ECB Faces Bank Payouts Battle as Top Watchdog Enria Departs
- Some regulators plan to lobby for less restrictive approach
- They’re said to view Enria’s successor Buch as open to debate
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Several bank regulators dissatisfied with the European Central Bank’s tough stance on shareholder payouts are getting ready to push for a relaxation, arguing it’s partly to blame for the poor valuations of the region’s lenders.
The officials, who sit on the ECB’s Supervisory Board and have long disagreed with the line taken by Chair Andrea Enria, want to lower the capital bar that individual banks have to meet for payouts and scrap a time-consuming approval process for share buybacks, according to people familiar with the matter.