The European lawmakers adopted the CRR relief in a 502-169 vote with 17 abstentions late on Thursday.
"Plenary approved the 'quick fix' to the capital requirement regulation (CRR) to temporarily ensure favourable conditions for banks. This will support credit flows to companies and households and absorb losses, mitigating the economic consequences of the COVID-19 lock-down", the statement read.
Under the new regulations, banks will be allowed to increase their loan amounts, as the application for the leverage ratio buffer will be deferred until January 2023. Meanwhile, full-time employees and pensioners will be eligible for more beneficial loan conditions.
"Taking into account the extraordinary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the extreme levels of volatility in the financial markets, MEPs agreed to introduce a temporary prudential filter to calculate unrealised losses on banks' holdings of public debt", the statement added.
The new regulations, already agreed with the European Council, will come into effect once published in the Official Journal of the EU, according to the press release.
One-quarter of the global COVID-19 cases have been reported on the European continent. On Thursday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control announced that 2.2 million cases of the disease have been reported in the EU, countries of the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom.
