Negative Rates: Cost To Europe's Banks Have Risen Ten-Fold Since 2014

How Much Will Negative Rates Cost Europe’s Banks?

How much will the ECB’s new negative interest rate policy cost the euro area banks? That’s the question Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s European Banks Strategy research team set out to answer in a note issued to clients last week.

And while the report was published a week before the ECB’s decision, (published 02 March 2016) it still raises some interesting points. For example, when negative rates were first introduced back in late 2014, the annual cost to banks was around €0.2 billion, but this run rate has risen tenfold to €2 billion today.

Negative Rates Across The Developed World Unprecedented

Moreover, Bank of America’s analysts estimates that a...