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MNI POLICY: ECB Has Done All It Can To Ready Banks for Brexit

(MNI) LONDON

The European Central Bank's Supervisory Board has done everything it can to prepare eurozone banks for Brexit, it's chair Andrea Enria said in an interview Friday, though a 'no-deal' exit has not been fully priced-in, and with negative shocks still a possibility.

"All in all, the preparation has been done," Enria told RTE. "I met with my team and we cannot think of anything else that we could do, or that we could ask the banks to do."

Brexit will produce macroeconomic effects on top of the impact of COVID-19, he warned, with financial markets having not yet fully priced in the possibility of the United Kingdom's leaving the European Union without a trade deal.

"The fact that we are prepared for a shock doesn't mean that the negative effects will not materialise," Enria said.

Banks should also consider extending payment breaks for customers affected by the economic effects of the pandemic, he continued.

"We think it is also important that the banks take into consideration the impact that this has on their asset quality," Enria said. They should avoid the build-up of unrecognised non-performing loans, and eventually distinguish good customers from bad customers that are unlikely to pay."

MNI London Bureau | +44 20 3983 7894 | luke.heighton@marketnews.com
MNI London Bureau | +44 20 3983 7894 | luke.heighton@marketnews.com

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