New EU Bank Rules to Start in 2014

New rules on bankers’ bonuses and the amount of capital that banks must hold as a buffer have been approved by the European Parliament by a big majority.

The package was agreed with the 27 EU governments and most of it is likely to take effect on 1 January 2014.

The EU plans to cap bonuses at 100% of a banker’s annual salary, or 200% if shareholders approve.

The aim is to curb the sort of high-risk lending that contributed to the financial crash in 2008.

The package, called Capital Requirements Directive 4 (CRD4), brings the EU into line with the so-called “Basel III” rules on banking standards, which set new capital requirements for banks.

MEPs want banks to hold more money in their reserves, in order to stop them going bust through reckless lending. But they have also pushed for banks to focus on lending to the real economy, especially small businesses and business start-ups.

Under the new rules, banks will also have to provide more data about their profits and taxes, on a country-by-country basis.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza