European Parliament votes on Capital Requirements Regulation – Comments by Sharon Bowles MEP

"The European Parliament has voted through an ambitious and innovative text today. On the key concern of maximum versus minimum harmonisation there is sufficient flexibility within an EU framework. This will allow countries with a very large debt to GDP ratio to take the necessary action to protect themselves.

"The Parliament has been conscious that the regulation should encourage growth. In particular, we have supported better treatment of trade financing, which is important for boosting world trade and EU exports.

"We have embedded basic aspects of crisis resolution and introduced a requirement for banks to have living wills, ensuring the involvement of the EBA in their coordination.

"The Parliament has also supported reporting of all repos and securities lending. It is vital to get a proper picture of who owns what and whether assets are encumbered or not, especially when we are trying to get a better grip on shadow banking.

"As we have done in the past, the Parliament has taken a firm line on variable remuneration. It is clear that these ultra-high levels of remuneration cannot continue, as indeed recent shareholder votes are beginning to show.

"In many quarters there have been concerns about banking models so we have proposed benchmarking of these in order to get a better understanding of how they compare.

"Although some have suggested the Parliament's honeymoon with the European Supervisory Authorities is over, the text we have agreed demonstrates this is clearly not the case."

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