Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis announced, on Friday 24 April, that the European institution would present, "next week", a legislative revision of banking prudential rules to facilitate lending by banks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Next week I will present a communication" to clearly identify where EU law gives regulatory " flexibility" and how it can be used, he said in an online interview on Bloomberg. "I will also present a legislative proposal in line with recent decisions of the Basel Committee to unlock more lending capacity", he added, referring to "targeted amendments" to lighten the regulatory framework.
The ECB values the easing of regulatory burdens on banks since the outbreak of the pandemic as follows: - €120 billion for the possibility to operate below the level of capital defined by the Pillar 2 guidance of the prudential rules; - €22 billion for the easing of constraints related to the provision of buffers for systemically important institutions; - and €30 billion in the event of non-payment of dividends to shareholders until October 2020 (see EUROPE 12468/22). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Marion Fontana)