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| High street banks 'can cope with disorderly Brexit' | High street banks 'can cope with disorderly Brexit' |
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| High street banks can withstand a disorderly Brexit, the Bank of England has said, even though Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays struggled in its latest health check on the sector. | High street banks can withstand a disorderly Brexit, the Bank of England has said, even though Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays struggled in its latest health check on the sector. |
| For the first time since 2014, when Threadneedle Street conducted its first annual stress tests, the major lenders have not been required by the UK central bank to raise billions of pounds more of capital to strengthen their finances. | For the first time since 2014, when Threadneedle Street conducted its first annual stress tests, the major lenders have not been required by the UK central bank to raise billions of pounds more of capital to strengthen their finances. |
| But RBS, 70%-owned by the taxpayer, and Barclays only passed the hurdle rate set by the Bank because the regulator took account of efforts they had already made to increase their financial strength since the end of last year, when the tests were applied. | But RBS, 70%-owned by the taxpayer, and Barclays only passed the hurdle rate set by the Bank because the regulator took account of efforts they had already made to increase their financial strength since the end of last year, when the tests were applied. |
| The Bank of England is alert to the risks poised by Brexit, and in its half-yearly review of risks to the financial system warns that a disorderly Brexit coupled with a severe global recession and more multibillion pound fines from global regulators could force it to reconsider its assessment. | |
| The seven lenders assessed – which also include HSBC, Lloyds, Standard Chartered, the UK arm of Santander and Nationwide – would incur £50bn of losses under the hypothetical scenario imposed on their financial position at the end of 2016. | |
| This scenario included a 4.7% fall in UK GDP, a 33% fall in house prices, interest rates rising to 4% and a 27% fall in the pound. | This scenario included a 4.7% fall in UK GDP, a 33% fall in house prices, interest rates rising to 4% and a 27% fall in the pound. |
| The Bank said these outcomes could be associated with Brexit and that its financial policy committee (FPC), set up to assess risks to the financial system, had judged that “the UK banking system could continue to support the real economy through a disorderly Brexit”. | |
| It added: “However, the combination of a disorderly Brexit and a severe global recession and stressed misconduct costs could result in more severe conditions than in the stress test.” | |
| Threadneedle Street confirmed that banks would be required to hold an extra £6bn in capital by next November, but will review whether they will need to build an additional cushion in light of the potential risks in the UK banking system. | |
| Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, said: “The FPC is taking action to ensure the financial system is resilient to a very broad range of risks so that the people of the UK can move forward with confidence that they can access the financial services they will need to seize the opportunities ahead.” | |
| The Bank has already warned that the banking sector could incur £30bn-worth of losses on consumer credit – credit cards, personal loans and car finance – if interest rates and unemployment rose sharply. | |
| On Tuesday, the Bank revealed that losses on mortgage lending would reach £17bn and that more borrowers would run into difficulty maintaining their payments as a result of significant rises in interest rates. It has assumed a further £40bn of fines on top of £60bn already incurred since the financial crisis. | |
| It added: “The FPC continues to assess the risks of disruption to UK financial services arising from Brexit so that preparations can be made and action taken to mitigate against them.” | |
| Bank officials have already warned about the need for a Brexit transition deal by Christmas. In its latest risk assessment it set out a checklist to be addressed to avoid chaos in the UK financial sector when Britain leaves the EU in March 2019. It included: | |
| • A UK legal framework is required• “Timely agreement” on a transition deal• £26tn of derivatives contracts could be at risk and 36m insurance policies for households in the UK and EU• Banks in the European Economic Area need authorisation to operate in the UK from the Bank, which will set out its approach to regulation by the end of the year. | |
| For the first time the viability of UK banks’ financial health and business models were also tested against a longer-term scenario of seven years of weak global growth, low interest rates and high legal costs and fines for misconduct. | |
| The Bank said that this test had found that lenders would take the axe to costs – possibly by cutting jobs – to deal with the rise of fintech firms. | |
| The results of the stress tests will be closely watched by the Treasury, which said it wanted to sell off £15bn of its stake in RBS, which is worth about two-thirds of the bank’s value, even though this would leave taxpayers with a £26bn loss. | |
| Barclays shareholders will also be monitoring the result as its chief executive, Jes Staley, hopes to start increasing its dividend to shareholders after cutting it for the last two years. | |
| Under the stress scenario, none of the banks pays dividends or bonuses during the period. | |
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