Nicosia, 17/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 15 September, European finance ministers briefly discussed the shadow banking dossier during their informal meeting in Nicosia. Like the European Commission, they also believe that this sector of activity (worth between 25% and 30% of the global financial system, €46 billion in 2010) represents a significant source of liquidity, whilst also constituting a major source of systemic risk. The European Commission will draw on its public consultation and present a Green Paper on the question this autumn.
National experts at the Economic and Financial Committee drew up five principles on which a regulatory approach in this area would be based: - improving financial stability from a micro and macro-prudential perspective; - guaranteeing that financial activities and undertakings involved are not used to circumvent regulation or regulatory mediation, especially when these activities or undertakings have very close links with the banking sector; - reflecting the overall nature of the shadow banking system; - continually working towards preventing negative impact on economic growth; - and improving transparency to ensure better follow up of developments in the sector, particularly with regard to borrowing and selling shares. (MB/transl.fl)