The top five Italian banks passed the exam before the EBA professors. Unicredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Montepaschi, Banco Popolare e Union of Italian banks they meet the capital targets required by the European Banking Authority, which imposes a Core Tier 1 at 9%. Last December, the EBA had asked the five institutions to strengthen their capital for a total of 15,4 billion.
At European level, almost all the 27 Banks involved passed the test. In the latest preliminary report on the recapitalization requested of European Union institutions (for a total of 94,4 billion euros), the Authority underlines how for the "few who have not managed to reach the required levels using private sources, they have already been activated alternative support measures” by the respective Governments.
“Our work in strengthening the banks' capital is proceeding as planned – he commented Andrea Enrico, president of the EBA -. European banks are now in a stronger position and this should support the provision of credit to the real economy and gradually improve banks' access to market finance. Significant hurdles remain to be overcome before we can emerge from the crisis and comply with the new rules set by the G20, but this was a necessary and important step to improve bank balance sheets across the EU”.
Among the nine banks that have needed additional interventions, the only Italian is Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which received public support of €2 billion at the end of June.
