The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its detailed annual work programme for 2017, describing the specific activities and tasks of the Authority for the coming year, as well as a multiannual work programme, highlighting the key strategic areas of work in the coming years (from 2017 to 2020).

As a researcher, I am interested in initiatives that allow me to study banks, so more data is better. Unfortunately, the EBA appears to have made a bit of a U-turn.

Last year the work programme looked ambitious and promising. It revealed a solid commitment to disclose bank-by-bank data:

Wow! This looked as if the EBA wanted to go the way of the Chicago Federal reserve, which discloses very detailed bank data, for free (see the site here).

Today´s published work programme scales back these ambitions significantly:

The output section is clear to me: Im Westen nichts Neues! The item ¨Disclosure of data.¨ has been quietly ushered out.

In a time when one would expect an authority to stand up for transparency, the EBA has caved in to pressure from European banks, and their supervisors, to keep the public less informed.

This is depressing!