The president of the French Banking Federation (FBF), Philippe Brassac, assures in BFM Business that there is no “banking crisis” in Europe as in the United States.
“Il n’y a pas de crise bancaire” in Europe, “il already des banques qui sont en dificulté (…) mais ce sont toujours pour des raisons qui leur sont propres”, estimates Philippe Brassac, aussi directeur général du Crédito Agricultural.
Concerns centered late last week on Credit Suisse, one of 30 global banks deemed too big to fail.
After intense negotiations, top Swiss banking group UBS agreed on Sunday to buy back its struggling rival for a pittance, with hefty guarantees from the Swiss government.
without contagion
If he agreed that the US banking system is going through a period of crisis, Philippe Brassac stresses that there is “no possible contagion in particular to the European and French banking system”.
Since the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States on March 10, the banking sector has questioned its soundness and has been particularly disrupted in the stock market.
“There is no mechanism of contamination or contagion in the system” between US and European banks, he insists, marking the difference with the 2008 crisis when the complex US financial products, “subprime”, had spread to various bank balance sheets.
The president of the FBF praised the European regulations and the Basel 3 standards, which have made it possible to reinforce the solidity of the banks, mandatory in Europe but only applied by a handful of American players.
“Les banques ont souvent dit “la régulation est trop lourde, trop importante”, are défaut, c’est qu’elle ne s’appliquait pas suffisamment à un nombre suffisant d’acteurs notamment aux Etats-Unis”, souligne-t- He.
Source: BFM TV
