By Martin Banks - 22nd July 2010
The stress tests must be reliable
Udo Bullmann
The European parliament's Socialist group has called for "fully transparent" stress tests on EU banks.
Results of so-called stress tests, which will assess how banks would fare if economic conditions worsened and sovereign debt holdings declined in value, are due on 91 banks on July 23.
The 184-strong S&D group in parliament said the 91 EU banks "must be fully transparent if they are to be credible."
Group spokesman on economic and monetary affairs Udo Bullmann of Germany said, "The decision of EU banking supervisors to carry out these tests should help to strengthen confidence in financial markets.
"The stress tests must be reliable and the publication of the results must be completely open and transparent. It is a question of credibility.
"After the tests have been completed, we expect the banks to play a full role in restoring the European economy. Two years after the beginning of the financial crisis, too many citizens and too many enterprises are still having difficulty in obtaining loans from their banks.
"The establishment of a European fund financed by banks, whose activities can affect the banking system as a whole, is also needed to deal with the failure of any relevant bank in the future.
"As far as socialists and democrats are concerned, this fund should not be set up as a safety net that would allow banks to go on taking wild risks. The banks must pay for the mistakes they make.
"It is no longer acceptable for EU citizens to pay for the failure of the financial system."
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