Overview
- A leaked draft circulated in mid‑June revealed plans to move capital and liquidity requirements from individual national units to parent banks and to scale back discretionary Pillar 2 add‑ons.
- The draft estimates, which are preliminary and subject to change, say the measures could free about €225 billion in capital and €250 billion in liquidity that is now trapped by national ring‑fencing rules.
- Strong second‑quarter results at major U.S. banks have tightened political pressure in Brussels and helped prompt the Commission to publish a competitiveness report in mid‑July and plan legislative proposals for early 2027.
- The EU has delayed implementation of the CRR3/CRD6 reforms to 2027, while the UK is pursuing a smaller Tier‑1 cut for 2027; both moves will shape how any new EU package interacts with existing capital rules.
- The proposals aim to enable larger cross‑border European banks to finance big projects and narrow a long‑running investment gap estimated at roughly €1.4 trillion, but they face likely national political and legal resistance and do not fold crypto or stablecoin rules into the banking capital regime.