Without solid backstops in place, I fear markets will not see the exercise as credible as they will expect the results to be fudged.
While I am pleased that the European Council in June acknowledged this issue, it called for backstops to be in place before the assessment is completed, which  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  leaves too much room for uncertainty. Backstops need to be in place before the assessment has begun. Put simply, if there are no backstops, there will be no assessment.