ECB to monitor banks’ liquidity data to avert financial crisis risks

BERLIN: In a bid to ward off any risks of a financial crisis in the future, the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to ask the banks to provide liquidity data, AFP reported. 

Andrea Enria, who is the ECB supervisory chief, said: “We decided to send banks, starting in September, a request for information on a weekly basis, in order to have more recent data to allow us to better monitor liquidity developments.”

“It’s a question of sending, with greater frequency, the information on liquidity that banks already send us on a monthly basis,” he added.

The data which the ECB has asked to share include the maturity of liquidity in the bank’s accounts, their counterparties and refinancing transactions.

This would help in controlling the development of “the most liquid assets and liabilities, like deposits”, Enria added.

The development came after the regional banks in the United States faced bankruptcy followed by the collapse of Credit Suisse which triggered fears of a global financial crisis.

European Banking Authority (ABE) — the regulator for the banking sector — made this recommendation in June.

Strict measures have also been adopted by the European Union to avert a financial crisis similar to 2008.