The European Central Bank (ECB) launched the control of the largest banks with the aim of recovering the lending system in the eurozone by eradicating bad banks.
Previous such attempts by other EU services, which had lesser powers, failed in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Some banks passed the "stress test" simulation on paper, but then needed help.
Together with the national services and the European Banking Authority, the ECB will first go through thousands of documents of the 128 largest banks in search of hidden, problematic loans and investments, followed by "stress tests" which they are supposed to establish through simulation in order to how banks behaved in the event of a recession or crisis.
When the results are announced in October, state authorities will be asked to force banks to raise capital by selling shares to investors, limiting dividends or restructuring.
This should help in the long term, but is dangerous in the short term, as forcing banks to temporarily resolve problems could destabilize financial markets or cause losses to investors or even governments.
This will be the largest such process in Europe to solve the problems caused to its banking sector by the world economic crisis and the debt crisis in the EU.
Bonus video:
