European Banking System: One fifth of EU banks fail stress test - with twenty-five European banks in trouble

Twenty-five European banks have failed stress tests of their finances, the European Banking Authority has announced.

The banks now have nine months to shore up their finances or risk being shut down. No UK banks are included.

The review was based on the banks' financial health at the end of 2013.

Ten of them have taken measures to bolster their balance sheets in the meantime. All the remaining 14 banks are in the eurozone.

The health check was carried out on 123 EU banks by the EBA to determine whether they could withstand another financial crisis.

The list of 14 includes four Italian banks, two Greek banks, two Belgian banks and two Slovenian banks.

The worst affected was Italian bank Monte dei Paschi, which had a capital shortfall of €2.1bn (£1.65bn, $2.6bn).

Read more: BBC News - Twenty-four European banks fail

EU-Economy: George Soros says he's a euro believer, looks to invest in Europe banks

Billionaire investor George Soros, the man made famous for breaking the Bank of England by shorting the pound in 1992, reportedly told a German newspaper over the weekend that he’s a euro believer. The full article at Der Spiegel isn’t available without a subscription, so we turned to Reuters for a translation and breakdown.

“I believe in the euro. Therefore my investment team is looking forward to making [sic] a lot of money soon in Europe by, for example, pumping money in banks which urgently need capital,” Soros reportedly said in the interview, adding that the euro zone needs this type of private investment now.

He said his management team was even looking at Greece, given improving economic conditions, but before doing that they need to be assured that money can be earned on a sustainable basis.

Soros also reiterated his view that efforts by Germany to save the single currency have only made things worse. A sustainable recovery for the region still doesn’t exist, even if markets are far from the turmoil of a couple of years ago. “I fear that the euro zone could experience a long phase of economic stagnation similar to Japan’s in the past 25 years.”

Read more: George Soros says he's a euro believer, looks to invest in Europe banks - The Tell - MarketWatch