Get 40% Off
💰 Buffett reveals a $6.7B stake in Chubb. Copy the full portfolio for FREE with InvestingPro’s Stock Ideas toolCopy Portfolio

UK banks warn that MREL rules could prevent as much as £62bn in lending

Published 20/10/2022, 11:21
UK banks warn that MREL rules could prevent as much as £62bn in lending
MREL
-

TSB, Metro Bank, Paragon, and others sent a letter to the Treasury, imploring it to change rules that they said were holding back growth, increasing costs and affecting their ability to lend.

The banks will also meet with city minister Andrew Griffith on Thursday, according to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the situation.

The lenders will raise concerns about the Minimum Requirement for own funds and Eligible Liabilities regulations, which sets out the amount of equity and debt a bank that has £15.0bn or more of assets or more than 40,000 accounts must hold to absorb losses.

The banks claim that the threshold was too low and disproportionately limits smaller lenders due to the interest costs related to any debt they are required to issue in order to meet the requirements.

The letter said: "As it stands, the UK has been a good place to start a new bank, as illustrated by the number of banking licences granted over recent years.

"However, whilst the barriers to entry have been reduced, the barriers to growth remain stubbornly high, as demonstrated by the fact that no new bank has yet to become a large bank."

The letter also stated midsized banks were "captured by a regime designed for the resolution of large, systemically important banks" and that the thresholds "put UK mid-tier banks at a significant competitive disadvantage relative to counterparts in the EU and US".

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Read more on Sharecast.com

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.