The National Bank, commercial banks and the Raiffeisen Association warn in unison of a possible Weakening of the deposit insurance system.
The reason for the outcry is a decision in EU-Parliament at the instigation of rapporteur Othmar Karas (ÖVP), according to which funds from national deposit insurance can in future also be used for resolution cases at European level.
Specifically, half of the funds from the national deposit protection funds (two billion euros in Austria) are to be transferred to an EU pot. And a European one resolution authority should be able to access these funds if the worst comes to the worst.
Die National Bank welcomes the efforts to be better prepared for times of crisis. But: “This is about a potentially serious system change,” said the deputy governor Gottfried Haber. “A decision to transfer national deposit protection funds to a new European deposit protection fund at the European Resolution Authority can only be decided if there is a coherent overall concept that brings a significant improvement to financial market stability – that is currently not the case.”
Up to 100,000 euros
Deposit protection protects depositors against losses of up to 100,000 euros per customer and bank. “If European resolution authorities are able to access the funds of the deposit protection funds in the future, this will clearly miss the goal of protecting depositors for savers,” criticizes Willi Cernko, bank chairman in the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKÖ).
It’s about trust
And also Johannes Rehulka, Secretary General of the Raiffeisen Association, warns “explicitly against such far-reaching experiments just a few weeks before the EU elections. Financial market stability and savers’ trust in functioning systems should not be jeopardized without necessity.” miba