Brussels is proposing to tighten its grip over overseas banks operating in the EU in a tit-for-tat step against the US that will raise costs for big foreign lenders and potentially hurt the City of London after Brexit.
The European Commission will disclose provisions tomorrow that mirror controversial US “intermediate holding company” rules ringfencing foreign bank capital. When those were announced in 2014, the EU complained to Washington of “protectionism” and threatened to retaliate.
If adopted in EU law, the commission proposals would force big US investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to trap additional capital and liquidity in the EU so their subsidiaries can be separately wound up in a crisis by European authorities.