The Financial Time recommends that Germany follows the example of Spain

According to the daily British newspaper the Financial Times despite being the country with the highest number of failing banks Spain has come out as a winner following the publication of the results of the stress tests carried out on 91 European Banks by the European Banking Supervisory Committee. In a recently published leading article The Financial Times pointed out Spanish banks opted for transparency in contrast with the secrecy of German Banks.

The Financial Times explained its position in a article in which it said that the results of the tests were less important than the information provided and as in the case of the United States, whose banks were subject to similar tests last year, it allowed markets access to sufficient information to enable them to form their own opinions.

According to the newspaper this is why the secrecy of German banks surrounding their levels of debt is very damaging.

It went on to say that it was the secrecy surrounding levels of debt which made the banking crisis possible in the first place and is something which in its opinion cannot be allowed to continue.

The Financial Times said that Madrid understood that in order for the economy and banks to get over the crisis it had to clean up the system to get to the heart of the problem. It said that the Spanish government had decided to consolidate building societies and provided a way of recapitalizing the banks as well as unconditionally supporting the stress tests carried out on European financial entities.

It also emphasised that Spanish banks stood out from the other banks included in the tests by actively adopting the position of transparency and thereby demonstrated that leadership in the global financial crisis was not outside the capacity of the EU.