30 October 2014

Bloomberg: Bank union appeal grows for Denmark as stress tests ease anxiety

The most thorough examination of European bank health in the bloc’s history showed “there’s a reasonable degree of financial stability,” Danish Economy Minister Morten Oestergaard said.

“Our work on the banking union continues with the stress test outcome in mind, so in that way this was good news,” Oestergaard explained.

Denmark, a European Union member that pegs its krone to the euro, has said a bad test result would be an obstacle hampering potential bank union membership. Though the nation’s central bank advocates joining, the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt can’t move on the issue until the Justice Department decides whether Denmark needs to put the matter to a referendum.

“The government will make up its mind at a later stage,” Oestergaard said. “We’ve made great efforts to ensure that euro members, as well as non-euro members, get the same conditions, and I’m optimistic that this will happen.”

Of the 123 EU banks tested by the European Banking Authority, 24 failed, the London-based EBA said on Oct. 26. In the European Central Bank’s simultaneous test of 130 euro-area lenders, 25 failed. Of those, only eight have yet to prove they can plug capital shortfalls.

“Its important to highlight that the preemptive effect of the tests is very apparent,” Oestergaard said. “No banks want to be targeted in a stress tests.”

Full article on Bloomberg

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