EN
C 132/160
Official Journal of the European Union
24.3.2022
Thursday 7 October 2021
responsibilities on banks’ prudential requirements; highlights in this regard the risks of excessive reliance on UK CCPs and welcomes the measures adopted by the Commission over the past year setting the criteria for classifying third-country CCPs; 23.
Regrets the failure to ensure full gender balance in EU financial institutions and bodies, and in particular the fact that women continue to be underrepresented in executive positions in the field of banking and financial services; stresses that gender balance on boards and in the workforce brings both societal and economic returns; considers that the selection of applicants to EU financial institutions and bodies should be based on criteria of merit and ability, so that the institution or body involved operates as effectively as possible; calls on governments and all institutions and bodies to prioritise the achievement of full gender balance as soon as possible, including by providing gender-balanced shortlists of candidates for all future appointments requiring Parliament’s consent, including at the ECB and the EU’s top financial institutions, endeavouring to include at least one female and one male candidate per nomination procedure; recalls its resolution of 14 March 2019 (39) aiming to secure gender balance in the forthcoming list of candidates for EU economic and monetary affairs nominations and reiterates its commitment not to take into account lists of candidates where the gender balance principle has not been respected; 24.
Calls on the Commission to review the eligibility criteria with the objective of attracting a higher number of applications from women;
Supervision 25.
Acknowledges the role of European banking supervision in ensuring the provision of temporary capital and operational relief to banks as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, so they can continue to provide financial support to businesses and households and absorb losses, while maintaining the high quality of the supervision; notes the SSM’s concerns with regard to high costs, low profitability, depressed market valuations and insufficient investment in new technologies in the banking sector; calls for guidance on the expected time scale for and approach to rebuilding the buffers; 26.
Highlights the importance of enhancing the transparency and predictability of EU banking supervision and commends in this regard the recent practice of publishing bank-specific Pillar 2 requirements; believes that individual requirements make SSM expectations more reliable and facilitate more informed investor decisions; 27.
Expects that recent changes to the SSM organisational structure, while simplifying the system and incorporating technological innovation, will facilitate more risk-based supervision and internal institutional collaboration; 28.
Finds merit in the November 2020 SSM analysis of the potential vulnerabilities of the banking sector in different scenarios, with regard to the effects of the shock on asset quality and capital; 29.
Notes that sound management of credit risk should remain one of the key priorities for the SSM; shares the SSM’s concerns that banks might change their credit risk models and takes note, in this regard, of the SSM supervisory expectations for appropriate operational preparations in anticipation of the increase in NPLs and for robust credit risk management, as outlined in its letters to CEOs of significant institutions and its COVID-19 credit risk strategy; supports the SSM’s intensified oversight of high leveraged markets; notes that not all banks have been able to meet the SSM’s expectations for credit risk management, meaning that further efforts are required; 30.
Acknowledges that the COVID-19-induced crisis increases the risk of the further build-up of NPLs; notes with concern the ECB’s prediction that NPLs in a severe but plausible scenario could reach levels as high as EUR 1.4 trillion by the end of 2022; stresses that ensuring the proper and timely management of deteriorated asset quality on banks’ balance sheets will be key to preventing a build-up of NPLs in the short term; advises the Member States to make further efforts to address this issue; notes in this regard the Commission communication of 16 December 2020 on tackling non-performing loans in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic (COM(2020)0822) to enable banks to support EU households and businesses; expects that the revision of the Consumer Credit Directive (40) will ensure a high level of consumer protection,
(39) (40)
OJ C 23, 21.1.2021, p. 105.
Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC (OJ L 133, 22.5.2008, p. 66).