Banco Santander President Ana Botín warned on Tuesday of the risks Europe faces if it continues to tighten its regulatory framework. The banker said overregulation could hinder investment, limit innovation and ultimately slow the continent’s economic growth.
Mr. Botin was attending the International Banking Conference in Madrid, Spain. emphasized the importance of achieving a balance between stability and growth.. “Regulation kills innovation…We need to understand that if we don’t allow companies to innovate, we can’t grow,” he said.
Along this line, the expert explained: The current environment places greater demands on European banks We compare favorably with our U.S. competitors on both regulatory and financial fronts.
In the banker’s opinion, this disparity is making Europe’s financial sector less competitive. He noted that U.S. lenders operate under more flexible solvency requirements.
Therefore, he estimates that the gap between both markets is: Potential expansion by $3.5 billion EUR ($4.8 trillion) in the next three years. This will allow North American banks to provide more loans to households and businesses.
Spanish executives also warned that the lack of growth could be problematic for financial stability. At the same time, he also argued that: Without profit, an entity cannot strengthen itself.
But not everyone shares Botin’s push for deregulation. Among them is José Luis Escriva, head of monetary policy at the European Central Bank (ECB) and governor of the Bank of Spain.
executives warned last month About the risks of relaxing rules In the context of technological transformation.
Escriva believed that the emergence of digital assets such as stablecoins represents a new challenge to the stability of the financial system. These products rely on reserve assets such as Treasury bills.
Therefore, as he explained, in crisis situations, only central banks have the ability to guarantee liquidity in the system by acting as lenders of last resort.
Parallel to this debate about the limits of regulation in Europe, Spain continues to implement MiCA regulations (Cryptoactive Markets) Supervision of cryptocurrency markets.
According to a report by CriptoNoticias, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has already authorized 45 crypto asset service providers, including BBVA and Bit2Me, to operate in the country.
