working days, provided however that €5,000 is made available to a depositor within a week of his/her request. BEUC, the European Consumers' Organisation, is critical of the Council's wait-and-see approach, and also criticises the Parliament for its refusal to insist on protection for each and every account a saver may have with the same banking group. (MB/transl.rt)