BoE Jenkinson: Strengthening regimes for controlling liquidity risk

24 April 2008

Financial organisations need to develop and apply a systematic policy of internal charging for liquidity risk, Nigel Jenkinson, BoE executive director for financial stability said. “Banks need to ensure that risk decisions made by front office traders price appropriately the liquidity risk generated by new products and business lines, rather than treating it as a ‘free good’ or overhead to be managed centrally by the treasury function.” View

FSA Huertas: Investors will move much more to a ‘do-it-yourself’ model

24 April 2008

The future of the securitisation and the originate and distribute models depend on actions banks and authorities will take, Thomas Huertas, FSA director of the banking sector underlined. “I suspect that investors will move much more to a ‘do-it-yourself’ model and expect much more in the way of due diligence and ongoing information provision from the investment banks that underwrite new securitisation issues.” View

FSA Japan publishes ‘Principles in Financial Services Industry’

24 April 2008

The FSA and financial services industry representatives agreed on the key principles when financial firms conduct their business as well as when the FSA takes supervisory actions. The FSA has presented the concept of an ''optimal combination of rules-based and principles-based supervisory approaches'' as one of the four major pillars of the initiative. View

FT: China slashes tax on share trading

24 April 2008

China slashed the tax on share trading in an effort to encourage investors to return to a stock market that has fallen by nearly half over the past six months. The government will reduce the tax on each share trade from 0.3 per cent to 0.1 per cent. The announcement effectively reversed a decision last May when the government tripled the tax. View

Commission proposes amendments to strengthen Settlement Systems

23 April 2008

The Commission issued a proposal to amend the Settlement Finality Directive and the Financial Collateral Directive. Main changes include the explicit protection of the SFD as regards night-time settlement and linked systems. The proposal also broadens the scope of the protection provided by both directives by including credit claims eligible for the collateralisation of central bank credit operations. View

SEC to issue report on rating agencies in early summer

23 April 2008

“The SEC is already far along in preparing for a second round of rulemaking”, Chairman Christopher Cox said before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking. The Commission is expected to issue rule proposals for public comment on subjects like accountability, transparency, and competition in the credit rating industry in the near future. View

BIS Knight warns against oversimplification of underlying causes of turmoil

23 April 2008

While it is true that the originate-to-distribute model has contributed to the current financial turmoil, it would be wrong to discredit the model itself, Malcolm Knight, General Manager of the BIS said. The differences in performance across firms suggest that it is not the originate-to-distribute model itself that is problematic, he said, but it is the underpinnings of the model that have to be strenghened. View

IMF: Policy lessons from financial market turbulence - Germany

23 April 2008

The recent turbulence has raised questions as to whether many banks, especially the Landesbanken, have viable business models, an IMF survey says. Reverberations from the financial crisis have started to change the country's financial sector. View

EU Japan summit declaration

23 April 2008

The 17th EU-Japan Summit Meeting was held in Tokyo. In a joint press statement, Japan and the EU concluded, among others, to work together to promote stability in financial markets, including through the strengthening of financial systems. View

IPE: IASB may scale back pensions accounting project

23 April 2008

The future of the International Accounting Standards Boards' due process discussion document on pensions accounting is in doubt, following public comments by IASB research director Wayne Upton. If the board is unable to fix the issue of cash-balance type-plans, constituents could see the board limit the project scope to a shortened list of deferral mechanisms and disclosures. View

Survey: Consistent PSD implementation essential

23 April 2008

A study of 22 banks across the EU and EEA showed that less than a third of the banks questioned were in a position to know exactly when the directive will be transposed into national law. The study implies the need for pan-European co-ordination to ensure a consistent PSD roll-out if the November 2009 deadline is to be achieved. View

Treasury and FSA consult on group supervision under Solvency II

22 April 2008

The discussion paper provides a brief summary of possible enhancements that might be included in the Directive proposal. Key focuses are proposals for the creation of colleges of supervisors, and how the group support regime might work in practice. View

Commission report on third countries GAAP equivalence

22 April 2008

The report takes the view that Japanese and United States GAAP both meet the criteria of equivalence to IFRS. Chinese GAAP will continue to be accepted, but since it moved to IFRS for the first time in 2007, more information on its implementation is needed. View

General Regulation of the AMF – amended version

22 April 2008

BIS working paper: The financial turmoil - assessment and policy considerations

22 April 2008

The paper highlights possible mutually re-inforcing steps in three areas, namely accounting, disclosure and risk management, the architecture of prudential regulation, and monetary policy. The unfolding financial turmoil in already threatens to become one of the defining economic moments of the 21st century. View

IAIS responds to Financial Stability Forum report

22 April 2008

Based on an assessment of the findings of a recent survey conducted by the IAIS, the impact of the current financial market turmoil on the insurance sector seems to have been limited to date, so that the insurance sector as a whole remains stable, IAIS says. However, there are still uncertainties over the extent and development of the market turmoil requiring continued vigilance by insurance sector regulators. View

McCreevy: Endless foot-dragging in post-trading structures not acceptable

21 April 2008

Commissioner McCreevy called on all infrastructures to fully respect and apply the Code of Conduct on Clearing and Settlement to show that it can deliver competition. “I do not think I need to remind the industry that the Code is the last chance they have to prove that they are capable and mature enough to provide adequate solutions to the current issues”, he warned. View

Trichet calls for single European post-trading market

21 April 2008

ECB President Trichet warns against the lack of integration in Europe's post-trading markets characterised by fragmentation and high costs. Compared to the US market, the cost gap is particularly large for cross-border transactions, Trichet noted. View

EBF calls for more supervisory cooperation

21 April 2008

European banks’ leaders said the role of CEBS has to be strengthened to achieve more consistency in banking supervisory practices throughout the EU. Furthermore, they urge for further clarification on the role of home and host supervisors, and call for the decision-making capability of the colleges of supervisors in the oversight of cross-border banks. View

European Banks’ overview of financial crisis

21 April 2008

The EBF recommends establishing an EU roadmap for dealing with a cross-border European bank crisis, underlining that co-ordination of efforts at national and European levels is crucial. View

IBfed perspective on financial turmoil

21 April 2008

“Anything other than general and high level recommendations in response to the turmoil at the global level could produce negative unintended consequences for the financial system as a whole”, the International Banking Federation underlines stressing that the sub-prime crisis has affected financial centres to differing degrees around the world. View

FEE supports measures to reduce administrative burdens

21 April 2008

Commenting on the four proposals for fast track measures to reduce administrative burdens in the area of company law and accounting, FEE President Potdevin stated that "these simplification measures are helpful and well targeted. View

FEE study on growing internationalisation of business needs

21 April 2008

The FEE published a study on the legal structure, governance arrangements and operational characteristics of leading accountancy organisations and practices operating on a trans-national basis in Europe. View

EFRAG endorsement status report April

21 April 2008

ABI issues Solvency II Bulletin No 7

21 April 2008

IMF: Resilient Europe faces further test

21 April 2008

Financial market strains, spillovers from the U.S. slowdown, and the global reassessment of risks will adversely affect Europe in 2008, the IMF says in its Regional Economic Outlook. The euro's appreciation and the increase in commodity prices are adding to these troubles. View

McCreevy does not rule out interchange fee

18 April 2008

The Commission’s decision against Mastercard's cross-border MIF "did not conclude that all MIFs are illegal per se”, Commissioner McCreevy underlined. If banks intend to create a new EU debit card player “a possible MIF that is compatible with EU competition law is crucial”, he continued. View

CESR takes steps to strengthen market confidence

18 April 2008

CESR launched its work to address some of the FSF recommendations and the decisions taken by ECOFIN Council in April. CESR will also launch new work on the valuation of assets and market transparency and risk management, and will develop a framework to identify major sources of potential risks in financial markets. View

AMF consults on transactions in securities in takeover bids

18 April 2008

The AMF amendments of  its General Regulation on trading in the securities of a target company in a takeover bid and on transaction reporting during the offer period are the subject of frequent questions from bid participants, such as offerors, targets, or investment services providers. View

EFR warns against regulatory overreaction to financial turmoil

18 April 2008

The EFR supports IIF interim report recommendations and calls for an efficient market-based solution by the Industry. Although the EFR recognizes the need to further strengthen the financial stability framework through enhanced prudential supervision, it warns against regulatory overreaction. View

AMF Regulation and Listed Corporate Newsletter - 2nd quarter 2008

18 April 2008

Issues include articles on the supervision of takeovers and the cross-market working report on securities lending. View

FSA Japan newsletter March

18 April 2008

Topics include articles on the exposure of Japanese deposit-taking institutions to sub-prime-related products and the signing of the IOSCO MoU on the exchange of information. View