Europe braced for bank stress test results

Category: Banking
Date: 7/23/2010

Europe is bracing itself for the results of stress tests carried out on banks across the continent.

The examination of the state of European banks has been designed to test whether they are in a position to deal with any future economic problems, and to inject some confidence back into financial markets.

The results of tests made to 91 banks will be made public later today by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, and speculation is mounting that some may have failed.

Reports from Spanish newspaper El Pais have said that a number of the country's banks have failed the tests, with those affected likely to be the smaller, provincial savings banks that have recently been the subject of mergers.

It has also been speculated that some banks in Germany, Greece and Slovenia may struggle to pass the tests.

Manfred Webber, the head of the Association of German Banks, said in a radio interview that the country's banks would perform well 'all in all'.

There has been no suggestion that the UK's four major banks, RBS, Lloyds, HSBS and Barclays, will fail the tests.

Santander is also expected to pass the tests.

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