FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank supervisors will give euro zone banks extra time to set cash aside against their bad loans if their pile of soured debt is particularly high, the ECB said on Wednesday.
Under the new and long-awaited guidelines, the ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism will take “bank-specific supervisory expectations” for the provision of non-performing loans (NPLs), while using benchmarks to ensure consistency.
“The bank-specific supervisory expectations are based on a benchmarking of comparable banks and guided by individual banks’ current NPL ratio and main financial features,” the ECB said.
Its aim “over the medium term” is to achieve the same coverage for old non-performing loans as is the case with new ones, for which banks have to fully provide in two years, if they are not backed by collateral.
The ECB’s announcement confirms Reuters reports that supervisors were seeking a compromise solution after an earlier proposal to set the same timeframe for all had met with resistance from bankers, lawmakers and even within the central bank.
Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.
Source: Investing.com
