Brussels, 03/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - There is disagreement among the political groups at the European Parliament on the political message in the McCarthy Report (see EUROPE10879) on banks deemed too big or too inter-connected to fail.
“Today's vote is a clear signal in favour of real reform to the structure of EU banks. We are calling for banking services that are essential to the real economy to be separated from the excessively risky activities of traders and investment bankers. (...) The taxpayer cannot continue to be the lender of last resort”, said Arlene McCarthy (S&D, United Kingdom) in a press release, adding that ordinary people now hugely distrust the financial industry.
On behalf of the Greens, Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts said: “Unfortunately, the text has been significantly watered down by the European right-wing parties, who are very receptive to the financial sector's demands. The wording on the need for a separation between essential day-to-day banking activities relating to households and businesses (saving and lending) and banking activities relating to financial markets (inherently more unstable) remains relatively vague or even ambiguous. Specifically, the text makes no reference to the need to establish separate legal entities. Similarly, the firewalls that the text outlines for limiting the risk of contagion within an organisation are insufficient”.
Dutch MEP Corien Wortmann-Kool (EPP) said: “The universal banking model, in which a bank offers a wide range of services to depositors, SMEs and businesses, should be preserved in Europe. (...) Simply separating banks into a savings part and a business part will not prevent the next crisis. It actually harms the capacity of universal banks to service companies and the real economy. The crisis has shown that no particular business model has performed relatively well”. (MB/transl.fl)