ECB's de Guindos: Low-for-longer interest rate environment to weigh on bank profitability

Speaking at a conference in Frankfurt on Monday, European Central Bank (ECB) Vice President Luis de Guindos argued that one of the most significant vulnerabilities of euro area banks was their weak profitability prospects.

"The recent softening of the macroeconomic growth outlook and the associated low-for-longer interest rate environment are likely to weigh further on their profitability prospects," de Guindos explained, per Reuters.

These comments were largely ignored by the market participants and the EUR/USD pair was last seen trading at 1.1065, adding 0.13% on a daily basis.