ECB sees no risk of banking crisis in the Eurozone, official says
The European Central Bank (ECB) sees no risk of a banking crisis in the Eurozone despite some "individual cases" of lenders in trouble, senior ECB supervisor Ignazio Angeloni said today.
Banking shares have been volatile across the single currency area this year, especially in recent weeks, as Deutsche Bank awaits confirmation of a multi-million-dollar fine from US authorities.
Angeloni, a senior member of the ECB's arm in charge of supervising the Eurozone's 129 largest banks, said the system was well-protected against any potential crisis.
"There are individual cases of banks with problems, but the system is solid," he said, speaking at an event in Milan. "There are supervisory and financial tools to deal with specific situations. We don't see the preconditions for a systemic crisis."
The ECB is trying to get banks to pay down a €900bn pile (£792bn) of bad loans – a headache left over from the financial crisis.
Angeloni acknowledged this process would take time but said it needed to start immediately. "We must be aware that the solution, even for banks where the problem is more acute, can't be very fast. But precisely because it is a long process, it should start right away."
ECB chief Mario Draghi said last month that the UK's vote to exit the EU had "dampened" recovery in the Eurozone, however, the euro jumped yesterday on rumours the Central Bank is considering proposals for how to taper its quantitative easing programme.