The EU's banking regulator says Europe's banks must raise €114.7 billion in new capital to restore stability and confidence on the financial markets.
The London-based European Banking Authority made the announcement after stress tests conducted with national regulators. Today's figure is up from the EBA's €106.4 billion estimate in October.
The Central Bank said the results showed that the Irish banks involved - AIB, Bank of Ireland and Irish Life & Permanent - did not need any new capital. Irish banks have been recapitalised after a Central Bank review in March.
Today's EBA report said German banks' new capital needs have doubled to €13.1 billion, largely due to a new calculation of the value of the bonds the banks hold. French banks need an additional €7.3 billion, slightly less than the previous estimate.
European banks have billions of euro of risky government bonds on their books, and, as the continent's crisis has deepened, investors have become increasingly concerned the lenders will not be able to cope with all of the expected losses on those loans. That, in turn, has led to a freezing up of inter-bank lending.
In order to restore confidence in the banks, EU leaders decided in October to force banks to raise more money.
