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26 July 2012

This week in "Brussels"
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Articles from 19 July 2012 - 26 July 2012

Banking

Libor scandal: Commission proposes EU-wide action to fight rate-fixing
The European Commission has proposed EU-wide rules to tackle this type of market abuse and close any regulatory loopholes.  View Article
Sharon Bowles: Libor scandal - Punishment for banks should be to split up
"Manipulation of Libor and other similar benchmarks is a seismic event in financial markets, which affects the pricing of many other financial instruments."  View Article
ECON Vice Chair Arlene McCarthy MEP: Banks must answer for their manipulation
The more information that comes to light on the extent and gravity of the Libor scandal, the more urgent it is for the EP's ECON committee to call in the banks to answer for their manipulation and regulators to account for their failures, comments McCarthy in her article for Nucleus.  View Article
Bank of England: Further information and correspondence in relation to the BBA Libor Review in 2008
This submission provides a brief commentary and timeline of the events, together with the supporting documents.  View Article
Avinash Persaud: Notes on a scandal - Libor
This column argues that understanding the crisis strengthens the sense of a conspiracy, but weakens the sense of criminality.  View Article
EBF Liikanen Task Force Report: "Possible reform of the structure of the EU banking sector"
In this report, the European Banking Federation assesses the mandate of the European Commission's High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on possible reforms to the structure of the EU banking sector, and puts forward the EBF's views on the need for structural reforms.  View Article
Vienna Initiative adopts mission statement, sets objectives - Plans to discuss cross-border supervisory practices in September
The Steering Committee adopted the Mission Statement of the Vienna Initiative and discussed its two main areas of interest: cross-border bank deleveraging in CESEE, and home-host coordination on cross-border banking activities in CESEE.  View Article
EBA: Updated list of identified Financial Conglomerates
The European Banking Authority has jointly published with EIOPA and ESMA the list of identified Financial Conglomerates, as at 1st July 2012, as required under Article 4(3) of the Financial Conglomerates Directive.  View Article
EBF response: EBA Consultation on draft Guidelines on assessment of suitability of members of management body and key function holders
The European Banking Federation (EBF) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the European Banking Authority (EBA) Consultation Paper on draft Guidelines for assessing the suitability of members of the management body and key function holders of a credit institution (the 'draft Guidelines').  View Article
BIS: Locational and consolidated banking statistics
The Bank for International Settlements published locational and consolidated banking statistics.  View Article
Lords Select Committee: Banking Union a double-edged sword?
A new inquiry into reform of the EU banking sector has been announced today by the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee responsible for looking into economic and financial affairs.  View Article
FSA/Lord Turner: Banking at the crossroads - Where do we go from here?
In his speech, Turner identifies three key drivers of declining trust in the banking system, considers what the essential problem is, and suggests implications for prudential policy, industry structure, conduct supervision and for the management and boards of banks.  View Article
Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards: Request for submissions for the inquiry into the UK banking sector
The Parliamentary Commission welcomes responses to its initial questions. Submissions are requested by 24 August, 2012.  View Article
HM Treasury: Government publishes strategy for reforming payments services
The UK Government has today published a consultation on the future regulation and governance of the payments industry, Mark Hoban, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, has announced.  View Article
Statement by VP Almunia on state aid issues
Almunia summarises recent state aid activity, including the restructuring of the German Landesbanken, and looks at future activity with Spanish banks and Dexia BIL.  View Article
State aid: Commission approves restructuring aid to BayernLB subject to repayment of €5 billion of aid
The European Commission has approved restructuring aid for the German bank BayernLB in the form of a capital injection of €10 billion, a risk shield of €4.8 billion and liquidity guarantees, on condition that BayernLB repays €5 billion of state aid in the next seven years.  View Article

Securities

ESMA publishes ETF guidelines and consults on repo arrangements
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published guidelines on Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and other UCITS issues. These guidelines will apply to national securities markets regulators and UCITS management companies.  View Article
TABB report: 'MiFID II and Fixed Income Price Transparency'
In light of the ongoing review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), this latest research from TABB Group investigates the potential impact of the review's pre-trade transparency proposals on the fixed-income market, its participants and the real economy.   View Article
ECB Governing Council appoints members of the new T2S Board
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) appointed the members of the T2S Board, the new management body for the TARGET2-Securities (T2S) Programme.  View Article
FT: Spain and Italy resume short selling bans
Regulators in Spain and Italy reactivated bans on short selling of equities, in response to increasing market jitters surrounding the fate of two of the eurozone's largest economies.  View Article
Anne-Laure Delatte: The European ban on naked sovereign credit default swaps - A fake good idea
While empirical evidence on the destabilising role of uncovered sovereign CDSs is mounting, this column argues that the EU regulation will have only a limited effect, as a number of inconsistencies create regulatory arbitrage and opportunities to circumvent the ban.  View Article

Insurance

EIOPA publishes report on role of IGSs in winding-up procedures of insolvent insurance undertakings in EU/EEA
The purpose of the report is to summarise the findings of a mapping exercise on the role of the Insurance Guarantee Schemes (IGSs) in the winding-up procedures of insolvent insurance undertakings across the EU/EEA.  View Article
IAIS releases policy paper on Reinsurance and Financial Stability
This policy paper addresses reinsurance-specific concerns and evaluates the reinsurance marketplace. It examines the relationship between reinsurance and financial stability and more particularly whether traditional reinsurance-related activities pose systemic risk.  View Article
Commission approves acquisition of part of French insurance company Gan Eurocourtage by rival Allianz of Germany
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation Allianz's proposed acquisition of a non-life insurance portfolio of Groupama-owned Gan Eurocourtage.   View Article
AILO comments on latest drafts of PRIPS Regulation and IMD2
Revisions to the European Insurance Mediation Directive's proposals to ban commission payments to insurance intermediaries have raised "deep concerns" for the Association of International Life Offices.  View Article
Ernst & Young ITEM Club: Insurers face "perfect storm" over profits
Insurers are facing a perfect storm as a combination of factors will contrive to hit profits for the second successive year, a report released today has warned.  View Article
FT: Insurers eye high-risk assets
Insurers are planning to boost their exposure to high-risk assets over the next year, even though they are generally downbeat about investment opportunities, Goldman Sachs Asset Management has disclosed.  View Article
Insurance Insight: Generali and Allianz among downgraded Italian insurers
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded three Italian insurers in reflection of the Italian sovereign's weakening creditworthiness. Assicurazioni Generali SpA and its subsidiaries' insurance financial strength ratings have been downgraded three notches to Baa1 from A1.  View Article
FT: A look on the bright side of Solvency II
"It's the nature of the introduction of new regulation that people throw up their hands and say 'it is all too difficult'", says Robin Cresswell, managing principal at fixed income specialist Payden & Rygel.  View Article
Insurance Insight: Draft rules offer China's insurers more investment scope
Chinese insurers will be able to double their investments in private equity along with trading financial derivatives at home and abroad, according to Reuters.  View Article

Asset Management

Commission launches consultation on a future framework for investment funds
The Commission has launched an in-depth consultation on issues arising in the area of investment funds. Responses to this wide-ranging consultation are invited by 18 October, 2012.  View Article
IMA response to Kay Review: Asset managers recognise the importance of their role in well-functioning markets
Liz Murrall said that on the need for collective engagement, IMA will consider this in the context of those bodies which already exist in this area.   View Article
NAPF: Pension funds welcome Kay Review
NAPF Chief Executive, Joanne Segars, said NAPF was pleased that Kay said transaction costs and stock lending income should be set out more clearly. "Boardroom pay must also become more transparent and more strongly linked to long-term performance."  View Article
BaFin: Asset encumbrance - What will happen to unsecured bank bonds?
Since the start of the crisis the proportion of asset-backed securities (ABS) has been falling. This article throws more detailed light on how this development will affect the position of creditors holding unsecured claims.  View Article
IPE: Ireland announces details of index-linked, amortising bonds
Ireland's debt management office is to start issuing index-linked and long-dated bonds with a lifetime of up to 35 years, with the amortising bonds designed specifically to appeal to the country's struggling defined benefit schemes.  View Article

Corporate Governance/Accounting

EFRAG: Feedback statement on Revenue from Contracts with Customers
EFRAG published its feedback statement from comment letters and outreach activities on Revenue from Contracts with Customers. This feedback statement describes the main comments that it received, and describes how those comments were considered by EFRAG during its technical discussions.  View Article
EFRAG's draft comment letter on the proposed IASB and IFRS Interpretations Committee Due Process Handbook
EFRAG has issued its Draft Comment Letter on the proposed IFRS Foundation Due Process Handbook. Comments are invited by 5 September, 2012.  View Article
IFAC: IESBA proposes change to Code of Ethics definition of those charged with governance
The IESBA released for public exposure a proposed change to the definition of "those charged with governance" in the IESBA Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (the Code). Comments on the Exposure Draft are requested by October 31, 2012.  View Article
IASB: Public consultation on post-implementation review of IFRS 8
The IASB began the public part of its review of IFRS 8 'Operating Segments' by publishing for comment a Request for Information (RFI) on the effect of implementing the standard. The RFI is open for comment until 16 November, 2012.  View Article
FASB Chairman Seidman: Focus on disclosure framework and private company decision-making framework
At the AICPA National Advanced Accounting and Auditing Technical Symposium in Chicago, FASB Chairman, Leslie F Seidman, focused on two important projects that the FASB has underway that are intended to help the Board recalibrate how it approaches the standard-setting process.  View Article
Public Finance International: Sovereign balance sheets, stranger than fiction
According to Ian Ball, CEO of IFAC, sovereign balance sheets are real, but very rare. Writing for the PFI Blog, he analyses the range of reasons why they are very valuable.  View Article

Financial Services Policy

ECB opinion on the financial transaction tax for the Hungarian authorities
The European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Hungarian Ministry for the National Economy for an opinion on a new draft law introducing a financial transaction tax (the 'FTT Law'). ECB provides its opinion on the financial transaction tax.  View Article
RDR and offshore products – The long arm of the FSA
On the face of it, the FSA has no powers to regulate non-UK firms but, by widening the scope of retail investment products and insisting all advice is explicitly paid for by the client, RDR has effectively outlawed commission payments from offshore providers to UK advisers from the end of this year.   View Article




© Graham Bishop

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