Politics

Amendment to EU Capital Directive CRD IV completed.

One of the largest and most controversial dossiers of financial regulation is signed and sealed. COREPER (the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States) on March 27, more than two years after publication of the final Basel III rules by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in December 2010 and after some emotional discussions within the European institutions, approved and published a tentative agreement on the consolidated CRD IV / CRR. The package contains uniform rules on capital and liquidity within the EU. Purely formally, the plenary of the European Parliament and the national finance ministers in the Council must still vote. This final decision is planned for the European Parliament’s plenary session from 15 to 18 April. If the current version can be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by 30 June, the new Directive and Regulation will apply from 1 January 2014. The amended EU Directive provides that banks will have to hold more and better capital. To strengthen the liquidity position, the CRD IV / CRR also provides for the introduction of the Liquidity Coverage Ratio.