Funding in the dark: EU banks wait on bail-in bond rules

Issuance strategies clouded by uncertainty over MREL subordination and pre-positioning

When the Council of the European Union failed to agree on key reforms to bank resolution rules at a meeting of finance ministers on March 13, European commissioner for financial services Valdis Dombrovskis insisted the differences were largely technical.

“There is no member state opposing this bank reform package; the question is on exact calibrations of individual measures,” he told reporters.

For bank treasurers, however, the technical is fundamental. The council’s dispute revolves around