ECB Governing Council Nagel: European Union banking regulators must boldly simplify rules

European authorities should show courage in their efforts to reduce the regulatory burden on banks without compromising their resilience, according to a senior official working to simplify the regulatory framework. "We should be bold on this path," said Mr. Nagel, the European Central Bank's governing body. "Simplification is possible - just the right amount of complexity, as simple as possible." Mr. Nagel is a member of an ECB working group studying ways to reduce the complexity of banking rules. He said this should not amount to deregulation. European officials are seeking to streamline a raft of regulations issued by the European Union after the 2008 financial crisis to avoid putting European banks at a disadvantage against rivals in the US, which is relaxing some of its own rules.