The European Commission has launched a public consultation on shadow credit, the set of all those activities that are configured as banking but which take place outside the normal banking circuit. The objective of the public consultation is to gather information and opinions to find "a calibrated proposal" for regulating the sector.
The problem, they explain from Brussels, is that the 'shadow banking system' is not controlled, is not regulated, "is constantly changing its nature and form", and this can generate "systemic risks" for the whole system. The goal is therefore to regulate the sector currently without controls. “We think the best thing to do is make it clear what the rules are” to follow.
The timetable, contained in the green paper presented today, is therefore outlined: a conference on shadow credit will be held in Brussels on 27 April, the public consultation will close on 1 June, between July and December the report on the situation will be drawn up to be presented to the Financial Stability Board and then the EU Commission will decide what to do.
In any case, they specify from Brussels, "we want to create balanced legislation, which does not kill the positive effects of shadow credit" (such as, for example, the creation of funding sources). You just want to eliminate the possibility of systemic risks and make the parallel banking sector transparent. “What we don't want – stated Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for the Internal Market – is that financial activities and subjects operating in the sector circumvent the existing rules, thus favoring new forms of risk for finance”. Barnier was clear: “No actor should escape this vigilance”.
