Italian banks and bail-ins are the main topics of today's and tomorrow's meeting between EU finance ministers. Even if the official agenda does not contemplate them, it is clear that these are the topics on the table of any collateral debate.
"The ease with which some bankers ask for public money is problematic, because we need leaders in banks who address the problems instead of going to the governors with their requests".
This is what was stated by Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem responding to those who asked him for a comment on Deutsche Bank's request. “The problems of the banks must be solved by the banks and in the banks,” Dijsselbloem said.
From Italian credit institutions to German ones. The crisis of Italian banks is linked to non-performing loans and "it is not acute and this gives us time to find a solution", underlined the president of the Eurogroup, specifying that "the rules are clear", and within this framework " a solution is always possible”, as long as the regulatory framework is respected.
"The rules are rigid, in the sense that they clearly put the bail-in hierarchy on paper," said Dijsselbloem, according to whom "in that framework, the solution is always possible but the regulatory" framework must be respected.
Dijsselbloem added that he is not worried about the problems of Italian banks, and that Italian and European authorities are "talking constructively to find a solution within the framework".
The problem of non-performing loans "is not new, there are no great solutions, the solution must be found gradually". The Italian one "is not an acute crisis, and this gives us time to find a solution". For the president "the only important thing is that we respect what we have decided together, we don't need to question other things, there is already a lot to question these days", he concluded.
The words of the number one of the Eurogroup were followed by those of Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan who, answering a question relating to contacts with the Commission, declared that "Savers will be safeguarded by the Italian Government, contacts with the European authorities continue positively as they always have in this period". Padoan also clarified that he was unaware of the 150 billion plan evoked by Deutsche Bank, explaining that "there is already a liquidity tool, we will see other tools, always of a precautionary nature".
The question was also addressed German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeubland that there should be no speculation about the fate of Italian banks before the results of the stress tests are known. “I think we will know the results of the stress tests conducted by the European banking supervisor in the second half of this month (and not in the next two months),” Schaeuble said ahead of the meeting of finance ministers in Brussels. “We shouldn't speculate until we know the results,” he added.
