Discussions between bankers and policymakers have long ended up with calls to lower the regulatory requirements on the sector. And, if this has become policy in the US, this trend is particularly visible in the EU in the context of the Savings and Investment Union (SIU). Indeed, some EU banks and their representative bodies use the current focus on competitiveness and simplification to demand lower regulatory obligations, including reduced capital requirements. Yet, the ideas that justify these demands are often misleading. In many cases, yielding to them could have negative consequences on the EU economy and its competitiveness. In this summary note, Reclaim Finance looks at some of the main arguments mobilized to call for bank deregulation.
The note notably answers the questions:
- Why aiming for EU competitiveness does not mean aiming for bank competitiveness?
- Why is the debate around the level of capital not the right one?
- What does comparing EU and US banks really tell us?
- Why should simplification not extend to the limited measures adopted on climate-related risk?
- What does reasonable prudential “simplification” look like?
