Banks urge EU to ease capital rules to fight coronavirus fallout

Europe's banks have called on European Union authorities to ease capital rules and other regulatory barriers to helping businesses struggling because of the coronavirus epidemic.

The European Banking Federation (EBF), which comprises national banking industry bodies from across Europe, set out a three-stage plan in a letter to the European Union, European Central Bank and the European Banking Authority on Wednesday.

It asks regulators "for assistance to be able to work constructively with borrowers... which will require flexibility to stem the regulatory-enforced barriers to finance borrowers in temporary struggle."

The industry body proposed a set of "immediate decisions" to avoid the flow of cash or liquidity to businesses and households drying up in coming weeks.

These could be followed by a set of medium-term actions and other measures to "smooth"...