Banks to get stress test details next week: sources
FRANKFURT/ROME (Reuters) - Europe's banks will be given details of this year's health check of the industry next week, potentially including the capital level needed to pass, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The European Banking Authority (EBA), which is conducting the test of 88 lenders, will publish the economic scenarios that will be used to test banks' resilience on March 18.
By the same date banks will have received a questionnaire on other aspects of the test, and must submit data to their local regulator by around April 13, sources said.
The capital that banks will be allowed to count under the test and the minimum level needed to pass is expected to be given to the banks next week, sources said.
The EBA is aiming to restore confidence in Europe's banks after last year's health check was widely criticized for lack of transparency and credibility.
The local regulator wants to complete the analysis of the German bank data and send it on to the EBA by May 20, one of the sources said.
Germany's Postbank, which was one of the banks that nearly failed the test last year, will not take part in this year's exercise, because it is now an affiliate of Deutsche Bank, financial sources said.
The EBA expects to publish the broad principles of the stress test methodology in April and publish results in June.
(Reporting by Andreas Framke, Stefano Bernabei and Mike Shields; writing by Edward Taylor and Steve Slater; Editing by Will Waterman)