Current capital needs arise from the combined effect of more demanding capital requirements in the adjustment programme (a Core Tier 1 ratio of 10% by the end of 2012) and three additional factors:   The recommendation made last December by the European Banking Authority (EBA), aimed at creating a temporary buffer for sovereign exposures in the main European banks;    The results of the Special Inspections Programme (SIP) on the valuation of banks’ assets;    And the impact of the partial transfer of banks’ pension funds to social security.
Stability seems to have brought about a number of unexpected effects of “operating in a normal business environment”, which almost whole of our economy has kind of grown unaccustomed to in the course of these last 44 years, such as the facts that: •  Market implies competition, glorifies success and puts a persistent pressure on increase in productivity.