Claudia Buch: The evidence is in - resilient banks build Europe's growth on solid ground
Keynote speech by Prof Claudia Buch, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, at the 2025 European Banking Authority Policy Research Workshop "Bridging capital and growth – the role of financial structures and intermediaries", Paris, 19 November 2025.
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the evolution of the European capital regulation framework – how it has changed since the global financial crisis, what we know about its effects and how we can further improve the way we evaluate its impact.
The global financial crisis painfully revealed the need to strengthen global capital rules. Through the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision, policymakers from across the globe worked together to provide a coordinated response. The result, the Basel III standards, was designed with a straightforward purpose: to rebuild confidence by ensuring banks maintain capital and liquidity commensurate with their risks, to limit leverage and to make crises less frequent and less costly. These objectives remain as valid today as they were 15 years ago.
Yet, discussions about capital regulation are once again moving to the foreground. Some argue that the framework has become overly complex or too demanding, while others question whether it strikes the right balance between fostering resilience and supporting growth. Another perspective points to the heightened risks and uncertainties in the financial system, advocating for stronger safeguards and larger capital buffers. It is vital that these debates are grounded in good evidence.