|
|
A cliff-edge Brexit could make it much harder for EU authorities to impose losses on investors in the event of bank failure. This, in turn, would put Europe's taxpayers at greater risk.
The EU's new resolution regime says that when a bank fails, its bondholders must share some of the burden through a so-called bail-in mechanism. Many bank bonds are written under British law. So long as the U.K. is in the EU, decisions by the EU's resolution authorities to impose losses on creditors will automatically apply. Once Britain leaves the EU, they won't.
The relevant EU authorities are aware. The Single Resolution Board, the agency responsible for failing banks, has warned European lenders that debt issued under British law may not comply with EU law after Brexit. Meanwhile, though, the SRB is asking banks to build adequate buffers of securities that can be subject to bail in, so the scale of the problem is growing.
The EU and the U.K. need to sign a cooperation agreement that would tell their courts to recognize resolution decisions taken in either jurisdiction. This would be to both sides' advantage. The EU would not see its bail-in arrangements crippled overnight, and Britain would retain more of its legal-services business, since banks operating in the EU could continue to issue bonds under British law.