Britannia Radio

From The Sunday Times

June 7, 2009

Darling bucks EU on banks

Chancellor to tell European finance ministers that national regulators are responsible for monitoring financial institutions

David Smith

Alistair Darling will this week tell fellow European finance ministers that the buck has to stop with national regulators when its comes to monitoring the activities of banks and other financial institutions.

It will be the chancellor’s first important meeting since last week’s intense speculation that he was about to be moved out of the Treasury – which he successfully fought off.

Hh will backl steps to enhance coordination of financial regulation at European level. However, he will say that ultimate responsibility must continue to rest with national regulators, not least because the banking crisis has revealed that taxpayers in individual countries are left to pick up the bill after regulatory failures.

“The fiscal aspect is very important in this,” said a senior Treasury official.

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Darling will also argue against proposals to give the European Central Bank (ECB) greater supervisory responsibility over banks throughout the European Union.

It has been proposed that the ECB would be the appropriate body to ensure banks are putting away enough capital during the good times to see them through difficulties. He will also oppose giving the EU powers to overrule the decisions of national regulators.

The chancellor is expected to say that a body located in the ECB or attached to it would not be the right organisation to supervise banks that are operating within the EU but outside the eurozone.

The finance ministers will be discussing proposals put together by an expert group led by Jacques de Larosière, former managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

There have been fears, particularly among hedge funds, that the EU authorities will use the banking crisis for an “overkill” clampdown on financial markets.