EurActiv: ECB questions banks over ‘Brexit’ preparations

10 March 2016

Supervisors of the European Central Bank are questioning banks over their preparations for a possible British exit from the European Union and the ensuing reaction in foreign exchange markets, Handelsblatt newspaper reported.

The possible consequences of a ‘Brexit’ for financial markets and individual banks have become the top concern at the ECB over the last few weeks, the German newspaper reported.

One central banker, who declined to be named, described a Brexit as “the biggest risk to financial stability this year.”

The ECB supervisors want to check the readiness of banks for “extreme shifts” in forex trading and for possible losses for companies stemming from foreign currency loans, Handelsblatt said, citing unnamed sources.

“The bank’s supervisors will make more extensive enquiries in the coming weeks in order to make greater headway on this issue,” one unnamed insider told the paper.

It also quoted Andreas Dombret of Germany’s Bundesbank as saying “a potential Brexit is very dangerous” for financial stability.

Full article on EurActiv


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