The general director of CECA, Antonio Romero, emphasized this Friday that competitiveness constitutes an "essential element" to balance the objective of financial stability with the need to boost economic growth, and warned that "Europe will be gravely mistaken if it does not address the issue of banking competitiveness."
In his speech during the "Competitiveness for Growth" meeting, organized by CECA, AEB, and UNACC, Romero denounced that the current situation of "overregulation" is "reducing Europe's financing capacity," thus limiting the continent's potential for economic development.
According to data provided by Romero, inspection exercises have increased from two to seven per year for each financial entity, an increase that, in his opinion, "affects the competitiveness of the financial sector" and that it is essential to "address" if the role of banking in the economy is to be strengthened.
In this regard, he insisted on the need to review the regulatory framework so that regulation "is more predictable and stable" and stressed that stability "makes no sense without competitiveness." In his view, "there is a need to consider competitiveness in the mandates of supervisors."
Romero added that "if not through the revision of mandates, it must be through any other institutional mechanism," and remarked that "regulatory simplification is not a matter of banks for banks, it is something from which the Spanish and European economy will benefit."
Referring to Spanish banking, he concluded by pointing out that "all indicators suggest that" the sector faces the current scenario of uncertainty "from a position of strength." He stressed that "this is not the result of chance, it is the result of a job well done" and defended that "the financial system is a lever of stability and confidence for the entire Spanish economy."