Advertisement

Swedes propose EU debt crisis solution: report

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Swedes propose EU debt crisis solution: report

Swedish politicians are reported to be behind a proposal to allow the European investment bank (EIB) to play a key role in the rescue of troubled European banks, according to the German Financial Times on Thursday.

Advertisement

According to the paper, the proposal has been presented by Swedish representatives, although Minister of Finance Anders Borg declined to comment on the report.

At the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) meeting in Luxembourg this week, other measures to strengthen the banks’ capital structure were also discussed.

One was to radically expand the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) emergency fund by allowing it to act as a bank and take out its own loan from the European Central Bank (ECB), and in that way finance support efforts.

Since then the board of the European Banking Authority (EBA), has started to plan for new stress tests of the European banks, to account for the massive devaluations of government bonds from the countries in crisis.

The EBA stress tests carried out last summer, showed that the European banking sector was in need of a €2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) cash injection, and these tests were confined to the smaller banks.

However, according to the European head of IMF, António Borges, the deficit in capital is closer to €100-200 billion, and analysts say it could be even more.

Analysts at American financial services firm, JP Morgan, point out that several major banks as being the most liable: Belgian KBC, German Commerzbank, Italian Unicredit, Brittish Barclays, French Societé Générale, German Deutsche Bank, as well as Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International.

In the US, major bank Morgan Stanley has also had to face the heat as a result of the exposure to the dept crisis in the Eurozone, and the European Commission now want a coordinated effort to support the banks in the union.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also