Brussels, 08/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - Senior MEPs on the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee have strongly rejected the Basel Committee's criticisms of the CRD IV Directive's measures to encourage lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The chair of the EP's economic and monetary affairs committee, Roberto Gualtieri (S&D, Italy), and the speakers of various political groups - Burkhard Balz of Germany for the EPP, Elisa Ferreira of Portugal for the S&D, Sylvie Goulard of France for the ALDE and Sven Giegold of Germany for the Greens/EFA - said: “A large majority of Members of the European Parliament cannot accept that the Basel Committee puts into question the tools to finance the economy (especially SMEs and corporations).” “Even though we are aware of the necessity of international cooperation, the European law is made by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. The opinion of a body that is working without legitimacy and without any transparency cannot modify the decisions taken democratically by the European institutions,” they explained in a joint press release.
The Basel Committee of financial regulators and the central banks of the world's biggest economies at the Bank for International Settlements draw up international agreements on bank regulations. The EU has adjusted the Basel III accord to suit the situation in Europe and boost banks' capital requirements in terms of both quality and quantity by 2019.
In a mid-term review of application of the Basel III agreement by the banking sector, the Basel Committee said that banks in the EU had only scraped through the conformity tests, and the American banking sector seems better prepared at this stage.
Financial Services Commissioner Jonathan Hill pointed out that the EU “has taken a particularly ambitious approach, unique in the world, opting to apply a single rule book, based on standards designed for large internationally active banks, to all of its 8,000 banks. Further, the Commission recalls that the final shaping of the EU law is done by the EU legislator, the European Parliament and the Council.” Noting that the Basel Committee's report says that measures to encourage lending to small businsses are “one of the important deviations,” the Commissioner added: “This factor was deliberately introduced by co-legislators in order to ensure that SMEs can continue to access bank credit and contribute to growth and employment in the real economy.” (MB)