The European Central Bank (ECB) today issued a harsh opinion against the tax on temporary banking that the Government is finalizing. It warns that part of the costs derived from the aforementioned tax may be transferred to customers and that its implementation may affect the granting of credits. The opinion had been expected for days and it was hard, as La Vanguardia explained.
In the report, the European regulator warns that "a generic provision that establishes that the temporary lien cannot be transferred to the clients of credit institutions could generate uncertainty, as well as related operational and reputational risks for said entities." In his opinion, "price increases applicable to customers" due to increases in costs other than temporary charges, such as operating, financing and capital expenses and increases in costs related to risk coverage and adjustments of markups "are all legitimate increases.
In the same line, the "ECB expects, in general, that credit institutions, in accordance with good international practice, take into account and reflect in the prices of the loans all the relevant costs, including fiscal considerations, when appropriate ". The supervisor believes that despite the control that the CNMC wants to exercise "it seems difficult to differentiate whether the temporary lien would be effectively transferred to customers or not."
Among the recommendations of the European Central Bank, it highlights that the request to the Spanish Government for "an exhaustive analysis of the possible negative consequences for the banking sector, in order to guarantee that said taxes do not pose risks for financial stability, the resilience of the banking sector and the granting of credits, which could negatively affect real economic growth".
The body chaired by Christine Lagarde warns that "the basis on which the temporary tax would be established does not take into account the entire economic cycle and does not include, among others, operating expenses or the cost of credit risk." All this leads the ECB to think that "the amount of the temporary lien may not be proportional to the profitability of a credit institution."
The Spanish Government intends to raise 3,000 million euros in two years, in 2022 and 2023, with a temporary surcharge of 4.8% on the interest margin and on the net commissions obtained by financial institutions with revenues of more than 800 million . The Spanish banking sector has been against this tax, considering it unfair.
