As a result, the average Core Tier 1 ratio of the largest euro area banks currently stands well above 11% and the majority of euro area banks already comply with the minimum capital requirements of the fully implemented Basel III framework.
Furthermore, in countries under financial assistance programmes, problematic legacy assets have been removed from banks’ balance sheets to ensure that they will no longer curb banks’ lending to profitable businesses. More progress is on its way in terms of the institutional architecture. Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) will be complemented by a European banking union.