Isidro Fainé, president of “la Caixa" Banking Foundation, was re-elected as president of the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) at the organisation's 28th General Assembly, held in Paris.

We welcome both the decision to update the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP) Guidelines and the overarching objectives to increase convergence of practices across the EU and to align with other relevant EBA Guidelines.

ESBG also calls for a proportionate implementation of the Basel III framework in the EU banking system to ensure that Europe’s diversified banking sector continues to foster economic growth.

BRUSSELS, 2 September 2021 – The European Credit Sector Associations (ECSAs), submitted joint feedback on 30 August to the European Commission’s initiative for an EU digital ID scheme for online transactions across the Member States.

BRUSSELS, 20 July 2021 – The European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG) welcomes the ambitious AML-CFT package announced today by the European Commission.

Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) have been hard hit by the ongoing COVID pandemic. This is especially the case in high employment sectors, such as tourism, hospitality, and leisure.

BRUSSELS, 15 July 2021 – ESBG welcomes the decision of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) to launch the investigation phase of the digital euro project as announced by the Eurosystem. The investigation phase will last 24 months and will aim at addressing key issues concerning design and distribution.

BRUSSELS, 6 July 2021 – ESBG submitted its response to the European Commission’s (EC) public consultation on Instant Payments on 23 June. The association representing over 800 savings and retail banks fully supports efforts to increase the uptake of instant payments and shares the view that SCT Inst scheme could facilitate stronger and more integrated homegrown pan-EU payment solutions.

Brussels, 1 July - Government Savings Bank (GSB), WSBI’s member in Thailand, received the prestigious Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards (APEA) 2021 for ‘Corporate Excellence’ in the category of financial business on a virtual ceremony on 30 June.

The European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG) welcomes the intention to remove fragmentation and to build a harmonised legal framework across Europe, recognising the role of Member States as providers of the European Digital Identity Wallet.