Banking Union is Life Insurance for Zombie Banks
„Bringing big banks under supervision of the ECB amounts to writing out a taxpayers‘ cheque to Deutsche Bank&Co.“ comments Sahra Wagenknecht on the European Parliament’s approval of the supervision structure of the banking union under leadership of the European Central Bank (ECB). The first deputy chair of the faction of DIE LINKE in Bundestag and top candidate of DIE LINKE for federal elections in Northrhine-Westphalia continues:
„In most European member states the central banks were responsible for banking supervision already before the crisis. They ignored the asset price bubble and the developments in the banking sector respectively. The European Central Bank is tightly entangled in the interests of the financial sector and is not democratically controlled. The ECB will be subject to permanently colliding interests due to its role as lender of last resort and head supervisor. Not even the demand to reveal the ECB’s minutes, following the example of the US Federal Reserve, was fulfilled. Thus, the cheering for the supervision structure by SPD and Greens is incomprehensible.
The long-term goal of the banking union is further to tap the sound deposit insurances of savings and cooperative banks for ailing big banks. A genuine procedure, or creditor liability respectively are, however, far away. Such a blank cheque for big banks will arouse desires to recapitalise ailing banks through the European Stability Mechanism with taxpayers‘ money.
DIE LINKE demands liability for creditors and owners of banks, and a controlled partial insolvency of big banks. Only deposits of small savers as well as commercial loans are to be secured. DIE LINKE demands a Europe-wide capital levy instead of dumping further millions of tax money into zombie banks.“