European banks may soon have to account for govt debt risk

Brussels

THE days of European lenders being allowed to load up on government debt without having to account for risk are numbered, according to Daniele Nouy, the euro area's top bank supervisor.

A regulatory loophole that allows banks to apply a zero risk weight to much of their government debt holdings and avoid any capital charge should be closed, said Ms Nouy, who heads the European Central Bank's oversight arm.

"It was confirmed during the crisis that there are no risk-free assets," Ms Nouy said in a Jan 28 interview in Frankfurt. "So there should be a risk weight, capital requirements for sovereign exposures."

She…