Major European lenders pass stress test
By Steve Slater and Edward Taylor |
July 26, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SO few banks failed Europe's long-awaited stress tests last Friday that investors will likely focus instead on the dozen or so banks that just scraped through when markets reopen next week.
Seven banks failed the unprecedented test of Europe's banking system - including five small regional Spanish lenders - and need to plug a much smaller-than-expected combined capital shortfall of 3.5 billion euros (US$4.52 billion).
But the health check on 91 banks in 20 countries was criticized as being too soft. It was also overshadowed somewhat by a slew of data on European economies that suggested the banks may face less pressure and loan defaults than earlier thought.
That leaves investors to make up their own minds about particular banks, armed with the extra data the tests provided, including on sovereign bond holdings, to judge where further weak spots may be.
"With so few banks failing, investors will question whether the economic scenarios are sufficiently severe," said Jon Peace, analyst at Nomura in London.
"It will be natural for investors to consider the margin by which banks passed," he added, citing a good pass margin for Scandinavian and British banks, but Greek, Spanish and Italian banks faring less well.
Banks were tested on how they would withstand another recession in the next two years, including some losses on government bonds. They failed if their Tier 1 capital ratio dropped below 6 percent.
There were 17 banks whose ratio fell to between 6 percent and 7 percent.
Seven banks failed the unprecedented test of Europe's banking system - including five small regional Spanish lenders - and need to plug a much smaller-than-expected combined capital shortfall of 3.5 billion euros (US$4.52 billion).
But the health check on 91 banks in 20 countries was criticized as being too soft. It was also overshadowed somewhat by a slew of data on European economies that suggested the banks may face less pressure and loan defaults than earlier thought.
That leaves investors to make up their own minds about particular banks, armed with the extra data the tests provided, including on sovereign bond holdings, to judge where further weak spots may be.
"With so few banks failing, investors will question whether the economic scenarios are sufficiently severe," said Jon Peace, analyst at Nomura in London.
"It will be natural for investors to consider the margin by which banks passed," he added, citing a good pass margin for Scandinavian and British banks, but Greek, Spanish and Italian banks faring less well.
Banks were tested on how they would withstand another recession in the next two years, including some losses on government bonds. They failed if their Tier 1 capital ratio dropped below 6 percent.
There were 17 banks whose ratio fell to between 6 percent and 7 percent.
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