Moulin urges cross-border capital and liquidity waivers
Banque de France Governor Emmanuel Moulin urged Europe to remove barriers to cross-border banking and allow capital and liquidity waivers. He called for simpler regulation without weakening prudential standards.
Capital beyond national borders
Moulin called for cross-border capital and liquidity waivers without waiting for the European Deposit Insurance Scheme.
At the ACPR conference in Paris, he urged removal of political and regulatory barriers to cross-border mergers.
Direct intra-euro area cross-border lending accounts for less than 15 percent of bank lending to non-banks, he noted.
Larger banks can better absorb technology investment costs, he said.
France's six largest banking groups have an average CET1 ratio of 15.6 percent; insurers' solvency capital requirement coverage is 250 percent.
With sovereign yields rising and French budget uncertainty adding pressure, he urged adoption of a budget before year-end that brings the deficit below 5 percent of GDP.
Simplification without weaker safeguards
Moulin backed Basel III implementation while supporting clearer capital requirements, removal of unjustified European regulatory overlaps and relief for low-risk activities under the output floor.
He cited supervisory streamlining and Solvency II proportionality reforms.
Strong rules, proactive supervision and adapted business models underpin resilience, he said.
Priorities also include AI adoption, climate-risk prevention, equity financing and tokenised settlement.
He welcomed cooperation between the European Payments Initiative and EuroPA to reduce dependence on non-European providers.
Integration remains the missing piece
Moulin presents resilience as a source of competitiveness, not its opposite.
His prescription combines prudential standards with simpler rules and fewer national barriers to capital and liquidity management.
The proposed waivers explicitly separate banking integration from completion of deposit insurance.