EU banks: Afme’s appeal for an operational banking union

“Europe needs aFully operational Banking Union supported by a lean and agile institutional framework“he said Adam Wolf CEO of Afme, a lobby group bringing together participants in wholesale financial markets. Farkas believes that modern, simplified and globally harmonized banking rules are “essential” for banks to innovate, finance growth and compete both within the EU and internationally.

In its response, the European financial lobby highlights the urgency of completing the Banking Union so that capital and liquidity can flow freely within EU banking groups, while facilitating banking consolidation and eliminating barriers non-prudential that continue to hinder the growth, efficiency and competitiveness of financial institutions.

Afme also argues that a global level playing field and alignment with Basel “are priorities”, as European banks “must be able to compete on equal terms” with their international counterparts, avoiding the imposition of excessively rigid rules which only apply within the EU.

In this regard, Afme considers the current internal governance framework to be “extremely complex” and notes that some of its elements “go beyond what is necessary” for effective risk management and have a very limiting impact on competitiveness.

“It’s not about deregulation, but about strengthening the single banking market and simplify the regulatory framework“, added Farkas, for whom the European Commission’s report on competitiveness “must lead to real reform”, so that the European banking sector can fully play its role in supporting competitiveness, resilience and long-term prosperity.