EU Parliament adopts resolution on the finalisation of Basel III

EU Parliament adopts resolution on the finalisation of Basel III

The EU Parliament has adopted a resolution on the finalisation of Basel III rules. Amongst other things, the resolution:

• highlights that banks are likely to remain the main source of financing in the EU for households and enterprises, especially SMEs;
• stresses that the current revision should not significantly increase overall capital requirements while at the same time strengthening the overall financial position of European banks;
• emphasises that the revision should promote the level playing field at the global level by mitigating the differences between jurisdictions and banking models, and by not unduly penalising the EU banking model;
• recalls the importance of the principle of proportionality, to be assessed not only in relation to the size of the institutions which are regulated, but also understood as a fair balance between the costs and benefits of regulation for each group of stakeholders;
• calls on the Commission to assess the impact of recent and new reforms such as the financing of the real economy in Europe and the proposed Capital Markets Union and to make use of the findings from the call for evidence on financial services regulation in the EU;
• requests that the requirements to mandate central clearing of derivative products be fully taken into account when setting the leverage ratio so as to encourage the practice of central clearing; and
• calls on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) to assess the qualitative and quantitative impact of the new reforms, taking into consideration their impact on different jurisdictions and different banking models before the adoption of the standard by the Committee.