The European Central Bank (ECB) is considering the option of providing just 48-hour notice to banks to review the results of a balance sheet health check to avoid data leaks.
Currently, the ECB is completing the most detailed ever review of the Eurozone’s 128 largest banks before it becomes the region’s financial supervisor in November, as reported by Reuters.
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The ECB, which has decided to ignore the banks’ demand for time to review the health check result, aims to restore confidence in Europe’s banking sector that was eroded, following the financial crisis of 2008.
It is believed that the European banking regulator will publish the results of the eight-month exercise in October this year. Before issuing the result, the ECB has organized a meeting in Frankfurt to inform the lenders how they will be released to the banks and the markets.
Two people familiar with the Frankfurt discussions was quoted by Reuters as saying that the ECB proposed giving banks 48 hours warning of their results ahead of the publication date in late October.
"Banks can’t comprehend this highly complex … process within 48 hours in a way that they can sign it off in good conscience," one source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
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By GlobalDataA spokesman of ECB told the publication, "We will communicate with the banks directly concerning exact timelines for the disclosure of the final result of the Comprehensive Assessment closer to the end of the process."
In order to pass the stress test, the EU banks have made extensive preparations, such as raising over 100bns ($136bn) in the nine months to April, by divesting assets and writing off bad debts.
