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[BUSINESS] · Germany, France, Italy · 13 sources

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European Central Bank proposes lighter regulations for small banks

The European Central Bank (ECB) has proposed a series of measures to ease regulatory and supervisory requirements for small and non-complex institutions (SNCIs) within the eurozone. Frank Elderson, Vice-President of the ECB Supervisory Board, emphasized that these changes aim to apply rules more proportionally without weakening the prudential safeguards established after the 2008 financial crisis.

A key proposal involves allowing national authorities to increase the asset threshold for a bank to be classified as ‘small’ from 5 billion euros to 10 billion euros, depending on specific market characteristics. This adjustment could expand the SNCI category from 75% to 85% of institutions, bringing approximately 150 additional banks into the simplified regime.

The initiative also seeks to significantly reduce the administrative burden for nearly 1,000 small banks. Proposed changes include reducing the number of required financial data reporting fields from 13,500 to 700 and shifting stress tests toward more efficient top-down exercises rather than time-consuming bottom-up processes. These measures are intended to lower operational costs for smaller institutions that lack the infrastructure of major banking groups.

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Christine Lagarde · European Central Bank · Eurozone · Frank Elderson · Philip Lane

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