The European Union's internal market commissioner Michel Barnier has said he will not be swayed by various pressures in implementating Basel III capital requirements.
Mr Barnier issued a statement in response to an article in today's Financial Times, which said that banks in the European Union could evade part of the Basel III requirements under draft legislation implementing the globally agreed standards.
'A few weeks ago, some people were accusing us of damaging the economic recovery by implementing rules which would be too tough for banks because they would impede their lending to the real economy,' Mr Barnier said.
'Today, others seem to accuse us of the opposite with suggestions Europe would not be implementing Basel properly, thus not learning all the lessons from the crisis.
'Both criticisms are unjustified and simply factually wrong.
'Europe will implement Basel III: we have said it before and I confirm it to you today, the Commission's proposals to implement Basel III will respect the balance and level of ambition included in Basel 3.'
The Financial Times said the draft could allow EU banks to count more of the capital in their insurance subsidiaries than the global rules call for.
Banks including Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and LLoyds Banking Group, all of which have insurance arms, would benefit disproportionately from the exception, the newspaper added.
It would also allow banks to continue issuing hybrid capital for longer than expected, it said.
If the two exceptions stand 'it would be a violation of the global agreement,' an unidentified regulator involved in the process was quoted as saying.
Basel III is a set of minimum requirements but the EU executive Commission wants them to become a ceiling inside the bloc to ensure a common approach across the 27 member states.
It was endorsed by world leaders last November and will phase in tougher bank capital and liquidity requirements over six years from 2013.
European Union finance ministers have attacked as too soft the bloc's plan to implement new globally agreed bank capital and liquidity rules, arguing it will damage Europe's credibility.
Mr Barnier will publish a draft EU law in July based on the global agreement.
Barnier said last week he would not compromise on the accord's 'level of ambition' and that the new law would be an opportunity to make progress towards a single rulebook for the bloc's banks.
