Reuters
Banks in the European Union could increase lending by almost a third if regulators applied capital requirements in the same way as their U.S. counterparts, a study from the European Banking Federation and consultants Oliver Wyman said on Friday. Banking regulation is internationally coordinated by regulators, but differences remain in how the rules work in practice, and how they are implemented, the report said. "A review of the current capital requirements and supervisory processes could free up capacity for approximately 4-4.5 trillion euros of additional lending in a best-case scenario, representing an increase of almost 30% compared to current bank lending volumes," the report said.