Bank stress tests planned for February

The European Commission has announced that banks in the EU are to face another round of stress tests in February.

Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said the tests would be “more comprehensive and more rigorous” than the first round of tests, which took place in July.

He made the announcement following a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels today (7 December). He said discussions on the scope and methodology of the talks were still continuing but, unlike this year's tests, they would include an assessment of banks' liquidity.

Rehn said lessons would be learnt from this year's stress tests, which were criticised for being too soft. He said the new process would be held in the “fullest transparency”.

The first round of tests, carried out by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), made up of banking regulators, tested 91 of the EU's biggest banks in July. Seven of them failed the tests.