European governments have spent over one and a half trillion euros bailing out their banks since 2007. The argument was that these financial institutions were ‘too big to fail’, and that they would bring down the entire financial system if they were allowed to go under. At the same time, governments have been cutting budgets and services in order to bring down rising levels of public debt. Understandably, European taxpayers are annoyed at all this. How can we avoid a repeat of the financial crisis of 2007-2008? How can we ensure that banks won’t need similar bailouts from the public in future?
What do our readers think? We had a comment sent in from Marcel, arguing that European politicians always seem to “put the interests of the financial markets and banks first. Since 2008, [we have had] bailouts for the rich paid for by austerity from the poor and middle class.”
How would YOU ensure that banks won’t need bailouts again? We asked Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from all sides of the political spectrum to stake out their positions on this question, and it’s up to YOU to vote for the policies you favour. See what the different MEPs have to say, then vote at the bottom of this debate for the one you most agree with! Take part in the vote below and tell us who you support in the European Parliament!
Radical Left
Fabio de Masi (Radical Left), Member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs:
I think one of the core issues is that we must seperate the casino banking from the prudent banking which serves financing, investments in the real economy. So banks that speculate should speculate with their own money, and we have to avoid that this has feedback loops into the core banking sector by seperation, and we must avoid that the taxpayer foots the bill.
Social Democrats
Neena Gill (PES), Member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs:
[We need to] restructure, ringfence, and to try and limit the riskier elements of bank activities. So, in many instances, we are asking for greater transparency, greater reporting, greater monitoring, to ensure that we are not faced again with a similar crisis, similar situation, as we had in the last financial crisis when we had to bail out banks. And I do not believe the taxpayers have an appetite to do so again.
Greens
Philippe Lamberts (Group of the Greens), Member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs:
Well, you have to make sure that any bank can fail without taxpayer intervention. A number of measures have been taken, but we are still confronted by ‘too big to fail’ financial institutions. So, we need smaller and less interconnected banks. We need reforms that includes splitting investment banks from retail banks… Also, we have to make the portfolios of these banks more diversse, in order to prevent them putting all their eggs in one basket. We are not even halfway toward reforming the financial sector in Europe.
Liberal Democrats
Sylvie Goulard (ALDE), Member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs:
Centre Right
Gunnar Hökmark (EPP), Member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (NOTE: We contacted the EPP for comment but they did not reply in time for publication. The below is from a statement made my Gunnar Hökmark on behalf of the EPP):
My ambition is to ensure that our banks can be competitive and capable of supporting economic growth through credit provision and investment whilst also being stable players in society… European banks must be able to finance investment if we are to return to stable growth, job creation and strengthened competitiveness. My point of departure is that the structure of banks as such must not be a problem. It is rather if the structure leads to unwarranted risk exposures that financial stability can be put in peril.
Conservatives
Sander Loones (ECR), Vice-Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs:
Eurosceptics
Marco Zanni (EFD), Member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (NOTE: We contacted the EFD for comment but they did not reply in time for publication. The below is from a statement made my Marco Zanni on behalf of the EFD):
[We need] to prohibit certain speculative activities that have – and will continue to – damage the global economy… Putting and an end to the “too big to fail” [banks] is a hard task: the financial institutions cannot be completely isolated from all external shocks. Furthermore, there is no strong regulation for the banks’ activities, no substantial bank separation, or adequate supervision… We will continue to fight in order to change regulation measures from passive to active, so that bank activities will be regulated closely [and] to have the separation of banks.
Curious to learn more about Europe’s banking crisis? We’ve put together some facts and figures in the infographic below (click for a bigger image):
If any other company closes, there’s no bail out… the same should happen with banks that aren’t national banks!
1. Protect the customers deposits and pension plans where it involves the banking system.
2. Deal private banks as companies… If they close, they close and those who’ve invested in the bank lose money just as they win when they’re investment has a profit (and no one ever saw banks with profit delievering part of it to the national governments, only they clammoring for bail outs).
There is no national bank , all are business against people !!!
Here in Greece , EU have give to the banks more than 50 billions (they say to save them) but they forget to low down our (people) loans , so we pay to EU 50 b THROUGH TAXES (plus GERMANS interest ) and all our loans to the bank wen we have no jobs ….. Fare ???
I don’t know who’s okeying your posts but you are looking good to make some punchy questions. Who’s listening to you though? I mean your answers…..do you think that politicians give a dam about our comments?
Best wishes.
Evangelos
Yordan Vasilev
I think, that shareholders of the banks have to be responsible not only to collect the earnings of this institutions, but about bailouts too. Not the governments to pay the loans, but the shareholders and creditors.
Do you know that banks do not own any loan? Actually, they sold out all of them in market, so why have we had to give them trillions of euros? Where are all those euros the got by selling all those loans? Ups, they had just evaporated like smoke… That is the reason why they are “too big to fall”…
Banks are a cancer for the life in Earth and all human kind.
Jail the bankers, strip their assets, write off all debt and start again…..just like Iceland! That would be a good start!
Paul X
More to the point why put up meaningless topics like this after one of the biggest terrorist atrocities in Europe for decades?
Surely the topical debate should be about how misguided and naive the whole Schengen agreement was and what can now be done to stop terrorists moving freely throughout Europe – but clearly the total failure of a cornerstone of EU policy is not something the EU elite want to hear about or admit to
Kuhrar
Never take education for granted for free when without truly giving in for the goodness for the common goodness of humanity.
Who took the loans from the Banks never payed back? 1,5 TRILLION EUROS AT THE VAULTS OF “UNKNOWN” PERSONS.All bank records Kept top secret by all authorities.It is all clear.
eusebio manuel vestias pecurto
Europe must take new policy does not make sense that banks have populist interests in Europe without a strategic tacticis a slow way to victory
Now, this is one problem europe has to solve first before helping other countries and opening their arms to refugees. Instead of killing the EU middle class and the poor paying taxes, why don’t they go after the rich and control the banks? We have an economic problem here. Solve the european problem first before aiding these refugees. Tell those rich arabs to help their co-arabs.
Work on art culture langages by simple creative projects that we need for every days life.
Good education.
Connect art and science.
Connect people with little scale local industry.
Promote good information by real journalists that do investigation.
Banking and Finance somehow meets needs of world conflict, decide on the latter; Islam or anything else!
Edgar joycey
Change the EU institutions, then vote. Present EU institutions have no power. Remember Me Schaueble’s ‘democracy can’t change anything’. With such dictatorial statements and people in the Eurogroup what use is any vote?
catherine benning
Force them to buy insurance to cover them in the event of bankruptcy or cut them off at the knees and give other organisations the ability to beat them at their own game. In other words get rid of the lot of them but never ever allow them to use tax payers largesse to get them out of the shit again.
In fact all their assetts, including liquid should be taken into public ownership today.
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European governments have spent over one and a half trillion euros bailing out their banks since 2007. The argument was that these financial institutions were ‘too big to fail’, and that they would bring down the entire financial system if they were allowed to go under. At the same time, governments have been cutting budgets and services in order to bring down rising levels of public debt. Understandably, European taxpayers are annoyed at all this. How can we avoid a repeat of the financial crisis of 2007-2008? How can we ensure that banks won’t need similar bailouts from the public in future?I think one of the core issues is that we must seperate the casino banking from the prudent banking which serves financing, investments in the real economy. So banks that speculate should speculate with their own money, and we have to avoid that this has feedback loops into the core banking sector by seperation, and we must avoid that the taxpayer foots the bill.
[We need to] restructure, ringfence, and to try and limit the riskier elements of bank activities. So, in many instances, we are asking for greater transparency, greater reporting, greater monitoring, to ensure that we are not faced again with a similar crisis, similar situation, as we had in the last financial crisis when we had to bail out banks. And I do not believe the taxpayers have an appetite to do so again.
Well, you have to make sure that any bank can fail without taxpayer intervention. A number of measures have been taken, but we are still confronted by ‘too big to fail’ financial institutions. So, we need smaller and less interconnected banks. We need reforms that includes splitting investment banks from retail banks… Also, we have to make the portfolios of these banks more diversse, in order to prevent them putting all their eggs in one basket. We are not even halfway toward reforming the financial sector in Europe.
My ambition is to ensure that our banks can be competitive and capable of supporting economic growth through credit provision and investment whilst also being stable players in society… European banks must be able to finance investment if we are to return to stable growth, job creation and strengthened competitiveness. My point of departure is that the structure of banks as such must not be a problem. It is rather if the structure leads to unwarranted risk exposures that financial stability can be put in peril.
[We need] to prohibit certain speculative activities that have – and will continue to – damage the global economy… Putting and an end to the “too big to fail” [banks] is a hard task: the financial institutions cannot be completely isolated from all external shocks. Furthermore, there is no strong regulation for the banks’ activities, no substantial bank separation, or adequate supervision… We will continue to fight in order to change regulation measures from passive to active, so that bank activities will be regulated closely [and] to have the separation of banks.
35 comments Post a commentcomment
Do as iceland
http://www.forsaetisraduneyti.is/media/Skyrslur/monetary-reform.pdf
.
Commercial Banks are businesses like any other & are driven by the economy so nothing can or should be done.
National banks are a different matter and must remain for the benefit of their Nation State.
Finally something where We agree Ivan…
If any other company closes, there’s no bail out… the same should happen with banks that aren’t national banks!
1. Protect the customers deposits and pension plans where it involves the banking system.
2. Deal private banks as companies… If they close, they close and those who’ve invested in the bank lose money just as they win when they’re investment has a profit (and no one ever saw banks with profit delievering part of it to the national governments, only they clammoring for bail outs).
This is impossible.
https://www.facebook.com/jobsallovereurope/
The majority of this money is gone to cover corruption…just have a look at Spain…96.000 new milionaires in 6 years.
Βailing the people who took the loans and never paid back.In total secrecy.
let them crash and jail the banksters. there will be no more profitable bailout crisis from them .
There is no national bank , all are business against people !!!
Here in Greece , EU have give to the banks more than 50 billions (they say to save them) but they forget to low down our (people) loans , so we pay to EU 50 b THROUGH TAXES (plus GERMANS interest ) and all our loans to the bank wen we have no jobs ….. Fare ???
Ban short selling: you should only be allowed to sell what you own.
Ban short selling: you should only be allowed to sell what you own.
Tighter solvency ratios and liquidity ratios.
Tighter solvency ratios and liquidity ratios.
Banks should be a SOLE RESPONSIBILITY of the central bank.
Banks should be a SOLE RESPONSIBILITY of the central bank.
I’d remove the currency from the stock market and stop it being traded
I’d remove the currency from the stock market and stop it being traded
They puted the people to pay for the bailouts. They followed conservative german policies. We don’t want Europe to be ruled by the Germans.
They puted the people to pay for the bailouts. They followed conservative german policies. We don’t want Europe to be ruled by the Germans.
I don’t know who’s okeying your posts but you are looking good to make some punchy questions. Who’s listening to you though? I mean your answers…..do you think that politicians give a dam about our comments?
Best wishes.
Evangelos
I think, that shareholders of the banks have to be responsible not only to collect the earnings of this institutions, but about bailouts too. Not the governments to pay the loans, but the shareholders and creditors.
Ivan Burrows nailed it 😉👍
Madness ! If we have invested 1.5 trillion euros in solar power we could have 100% clean energy and drive electrical cars .
Do you know that banks do not own any loan? Actually, they sold out all of them in market, so why have we had to give them trillions of euros? Where are all those euros the got by selling all those loans? Ups, they had just evaporated like smoke… That is the reason why they are “too big to fall”…
Banks are a cancer for the life in Earth and all human kind.
Jail the bankers, strip their assets, write off all debt and start again…..just like Iceland! That would be a good start!
Jail the bankers, strip their assets, write off all debt and start again…..just like Iceland! That would be a good start!
More to the point why put up meaningless topics like this after one of the biggest terrorist atrocities in Europe for decades?
Surely the topical debate should be about how misguided and naive the whole Schengen agreement was and what can now be done to stop terrorists moving freely throughout Europe – but clearly the total failure of a cornerstone of EU policy is not something the EU elite want to hear about or admit to
Never take education for granted for free when without truly giving in for the goodness for the common goodness of humanity.
Who took the loans from the Banks never payed back? 1,5 TRILLION EUROS AT THE VAULTS OF “UNKNOWN” PERSONS.All bank records Kept top secret by all authorities.It is all clear.
Europe must take new policy does not make sense that banks have populist interests in Europe without a strategic tacticis a slow way to victory
Now, this is one problem europe has to solve first before helping other countries and opening their arms to refugees. Instead of killing the EU middle class and the poor paying taxes, why don’t they go after the rich and control the banks? We have an economic problem here. Solve the european problem first before aiding these refugees. Tell those rich arabs to help their co-arabs.
Work on art culture langages by simple creative projects that we need for every days life.
Good education.
Connect art and science.
Connect people with little scale local industry.
Promote good information by real journalists that do investigation.
For today that’s enough …
Banking and Finance somehow meets needs of world conflict, decide on the latter; Islam or anything else!
Change the EU institutions, then vote. Present EU institutions have no power. Remember Me Schaueble’s ‘democracy can’t change anything’. With such dictatorial statements and people in the Eurogroup what use is any vote?
Force them to buy insurance to cover them in the event of bankruptcy or cut them off at the knees and give other organisations the ability to beat them at their own game. In other words get rid of the lot of them but never ever allow them to use tax payers largesse to get them out of the shit again.
In fact all their assetts, including liquid should be taken into public ownership today.