Spain contests bank test results

Published on 15 July 2011 at 11:07

Cover

The results of stress tests conducted on European banks, which will be published on July 15, are not to the taste of Spanish financial institutions. "Banks and building societies have criticised the European solvency tests," arguing that "the test criteria do not reflect the reality," reports La Vanguardia. According to the Barcelona daily, "Europe has turned its back on Spain," because "all of the instruments to assist banks in overcoming the crisis were not taken into account." The newspaper cites the example of the system of counter-cyclical provisions, "an instrument unique to Spain," in which banks set aside money in preparation for difficult periods in the future, which was completely ignored by the European Banking Association (EBA).

La Vanguardia reports that 90 banks, including 25 Spanish ones, were tested by the EBA, which is hoping to obtain homogeneous results. The newspaper further points out that the "the debt crisis has also prompted a crisis in the field of banking supervision." The logic of the tests is that they "should be accepted by the markets as irrefutable," but this was not the case with the 2010 tests, which had no lasting impact in the wake of the difficulties experienced by Irish banks.

Receive the best of European journalism straight to your inbox every Thursday
Categories
Tags

Was this article useful? If so we are delighted!

It is freely available because we believe that the right to free and independent information is essential for democracy. But this right is not guaranteed forever, and independence comes at a cost. We need your support in order to continue publishing independent, multilingual news for all Europeans.

Discover our subscription offers and their exclusive benefits and become a member of our community now!

Are you a news organisation, a business, an association or a foundation? Check out our bespoke editorial and translation services.

Support independent European journalism

European democracy needs independent media. Join our community!

On the same topic