The banks have done well in adapting to Europe's demands on the new capital requirements, even if there will be additional financing costs for companies. But a different attitude would have meant a decrease in credit, with obvious repercussions for the economy. This is, in summary, the opinion of the rating agency Standar & Poor's illustrated in the House Finance Committee by the managing director of S&P Italia, Maria Pierdicchi, and by the director of S&P for Italian financial institutions, Renato Panichi.
As a result of the Basel III requirements, "we believe funding costs could weigh between 3 and 30 billion euro for eurozone firms and between 50 and 9 billion for US firms," they said. This figure, according to representatives of the rating agency, represents an increase of between 14 and 10 percent compared to the current costs of financing companies. And the most penalized companies will be the smallest private ones, compared to large companiesAnd. According to Standard & Poor's "there is a significant cost effect" from the entry into force of the new Basel 3 rules and there could be a "lower propensity" to invest and the strongest impact will concern private equity investments and equity. Some companies could prefer short-term credit, which is less expensive, to raise funds but with a "risk of imbalance" in terms of "solidity".
That said, S&P remarks how it is however "important that the response of Italian banks to the invitation to strengthen capital from the EBA was that of capital increases and not deleveraging: a choice that would have meant a decrease in credits”, with negative impacts on the economy.
During the hearing, Maria Pierdicchi also explained why Standard & Poor's has recently decided to simultaneously put the sovereign ratings of 15 eurozone countries, including that of Italy, under observation: "Beyond the Italian situation there is a European problem which is reflected in the rating of individual countries, which is why we have decided to put 15 countries under observation at the same time".
