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By Huw Jones
LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The final batch of post-financial
crisis bank capital rules will be introduced in Britain before
or at the same time as in the European Union, Bank of England
Deputy Governor Sam Woods said on Tuesday.
Brussels has proposed introducing the final rules in 2025,
two years later than agreed by the global Basel Committee, which
set tougher capital standards after lenders were bailed out by
taxpayers over a decade ago.
Basel has already delayed their introduction by a year to
January 2023 to give banks time to move on from the COVID-19
pandemic.
Woods told a Financial Times event that the BoE won't set
out its proposals for implementing the final rules until the
second half of next year, making Basel's January 2023 deadline
impossible to meet.
"I would be extremely disappointed if we would be behind the
EU timing in our implementation, and I do not expect that,"
Woods said.
"The only question is whether we are ahead or whether we are
at the same time."
Banks that used London as their European base are facing
pressure from the European Central Bank to move more staff and
activities to their new Brexit hubs in the EU.
Several branches of EU banks are based in London but Woods
said he was not in any "tit-for-tat game", though reducing
UK-based banks to empty shells would be "totally unacceptable".
"We do need to keep an eye on it going forward," Woods said.
He softened his opposition to having a formal remit to
maintain the competitiveness of a post-Brexit London as a global
financial centre when setting financial rules.
The British government has proposed adding growth and
competitiveness as a secondary objective for BoE rulemaking to
its main remit of keeping banks and insurers safe.
"What the government has put forward ... I actually think is
quite sensible. I think that will be fine," Woods said. "People
should not expect us to lower standards after Brexit. We have
absolutely no intention of doing that."
Banks in Britain hold enough capital to withstand outcomes
much worse than the BoE expects, with a repeat on last year's
curbs on bank dividends at the height of the pandemic unlikely,
Woods said.
(Reporting by Huw Jones
Editing by Paul Simao)
