European banks 'need €240bn a year in fund-raising'

The analysts, who include Stefan Nedialkov, said 24 European banks – accounting for almost 70pc of the sector's assets – will face an increased need for funds due to the volatility of the bond markets and new Basel III capital regulations.

The banks issued €56bn of long and medium-term funding in January, but investors' appetite for new issuance has fallen in February as concerns over the state of the European economy has grown.

This means that banks may have to offer a higher yield to attract investors in future. Citigroup estimate that the impact of increased funding costs on banks earnings may reach 10pc in a worst-case scenario.

Nonetheless, the analysts said, funding availability is unlikely to be a major issue for most banks before 2012, and the new stable-funding ratio regulations from Basel only appear onerous for a relatively small number of banks. (more)