KBC and Belfius emerge as resilient banks in EU stress test
Belgian banks KBC and Belfius are sufficiently resilient to withstand increased geopolitical tensions and protectionist trade measures, according to a European stress test.
The European Banking Authority announced the results of the test, which was carried out on the 64 largest financial institutions in Europe, on Friday.
However, amid an uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook, profitability could deteriorate rapidly in the future, warns the Belgian National Bank.
Capital buffers
The national bank said that the stress test results highlight the importance of banks maintaining robust capital buffers to absorb shocks and continue providing credit to the economy in adverse circumstances.
The test aimed to provide supervisors, banks, and market participants with a common analytical framework for comparing and assessing the resilience of large European banks and the EU banking system to a number of hypothetical adverse economic shocks. It consisted of a baseline scenario and an adverse scenario.
The test covered 75 per cent of the EU banking sector. ING Belgium and BNP Paribas Fortis, which are subsidiaries of foreign banking groups, participated through their parent institutions.
© PHTOTO BELGIAN_FREELANCE
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