At the initiative of Finance Watch, in an letter signed by 36 organisations and 79 individuals, Greentervention called on co-legislators to reconsider their deviations from the international banking rules and steer Europe back on course with a timely, full and faithful implementation of the Basel III framework at EU level.

The current looming banking crisis should remind us that banking regulation is not always sufficient – as shown by the recent failure of SVB – or getting better as banks lobby hard to weaken the regulatory burden. Compliance with regulation is however a starting condition towards a safer banking sector, necessary step but not sufficient and this letter should only be seen as a starting point – banks should comply with the agreed standard – without forgetting that further regulatory improvements, in particular towards sustainability and climate risk, are still overdue.