High time to tell European banks: No dividends

In October 2014, the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Central Bank did a comprehensive assessment of the balance sheets of the largest 123 banks in the Eurozone. They calculated a capital shortfall of €25 billion across all banks based on losses in adverse stress scenarios. Banks were required to hand in plans on how to address these shortfalls within a six - to nine - months window. Some banks took action and raised equity through rights issues, sometimes with substantial involvement of the government such as in the U.K. Mostly, however, banks improved their regulatory capital ratios by reducing holdings of assets deemed risky under the capital standards.

Steffen, Sascha, Viral V. Acharya und Diane Pierret (2016), High time to tell European banks: No dividends,