Financial Regulatory Forum

    LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Spain’s Santander <SAN.MC>, Europe’s second biggest bank, said forcing banks to hold more capital to cover riskier activities would be better than forcing the break-up of big lenders. (more…)

    MADRID, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Three of Spain’s most important listed companies are considering uniting to resist a government proposal to abolish “poison pill” rules which limit shareholder voting rights, Expansion newspaper reported on Monday, without citing its sources. (more…)

    By Huw Jones
   LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) – European Union president Spain tightened proposed rules to regulate hedge funds and private equity groups, prompting accusations of protectionism from within the industry but potentially speeding up moves towards a deal. (more…)

(Adds more quotes, background)

BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Monday it was confident of issuing a positive decision on a Spanish government scheme to help crisis-hit banks avert any solvency problems.

Spain set up the 9-billion-euro ($13 billion) bank restructuring fund (FROB) in June last year, allowing lenders to borrow up to 90 billion euros, in a move that may spur consolidation among the country’s savings banks.

Three savings banks from northern Spain agreed last week to postpone plans to merge until the European Union’s executive Commission had ratified the FROB restructuring plan.

    GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The European banking sector is solid enough to withstand a deterioration of economic conditions and under the worst case scenario could face 400 billion euros of write-downs, Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado said.
   “The ministers shared the view that the 22 systemic banks (in Europe) are solid enough to resist a deterioration of conditions. This deterioration will not happen,” Salgado told reporters on the sidelines of an EU finance ministers’ meeting.
   Asked about the 400 billion euros figure, reported in the media, she said : “In the worst case scenario, the maximum total of risks would be around this figure.
   ((Reporting by Julien Toyer, writing by Jan Strupczewski, tel +32 2 287 68 37, fax  +32 2 230 55 73, e-mail: jan.strupczewski@reuters.com; RM: jan.strupczewski.reuters.com@reuters.net))
 Keywords: EU BANKS/TEST 
  
For Related News, Double Click on one of these codes:[M] [T] [D] [E] [PSC] [RNP] [PTD] [EMK] [BNK] [FIN] [ES] [EUROPE] [WEU] [BACT] [REGS] [CEN] [ECB] [EU] [US] [NEWS] [MCE] [DBT] [GVD] [LEN] [RTRS]
 Thursday, 01 October 2009 17:17:35RTRS [nWEA3388] {EN}ENDS

    LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) – Spain’s Economy Minister, Elena Salgado, has backed European Union plans for tougher regulations on hedge funds in an interview with the Guardian on Friday. (more…)