The European Banking Authority (EBA) published an article on its report on consumer risks [*]. I keep finding it extraordinary that financial regulators have no interest in small and medium-sized enterprises, while they are as weak against the big financial institutions as consumers. It is high time the EBA started paying attention to them too.

Furthermore, it is notable that the EBA does not show any admission that it is precisely its own policies that cause the de-risking described in the announcement and report.

Notes:

[1] According to the EBA has identified payment fraud, indebtedness, and de-risking as the most important issues affecting EU consumers.
[2] In the announcement: “De-risking is the third most relevant issue reported to the EBA, with more consumers facing increased difficulties in opening and retaining payment accounts, access to which is a prerequisite for residents in the EU to be able to participate in the EU economy. This issue is reported to materialise in the form of refused onboarding of new and the offboarding of existing consumers and seems to be affecting mostly specific categories of consumers, i.e., migrants, refugees, the homeless, cross-border workers, and individuals with poor financial histories.“