ECB warns of possible penalty for 20 banks

The European Central Bank (ECB) has warned that it will impose fines on 20 banks if they fail to eliminate deficiencies in climate change risk management, Bloomberg news agency reports on Wednesday.

Referring to information sources familiar with this situation, “Bloomberg” writes that the ECB has sent letters to the banks and set individual deadlines for them to eliminate the indicated problems. The fines provided by the ECB can reach 5% of the bank’s daily average revenue.

“Bloomberg” adds that the severity of the violations observed by the ECB varies from bank to bank, and it is unlikely that all of them will be fined.

The ECB has determined that several banks have not complied with the interim deadline set in March of last year for the elimination of deficiencies.

The ECB directly supervises 109 banks in the euro area.

In 2020, the ECB published guidelines for banks regarding climate risk management. They also apply to those active portfolios of these banks related to carbon dioxide emissions.