The president of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), Alejandra Kindelán, has called for political determination to improve banking regulation and supervision, with the goal of increasing Europe’s lending capacity by 2 trillion euros, of which 250,000 million would correspond to Spain.
This is reflected in the estimates contained in a report prepared by the AEB, CECA, and Unacc, in collaboration with EY, which authorities and industry representatives presented during the conference “Competitiveness for Growth: The Role of the Banking Sector,” organized by the three associations.
“Europe has all the economic and social potential to be a global model of progress, innovation, and well-being. That is why this competitiveness agenda requires courage and political determination,” Alejandra Kindelán said during her speech.
“This is not merely a technical issue; it is a strategic decision. Europe’s economic strength in the coming years depends on how and how urgently we resolve this,” he added.
During the meeting, the experts outlined the main conclusions of the report, which proposes a series of measures to create a more competitive banking sector. These include simplifying the capital framework and completing European financial integration by finalizing the Banking Union and developing an effective Capital Markets Union. It also calls for the inclusion of an explicit objective to promote banking competitiveness and economic growth as a secondary objective for regulators and supervisors.
In addition to the significant impact on credit capacity, implementing these proposals would boost the eurozone’s GDP by 2.7%, which would be three times the average over the past two decades. Experts also estimate that 2 million jobs would be created, including 300,000 in Spain.
“We don’t have much time to waste; we have assessments, analyses, and, most importantly, broad consensus. It’s time for action because, moreover, there is an international context in which other jurisdictions are already ahead of us,” Kindelán noted.
“We need to review the regulatory framework and make regulations more predictable and stable,” added CECA Director General Antonio Romero. For his part, Unacc President Manuel Ruiz Escudero noted that “in an increasingly demanding financial environment, proportionality is not an option, but an urgent necessity.”
Representatives of the banking sector have made it clear that simplification does not mean deregulation, but rather making the system more efficient so that banks can expand their financing capacity in the face of investment needs totaling 1.4 trillion euros annually.
Also participating in the event were José Luis Escrivá, governor of the Bank of Spain; Carlos Cuerpo, first vice president and minister of Economy, Trade, and Business; Carlos Torres Vila, chairman of BBVA; Héctor Grisi, CEO of Banco Santander; Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of CaixaBank; Frank Elderson, Vice Chair of the ECB’s Supervisory Board; Fernando Restoy, President of the BIS Financial Stability Institute; and José Manuel Campa, former Chair of the European Banking Authority (EBA).
