Prepare for the worst

Amid a severe health, social and economic crisis, banks again take centre stage on the political agenda. This policy paper explains why decisionmakers are worried about a looming banking crisis, sets out the existing European bank crisis management framework and makes proposals for addressing its shortcomings in readiness for a possibly systemic banking crisis. Instead of taking the supposedly easy way out and bailing out banks again, now is the right time to prepare for the worst in Europe’s bank crisis management framework.