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22 May 2008

This week in "Brussels"



European Finance Forum

 

Wednesday, 11 June 2008, 10.00 – 13.00 hours, Brussels

Confirmed Speakers:

Wolf Klinz, MEP; Niall Bohan, European Commission;

Garces Tolon, Cabinet Kuneva; Valerie Bros, Perm Rep France

Topics to include:

Latest developments on UCITS, Retail Financial Services, French Presidency Programme

 

*******

 

CEBS consults on options and discretions in the CRD

22 May 2008

The consultation paper sets out CEBS’s preliminary proposals on the future treatment of options and national discretions. A public hearing will take place on 17 June 2008. View

FT: Top banks call for relaxed writedown rules

22 May 2008

Leading banks have stepped up pressure to relax controversial accounting rules with a new plan aimed at breaking the “downward spiral” of huge writedowns, emergency fundraisings and fire-sales of assets. View

Former top politicians call for ‘European Crisis Committee’

22 May 2008

This crisis shows that the financial market is not capable of self-regulation, a group of former premiers and finance ministers say, and underline a ‘huge ethical issue’ as free markets cannot ignore social morals. View

IASB issues amendments to IFRS 1 and IAS 27

22 May 2008

The IASB issued amendments to IFRSs for determining the cost of an investment in the separate financial statements. View

IASB concludes first annual improvements project

22 May 2008

The IASB issued a collection of amendments to IFRSs on accounting changes for presentation, recognition or measurement purposes and on terminology or editorial changes. View

BIS: OTC derivatives market activity in the second half of 2007

22 May 2008

The BIS has released its semi-annual statistics on positions in the global OTC derivatives market for end-December 2007. View

Plenary Meeting 19-22 May

22 May 2008

Parliament adopted the report on a simplified business environment for companies in the areas of company law, accounting and auditing, and a report on the EU consumer policy strategy 2007-2013. View

CESR protocol on MiFID Article 41 suspensions and removals of financial instruments from trading

21 May 2008

The protocol ensures effective co-operation between Competent Authorities with respect to their obligations under Article 41 of MiFID on the suspension and removal of instruments from trading. View

CESR: Use of the criteria to determine liquid shares

21 May 2008

CESR issued a document that summarizes the use of the criteria defined in Article 22 of the Commission Regulation to determine liquid shares. View

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS in dark liquidity pact

21 May 2008

Wall Street banks have agreed a series of bi-lateral agreements that will allow their US clients to access each bank's dark liquidity pools. View

FOMC concerned that recovery in markets could prove fragile

21 May 2008

The FOMC emphasized that financial markets remained under considerable stress. It stressed that it could take some time for the financial system to return to a more normal footing. View

IMF still sees continued serious risks to global financial stability

20 May 2008

Despite some signs of normalization in global credit markets, the IMF warned that policymakers need to avoid complacency and prepare for further pressures. View

EP adopted EU consumer policy strategy

20 May 2008

Parliament adopted a report on EU consumer policy strategy. MEPs call on the Commission to carefully assess the issue of consumer redress and extensive research should be carried out. View

ECB final migration to TARGET2

20 May 2008

With the third migration, TARGET2 has now fully replaced the decentralised technical platforms. View

AMF instruction on notification of major holdings

20 May 2008

The French AMF issued Instruction 2008-02 on the notification of major holdings. View

La Tribune: Something New on the Audit Front

20 May 2008

One of the ‘Big Four’ global networks announced the merger of its European operations and the creation of an integrated firm and is paving the way for a radical reduction in geographical fragmentation. View

CESR consults on guidance on Market Abuse Directive

20 May 2008

CESR issued its guidance on insiders lists and suspicious transaction reporting as part of a forthcoming wider consultation on the level 3 of the Market Abuse Directive. View

CEPR Buiter warns central banks to take over private sector default risk

20 May 2008

Before the end of the current crisis, the Fed, the ECB and the Bank of England are likely to hold significant amounts of illiquid and possibly dodgy assets on their balance sheets, Buiter argues. View

EFRAG endorsement status report May 2008

20 May 2008

EFRAG has updated the endorsement status report. It provides a schedule of forthcoming endorsements and an overview of already endorsed documents. View

CESR new version of FAQ on Prospectuses

20 May 2008

CESR published new common positions agreed by CESR Members on frequently asked questions regarding Prospectuses. View

IPE: Half of Germans support mandatory second pillar

19 May 2008

Only half of employees are making use of the opportunity to contribute to their own occupational pension. One in four bosses are said to actively offer retirement provision and only half of the companies regularly inform their staff about them.  View

CESR recommends Canadian and South Korean GAAPs as equivalent

19 May 2008

CESR proposes that Canadian and South Korean GAAPs be accepted in the EU until the end of 2011. CESR does not make any proposals in this advice regarding Indian GAAP as it is still in the process of obtaining information. View

CESR report on Credit Rating Agencies

19 May 2008

CESR urges the Commission to form in very short term an international CRAs standard setting and monitoring body. In case of lacking support or failure supervisory authorities should step in.   View

FSA Japan - First progress report on better regulation

19 May 2008

The report describes the progress made in the period between July 2007 and April 2008. It describes the four pillars the initiative is based upon, and outlines five areas the work focuses on. View

ECON meeting 19 May

19 May 2008

ECON adopted the report on transparency of institutional investors prepared by rapporteur Sharon Bowles. View

JURI meeting 19 May

19 May 2008

Commissioner McCreevy set out the Commission’s initiatives for 2008 in the area of company law, accounting and auditing and announced several proposals the Commission will come forward with. View

EFRAG final advice on IAS 32 and IAS 1

16 May 2008

EFRAG completed its due process and recommends the adoption of the amendments to IAS 32 and IAS 1. View

FSA Japan abolished expiration dates of tax-free treatments of interest income

16 May 2008

The FSA believes that these abolitions will further contribute to ensuring the stability of transactions in the Japan's offshore market and bond transactions under re-purchase agreements between domestic and foreign financial institutions. View

IMF Strauss-Kahn - worst news behind us

16 May 2008

While the worst of the financial market crisis itself was probably over, the impact on the real economy would continue at least for the rest of the year, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. View

ECB Trichet: Augment transparency and reduce pro-cyclicality as broad lines of actions

16 May 2008

Recent turbulences were the first “real magnitude” stress-test of today’s global financial system, ECB President Trichet said and underlined the need for global responses. View

FT: Brussels boosts pension regime plans

16 May 2008

A obstacle to the launch of new UK personal pension accounts has been removed by the Commission. Lawyers had feared that under EU consumer protection directives, automatic enrolment into contract-based group personal pensions would be illegal. View

Fed Bernanke calls for better risk-management practices in financial institutions

16 May 2008

The Federal Reserve considers additional or revised supervisory guidance regarding various aspects of risk management, including the need for an enterprise-wide perspective when assessing risk, Bernanke said. View

FSA Sants calls for review of compensation structures

16 May 2008

“Asymmetrical structures, where traders do not bear the consequences of losses, is a risk to shareholders”, FSA Chief Executive Hector Sants said, recommending deferred compensation with claw back as a possible solution. View

Six bid for European covered bond platform

16 May 2008

Six companies are bidding to provide a new electronic trading platform for European covered bonds according to a Bloomberg report. View

BIS Knight: Key policy challenge is greater co-ordination of financial regulation and supervision

16 May 2008

The emergence of the Euro can be characterised by the growing need for co-operation among currency zones, as highlighted by the recent financial market turmoil, Malcolm Knight said. View

BIS: More needs to be done to reduce foreign exchange settlement risk

16 May 2008

The BIS has called on individual institutions to ensure risk controls and incentives that are in place are compatible with settlement services. Industry groups should continue to develop services for settling FX trades that will reduce risks.  View

CESR/CEBS joint consultation paper on commodities

15 May 2008

CESR and CEBS jointly consult on technical advice to the Commission on several articles of the MiFID and the Capital Adequacy Directive. The paper provides an overview over the EU commodity derivatives markets and analyses possible failures. View

Summary of comments on EP seminar on Financial Crisis

13 May 2008

EP ALDE and the PSE goups organised a joint seminar on possible systemic risks resulting from the financial crisis reflecting on the ECON own-initiative report on the "Lamfalussy follow-up".  View

 

 

2 June 2008

Commission public hearing on 'Insurance Guarantee Schemes'

Speakers and panellists will participate from the European Parliament, CEIOPS, supervisory authorities, guarantee scheme operators, OXERA, the insurance and banking industry, FIN-USE, Finance Ministries and the Commission. Deadline for registrations is 16 May.

Programme, On-line registration

 

17 June 2008

CEBS hearing on options and discretions in the CRD

 

17-18 June 2008

FESE Convention

The 12th FESE Convention in Stockholm will focus on the most topical market and policy developments affecting the exchange industry and financial services institutions. Issues include the latest developments in integration of the EU-US financial services markets, a special focus on MiFID implementation, clearing and settlement of securities, financial stability in global capital markets, and trading and risk management in global derivatives markets.

Programme, registration

 

7 July 2008

Public hearing on the CESR and CEBS joint consultation paper on commodities

The Hearing will be organised at CEBS’s premises in London.

 

15 July 2008

Commission public hearing on "substitute" retail investment products

 

11-12 September 2008

Eurofi Conference 2008

The Conference on “EU priorities and proposals of the financial services industry for the Ecofin Council” will take place in Nice, prior to the informal ECOFIN Council session. Speakers include: Joaquin Alunmia, Charlie McCreevy, Wolf Klinz, Michel Pébereau, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Thomas Steffen, Eddy Weymeersch, Pervenche Berès, Magdalena Kuneva, Christine Lagarde, Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, and many others.

Programme, Further information

 



© Graham Bishop


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