ECB approves stability report, revises payment system fees
The European Central Bank's Governing Council approved the May 2026 Financial Stability Review and a revised T2/Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) pricing policy. The Council also adopted amendments to the TARGET Guideline and addressed several banking supervision matters.
Stability report flags AI, bankruptcies, private credit
The Governing Council held an exchange of views on euro area financial stability issues and authorized the publication of the May 2026 Financial Stability Review (FSR) on May 27, 2026.
The FSR provides an overview of key vulnerabilities and includes four special features.
These explore how advanced artificial intelligence tools can enhance sentiment analysis, examine the divergence between rising corporate bankruptcies and low non-performing loan ratios in banks, assess macroprudential policies' effects on household credit and house prices, and look at exposures of the euro area financial system to private credit.
Additionally, the Council approved the June 2026 report on the international role of the euro, scheduled for publication on June 2, 2026, presenting an overview of the euro's use by non-euro area residents in 2025.
Payments infrastructure fees revised, supervision updates
The Governing Council approved a revised T2/RTGS pricing policy, effective July 1, 2026, which includes increased fixed monthly fees for dedicated cash accounts and recalibrated volume-based pricing.
The objective is full cost recovery for T2/RTGS by 2038, with a comprehensive review mandated for 2028.
Amendments to the TARGET Guideline (ECB/2026/11) were adopted, reflecting technical changes including the European Payment Council's "One-Leg Out" Instant Credit Transfer scheme in TIPS and the new T2/RTGS fee structure.
In banking supervision, the Council did not object to publishing reports on good practices for climate and nature risk management and stress testing.
It also noted compliance with EBA Guidelines on confidentiality regimes (EBA/GL/2025/05) and proportionate retail diversification methods (EBA/GL/2026/02).
The 2025 annual report on SSM sanctioning activities was approved for publication, revealing 370 sanctioning proceedings and €57.15 million in fines imposed, the highest in five years.