On the occasion of the Ecofin meeting, the European Banking Federation reiterated its call for increased cooperation and further coordinated action among Member States in order to help settle financial markets and calm the current financial crisis.

"We need to see properly coordinated action from European governments but also at global level, if we are to restore confidence in financial markets, declared Guido Ravoet, Secretary General of the EBF. We welcome the Declaration of Heads of States and Governments to support systemic financial institutions, which we see as a concrete first step towards further coordination, but more is needed."

The EBF warns against alarmist public statements which have an immediate impact on investors' panic and concur to worsen up the crisis, weakening the effects of the concerted decisions and safeguarding actions taken by European public bodies and national governments."

The EBF stresses that due to markets' behaviours, the quotations of shares in banks have continued to fall significantly below their intrinsic value. They are no longer decently correlated with the net present value of future cash flows, i.e. the capital and interest flow due by creditworthy borrowers.

In order to improve the financial reporting, a concrete measure must ensure a better correlation between the information reported to investors and the fundamental/economic value of banks' assets. In this respect the EBF welcomes the conclusions of the ECOFIN Council which supports the flexibility in the application of mark to market valuation under IFRS, urges supervisors and auditors to apply the newly issued IASB guidance and recognizes the need to resolve the issue of reclassification very quickly.

European banks also approve of the Ecofin decision on targeted policy measures to help bolster public confidence in the banking system. As regards Deposit Guarantee Schemes in particular, the EBF recognises the need for their reinforcement and for further convergence at European level.