BCE explica necesidad de un mecanismo único de resolución para la unión bancaria

Genevieve Signoret & Patrick Signoret

El jueves, tres miembros del BCE –el presidente Mario Draghi, el vicepresidente Vítor Constâncio y el miembro del Comité Ejecutivo Benoît Cœuré dieron discursos que en mayor o menor medida tocaron la necesidad de un mecanismo único de resolución para avanzar hacia la unión bancaria. Sólo Cœuré mencionó un tercer componente que muchos consideran necesario para una verdadera unión bancaria: el mecanismo común de protección de depósitos.

Compartimos pasajes del discurso de Benoît Cœuré, The Single Resolution Mechanism: Why it is needed. Comenzó describiendo el mecanismo único de supervision (SSM):

The Single Supervisory Mechanism will comprise national competent authorities from the euro area as well as the ECB, with the possibility of non-euro area members participating. The scope of the proposed regulation is very broad, covering all of the more than 6,000 credit institutions in the euro area. However, not all of them will fall under the direct responsibility of the ECB. The ECB will directly supervise those banks and banking groups that are considered to be significant. The national authorities will retain their responsibilities for prudential supervision of the other banks. However, the ECB may at any time, on its own initiative and after consulting with, or at the request of, a national competent authority, decide to exercise direct supervision. The banks falling under direct supervision will be identified by using a methodology based on the criteria mentioned in the Regulation. We expect that it will cover more than 80%, or more than 25 trillion euro, of the euro area’s banking assets. It will represent the largest single supervisory jurisdiction by assets.

Pero se enfocó sobre todo en la importancia del segundo componente, el mecanismo único de resolución:

The second pillar of the banking union will be a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). Although the framework for the SRM still needs to be defined as part of a collective effort by the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament, I would like to discuss why the SRM is needed, what its main components should be and how it can be established.

A timely resolution of a bank should avoid that problems in one bank spill over to other banks, possibly affecting European financial stability. Moreover, the uncertainty surrounding the use of ad hoc solutions in Europe, as we all saw recently in the case of Cyprus, has shown the importance of establishing a clear and credible legal framework to underpin the resolution of banks. Without such a framework, decisions are often taken late and in an improvised way. Any solution which does not imply an outright bailout seems to take creditors and markets by surprise. This will need to change. I would say that after the events of Cyprus, markets should be convinced that Europe is serious and committed to bailing in and thus ending the bailout culture.

[…] It would, however, be a mistake to assume that there will be no more troubled banks once the SSM is in force and supervisory responsibility is transferred to the ECB. So if the Single Supervisory Mechanism is to be effective, it needs to be complemented by a Single Resolution Mechanism to deal with non-viable banks. It is thus crucial that the SRM framework is in place once the SSM is operational. From the ECB’s point of view, only if the SSM is complemented by a Single Resolution Mechanism with a common backstop can the negative feedback loop between sovereigns and banks be broken, ensuring thereby that monetary policy transmission is fully restored.

[…] First, the SRM should be based on a strong and independent Single Resolution Authority (SRA) entrusted with the necessary powers. This would enable prompt and coordinated resolution action to be taken, specifically where cross-border banks are concerned.

[…] Second, the SRA should have adequate funds for resolution financing. Indeed, for the resolution framework to work well and be credible, the SRA must have access to a privately-funded European Resolution Fund. This Fund should be pre-funded by levies from the private sector. This would ensure that the SRA has access to the necessary financing to take resolution action and achieve least-cost solutions, as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) does in the US.

Third, in order to ensure the credibility of the Fund, it should have access to a temporary and fiscally neutral fiscal backstop at euro area level, to be used only as a last resort.

[…] In order to enhance legal certainty and predictability, a clear pecking order has to be established regarding the financing of resolution measures. Losses and resolution costs should first and foremost be borne by the shareholders and subsequently by the creditors of the failing institution. Only at that point should the private sector be called in to finance resolution via the resolution fund. Then and only as a last resort in case the accumulated funds in the resolution fund are insufficient, should there be a temporary public backstop providing credit to the resolution fund. But any such support should be fiscally neutral and recouped through ex-post levies on banks. This will ensure that financial sector repair is ultimately financed by the private sector itself.

Mencionó brevemente la protección común de depósitos:

Finally, the third pillar of the banking union is an integrated framework for deposit protection. A first step towards this aim would be the adoption of the pending legislative proposal of the Commission on a Directive for Deposit Guarantee Schemes (DGS). This framework should ensure depositor confidence and enable the national guarantee schemes, built on common EU standards, to interact with the SRM. Bail-in rules, with a clear treatment of depositors in resolution and insolvency, and with depositor preference making it less likely that the DGS is drawn upon, will make this interaction much easier in a real crisis, and will facilitate the implementation of a common DGS at a later stage.

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