A tax on banks to "save the taxpayers'
Lefigaro.fr / Jdf.com: Why banks they have strongly criticized the recommendations made in the framework of rules prodentielles Basel III?
Delzant Ellen: The Basel Committee has submitted to banks on December 31 last, ten recommendations for strengthening the system of banking supervision and harmonize accounting and prudential standards.
The new regulation called "Basel III" offers a better credit side, with the strengthening of equity and weighted by their market activities, securitization or counterparty risk. And the other, a much higher level of liquidity that banks can refinance markets. According to recent studies, these new standards would impose on banks to raise, by 2012, approximately 450 billion euros in capital to 1.500 billion debt.
What seems impossible in the eyes of banks, explaining that such rules would threaten the financing of the economy. The recommendations of Basel III were subjected to these banks, who are currently studying more accurately the impact of such measures. They make their copy on April 16 next.
The aim would be to implement a new regulation in 2012, the time that the economy really recovering from the crisis.
What exactly is the tax on banks which Berlin and Paris agreed on Wednesday?
At Summit Pittsburgh, which took place in September 2009, the G20 countries have shown their determination to rethink the regulation of the financial system, particularly for states to prevent digging into the coffers filled by taxpayers to save banks the bankruptcy crisis.
In Europe, there are already many discussions on this aspect of bank failures. And in Germany, recently adopted a tax credit that would put money into a rescue fund to be used in case of difficulty of the banking system. Such a tax would yield between 1 and 1.3 billion euros per year. What remains poor compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars injected by the German state banks. But pre-election period in Germany is already a good way to reassure taxpayers, who are also voters no fax cash loans.
Such a tax is not she justified since it was introduced in all countries?
Yes. But he must first of each country working at national level.Last Wednesday, while Christine Lagarde was alongside his German counterpart Wolfgang Sch?uble, France went in the direction of a tax credit. But it would fuel the state budget.
Whatever the allocation of such a tax, these are national decisions that will prevail, but will add a European, and even to globalize this process predominates, partly to avoid distortions of competition.
Already, the Franco-German cooperation is a strong sign of the desire to bring the case to the European level.A global control is obviously essential and the principle of transforming debt of banks capital seems consistent with the desire to take arms against a possible new crisis and save the taxpayers of the world's financial woes.
History:
• Basel I: In 1988, central bankers from the G-10 countries have issued recommendations to "ensure the stability of the international banking system by setting a minimum limit to the amount of bank capital.It showed the famous "Cooke ratio, established in 1992, which required that capital in relation to all lending commitments do not exceed 8%.
• Basel II: In 2006, the New Basel Accord, has established standards constitute a prudential perspective to improve understanding of banking risks, mainly credit risk or counterparty and capital requirements.
• Basel III: The governor of the Bank of the Netherlands, Nout Wellinck, chairman of the Basel Committee, announced December 31, 2009 "a profound change" prudential rules. The application of new standards will not happen until the world economy will not be permanently out of the crisis.Experts believe that Basel III should not occur before 2010 and 2011.
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