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European bank stress tests: how they work
Baku, July 18 (AZERTAC). All the action begins at 5pm on Friday when the European Banking Authority (EBA) - which took over from the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, which did the tests last year - publishes quick headline numbers for the shortfall in capital across the entire banking sector and how many of the banks have passed and how many failed. Under scrutiny were 91 banks although German bank Helaba is refusing to participate after being told it had failed by the EBA.
Between 5pm and 5.30pm each bank will publish the results on a 10-page template to provide uniformity across Europe. From the template, analysts will be able to see how much capital the bank has above or below the 5% threshold for core tier-one capital set by the EBA. There will also be information about the action banks can take to raise the capital - such as selling businesses, for instance - to meet the threshold if they have failed.