EU implementation of outstanding Basel III reforms

Open letter from FMA and 24 other European supervisory authorities and national banks


The European Commission is currently preparing a legislative proposal to implement the final parts of the Basel III framework for banking regulation globally agreed in response to the global financial crisis from 2007 to 2010. In this context, a total of 25 high-ranking representatives of European banking supervisory authorities and central banks, among them Helmut Ettl, Chairman of the Austrian Financial Market Authority and Robert Holzmann, Governor of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, address a joint open letter to the representatives of the European Commission responsible for this legislative proposal, Commissioner Mairead McGuinness and Director General John Berrigan.

In their letter, banking supervisors and central bankers strongly urge a complete, timely and consistent implementation of the Basel III framework in the EU in all aspects. They speak out in favour of an implementation of the globally agreed framework that is in line with both the wording and the intention and thus against any watering down, as it has become clear, especially now in the pandemic, that more resilient banks can support the real economy much better even in times of crisis.

You can find the open letter of the European supervisory authorities here