Bonuses, Dividends Pit Europe Banks Against Economic Wardens
- Banks set aside fewer bad loan provisions even as outlook dims
- Regulators are weighing whether to lift de-facto dividend ban
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Judging by its largest banks, you’d hardly know Europe was in the grip of a worsening pandemic.
The biggest banks in the region set aside in the third quarter the least amount of money for doubtful loans since the onset of the coronavirus -- at a combined $8.6 billion, it’s a fifth of the $39.8 billion provisioned in the first half. At the same time, banks including Spain’s Banco Santander SA and France’s BNP Paribas SA are touting financial strength to lobby regulators to restart dividends while the likes of Deutsche Bank AG are making a case for bigger bonuses for bond traders who raked in bumper revenue.