A Test Europe’s Banks Mustn’t Fail
Europe is lurching toward an overhaul of its banking system. Later this year, the European Central Bank is set to assume the authority to supervise the 130 largest banks in the euro zone — a momentous process of centralizing financial regulation in Frankfurt aimed at preventing another round of the bank failures that contributed to the 2007-8 global financial crisis.
In preparation for the handoff, the E.C.B. will conduct a “stress test” to gauge how the banks would fare if economic conditions deteriorated. But the central bank’s point person for these efforts, Danièle Nouy, appears to have misdiagnosed the problem, suggesting that “insufficient transparency regarding the balance sheets of the European banks” is the critical problem.… Seguir leyendo »