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06 December 2018

This week in "Brussels"
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Articles from 29 November 2018 - 06 December 2018

Banking Union

Main results - Economic and Financial Affairs Council
The Council endorsed the political agreement reached with the EP on a package of risk reduction measures in the banking sector and adopted an action plan to better tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. Ministers also had a policy debate on an interim solution to tax digital services.  View Article
Banking Union: Council endorses package of measures to reduce risk
The Council endorsed the agreement achieved between the presidency and the Parliament on key measures of a comprehensive legislative package aimed at reducing risks in the EU banking sector.  View Article
AFME says more work required to complete Banking Union
Michael Lever, Head of Prudential Regulation, commented the ECOFIN meeting of finance ministers and the announcement that a political agreement has been reached on the Risk Reduction Measures (RRM) package.  View Article
ECB: Euro area financial stability environment has become more challenging
The euro area financial stability environment has become more challenging since May, the latest Financial Stability Review of the ECB says. On the positive side, a growing economy and improved banking sector resilience have continued to support the financial stability environment in the euro area.   View Article
EBA publishes final Guidelines on the exemption from the fall back mechanism under the RTS on SCA and CSC
The EBA published its final Guidelines on the conditions that account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) must meet in order to be exempted from the obligation to implement the fallback mechanism under the Regulation (EU) 2018/389 on strong customer authentication and common and secure communication (RTS on SCA&CSC).   View Article
Bloomberg: ECB's Nouy says EU is repeating crisis mistakes in capital rules
The European Union’s overhaul of bank capital rules show it’s forgetting some of the lessons of the financial crisis, according to Daniele Nouy, head of the European Central Bank’s supervisory arm.  View Article
EBA provides overview of Competent Authorities implementation and transposition of the CRD IV package
The EBA updated all the information disclosed by EU Competent Authorities according to its ITS on supervisory disclosure. This information provides an overview of the implementation and transposition of the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV) and Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) across the EU.   View Article
ECB adopts new capital key
Five-yearly adjustment based on population and GDP data from European Commission. 16 national central banks to have higher share, 12 lower share. No change in system of rotating voting rights.  View Article
EBF: Collective Redress: Proposal on representative actions - joint business statement
Business community acknowledges and welcomes the efforts made in both the draft report and the amendments under discussion to bring legal clarity to some of the elements of the proposal on representative actions.   View Article
BIS: International supervisory community meets to discuss challenges ahead for global bank supervision and regulation
Some 300 central bankers and banking supervisors representing more than 80 jurisdictions met in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to discuss a range of policy and supervisory topics. Events included a meeting of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the 20th International Conference of Banking Supervisors (ICBS).  View Article
UK Finance: Banking industry to fund new alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme for larger SMEs
Banking and finance industry agrees a series of voluntary proposals to deliver stronger, fairer outcomes for more SME customers including.  View Article
EBF: Developing more effective directors in a global banking context
Building on the success of INSEAD’s International Directors Programme, the new International Directors Banking Programme is designed to support international bank directors and senior executives in navigating this most challenging environment.  View Article
ECB goes live with pan-European instant payments
The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched an innovative pan-European service for settling electronic payments instantly. TARGET instant payment settlement (TIPS) uses central bank money to settle payments individually in less than 10 seconds.   View Article
EPC: 2018 payment threats and fraud trends report
To contribute to creating awareness on payment threats and fraud trends, and to help payment stakeholders decide on possible actions, the EPC has published the 2018 Payment Threat and Fraud Trends Report.  View Article
EPC: Extension of the geographical scope of SEPA schemes in March 2019
As of 1 March 2019, the Principality of Andorra and the Vatican City State / the Holy See will be part of the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) schemes.   View Article
BIS: Financial instability: can Big Data help connect the dots?
Financial stability is a multi-faceted concept and a moving target in the flow of financial innovation. Perhaps this makes embracing Big Data a necessity. But the promise of Big Data for financial stability hinges on the analytical capabilities and judgment which are applied to the wave of new data.  View Article
BIS: Cyber-resilience: range of practices report issued by the Basel Committee
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published the report Cyber-resilience: range of practices. It identifies, describes and compares the range of observed bank, regulatory and supervisory cyber-resilience practices across jurisdictions.  View Article
BIS: Gross capital flows by banks, corporates and sovereigns
Authors construct a new data set, in which they break down gross capital flows by sector (banks, corporates and sovereigns). Using this data set, they show that the properties and drivers of capital flows vary considerably across sectors, instruments and country groups.  View Article
EBF endorses UN Responsible Banking Principles initiative
The European Banking Federation is endorsing the initiative for Principles for Responsible Banking, presented by UNEP FI, the Finance Initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme, and has committed itself to promote this initiative in the banking sector in Europe.  View Article
EBF: The impact of digitalisation on employment in Banking sector
The EBF’s Banking Committee on European Social Affairs (BCESA) signed the new “Joint Declaration on the impact of digitalisation on employment”. The new declaration addresses the effects on employment of digitalisation and automation processes in the banking sector.  View Article

Capital Markets Union

Capital markets union: Council agrees stance on supervision framework for clearing houses
EU member states reached a compromise position on how EU and third country clearing houses should be supervised in the future, taking in particular account of the effects of Brexit on the European financial system.  View Article
ESAs propose to amend bilateral margin requirements to assist Brexit preparations for OTC derivative contracts
ESAs published a final report with RTS proposing to amend the Commission Delegated Regulation on the risk mitigation techniques for OTC derivatives not cleared by a CCP under EMIR.  View Article
ESMA sees rising market nervousness and sensitivity linked to Brexit risks
ESMA issued the latest iteration of its Risk Dashboard covering risks in the EU’s securities markets for Q3 2018. ESMA’s overall risk assessment remains unchanged from Q2 2018 at high levels.   View Article
ESMA registers A.M. Best (EU) Rating Services B.V. as credit rating agency
ESMA, the EU’s direct supervisor of credit rating agencies, has registered today A.M. Best (EU) Rating Services B.V. as a CRA under the CRA Regulation.   View Article
PCS: Regulatory wobbles in the introduction of the new securitisation regime
Although PCS remains optimistic about the new STS regime, the regulatory wobbles are inauspicious. PCS fears that this may not be the last of such wobbles and it strongly urges European authorities reflect deeply on the wisdom of any further shocks to the securitisation market.  View Article
ESAs publish statement clarifying securitisation disclosure requirements and consolidated application of securitisation rules
The ESAs have published a statement in response to industry concerns relating to severe operational challenges both in meeting the transitional provisions of the Securitisation Regulation disclosure requirements, as well as in complying with EU requirements .  View Article
EPRS: Enabling SMEs’ access to capital markets
The Commission has proposed adopting a regulation to address the administrative burden placed on SMEs when listing or issuing equity and bonds, with the aim to increase liquidity on SME growth markets.   View Article
ECB publishes the cyber resilience oversight expectations
The ECB publishes the final cyber resilience oversight expectations for financial market infrastructures (FMIs). Cyber resilience is an important aspect of FMIs’ operational resilience and is thus also a factor affecting the overall resilience of the financial system and the broader economy.  View Article
ESMA reports on annual market share of credit rating agencies
ESMA has published its annual market share calculation for EU registered credit rating agencies.  View Article
ESMA appoints new Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group
The selected individuals begin a 2½ year term on 1 January 2019 and will replace the group whose mandate expires on 31 December 2018.  View Article

Insurance

Insurance Europe: Trade bodies raise concerns on European Commission collective actions proposals
Insurance Europe has — along with more than a dozen other business organisations — signed a joint statement that raises concerns about the European Commission’s collective actions proposals.   View Article
Insurance Europe: Timid 2018 Solvency II review has missed opportunity for progress on CMU
Olav Jones, deputy director general of Insurance Europe, comments the European Commission’s update on the progress of its Capital Markets Union project.  View Article

Asset Management

EFAMA welcomes the vote of the EP’s Economic and Monetary Affairs committee amending the proposal on cross-border distribution of funds
The Committee’s vote confirmed important amendments to the Commission’s original proposal, i.e. extending the “premarketing” definition to established EU AIFs and removing the numerical thresholds conditioning the de-notification of funds from host jurisdictions.   View Article
EFAMA: Industry automation rates for cross-border fund orders reached 89.4%
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), in cooperation with SWIFT, published a new report about the evolution of automation and standardisation rates of fund orders received by transfer agents (TAs) in the cross-border fund distribution centres of Luxembourg and Ireland during the first half of 2018.   View Article
Invest Europe: Innovation boosts Europe's lead as global investment destination
Europe’s attractiveness as an investment destination is on the rise compared to 2017, as the majority of global investors are more likely to invest in both the EU and the UK after Brexit, according to new survey findings.  View Article
Investment & Pensions Europe: ‘ESG will not happen’ if Solvency II comes to pension funds: Leppälä
The European Commission’s sustainability goals risk not being achieved if EU financial regulation restricts pension fund investment in risky assets, the CEO of Europe’s occupational pension fund association has suggested.  View Article
PLSA comments on pension dashboard
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has commented on the launch of Government consultation on the Pension Dashboard aiming to put millions of savers’ pension facts and figures at their fingertips.  View Article

Corporate Governance/Accounting

EFRAG´s technical advice to the EC on IFRS 9
EFRAG publishes its response to the request for technical advice from the EC on the accounting for equity instruments from a long-term investment perspective.  View Article
Accountancy Europe: Enhancing access to cross-border services
Accountancy Europe has published its factsheet on Proportionality Test Directive (the Directive 2018/958/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on a proportionality test before adoption of new regulation of professions).  View Article
IVSC sets up new board tasked with advancing global standards for financial instrument valuation
The Financial Instruments Valuation Standards Board brings together valuation leaders from across the financial world to develop common protocols which will underpin valuation in this burgeoning and international asset class.  View Article
ACCA responds to concerns on auditing standards for smaller and less-complex entities
As pressure grows to address auditing standards challenges to the audits of smaller and less-complex entities, ACCA’s Thinking Small First report reveals alternative ways to tackle the issue, without compromising on audit rigour.  View Article
IASB's Liikanen: Future of corporate reporting in a digital and sustainable economy
IFRS Foundation Trustees Chair Erkki Liikanen keynote speech focused on whether the EU legislative framework for corporate reporting needs to be adapted to better serve the capital markets and the EU economy.  View Article
FRC's Gay Huey Evans: International corporate governance trends
Gay Huey Evans, FRC Deputy Chair, spoke on various aspects of corporate governance including international trends on boards in the UK, corporate culture and climate reporting.   View Article
ICAEW: How to audit the cloud
ICAEW publication seeks to provide internal audit functions with important guidance on the work they should carry out in relevant key issues that include cloud security, customer services, supplier management and legal and regulatory compliance.  View Article
Audit&Risk: AIM companies should woo investors with improved corporate governance
Companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) have made significant improvements in corporate governance disclosure since a new rule change came into effect in September 2018, but there is still room for improvement, according to accountants UHY Hacker Young and the QCA.  View Article
Audit&Risk: Self-service audit analytics
Despite the fact that data analytics and Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAAT) have been part of auditing for nearly 30 years, many organisations are still struggling with the implementation of effective data analytics to enhance internal audit quality and effectiveness.  View Article
ACCA: Helping start-ups to scale-up - converting vision into strategy and governance
EU experts said governance, management, finance and enabling ecosystems are crucial interconnected success factors for companies seeking to scale-up at recent joint ACCA, Barclays, ecoDa and SMEunited event in Brussels.  View Article
HLS Forum: Common ownership - Do institutional investors really promote anti-competitive behavior?
ICGN Policy Director George S. Dallas warns that remedies currently on the table to offset the potential ills of common ownership would challenge fundamental shareholder rights that are fundamental to good stewardship.  View Article

Anti-Money Laundering

Money laundering: Council adopts conclusions on an action plan for enhanced monitoring
The Council adopted conclusions on an action plan to better tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.  View Article
European Parliament: Improved access to financial information to curb serious crime
New rules improving law enforcement authorities’ access to financial information to investigate serious crimes or terrorism were approved by Civil Liberties Committee.  View Article

Financial Services Policy

IFAC: New global education proposals enhance accountancy profession's technology and skepticism skills
The IAESB released for public comment proposed changes to International Education Standards (IESs) on initial and continuing professional development to address information and communications technologies and professional skepticism skills.  View Article

Economic

Eurogroup report to Leaders on EMU deepening
The Eurogroup agreed on a comprehensive package to further strengthen EMU.   View Article
VoxEU: A more stable EMU does not require a central fiscal capacity
This column, part of the Vox debate on euro area reform, argues that the potential stability benefits of a central fiscal capacity can be achieved through stronger financial market risk sharing and more effective use of fiscal stabilisers, without any additional fiscal risk sharing.  View Article
G20 Leaders’ declaration: Building consensus for fair and sustainable development
At their meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, G20 leaders adopted a declaration focusing on the future of work, infrastructure for development, a sustainable food future and a gender mainstreaming strategy across the G20 agenda.  View Article
Bank of France’s Villeroy de Galhau: What are the economic prospects for the euro area?
Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that the euro is one of the solutions to the challenges the euro-area faces, and urged Italy to follow the European Union’s budget rules.  View Article
Bruegel:The international role of the euro
The authors assess whether the euro area should pursue a greater international role for the euro, as outlined by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, and how it might go about doing so.  View Article
Provisional agreement reached on EU budget for 2019
The Austrian presidency and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the EU budget for 2019.  View Article
Eurogroup Statement on the Draft Budgetary Plans for 2019
The Eurogroup welcomed that all 19 Member States have submitted Draft Budgetary Plans (DBPs) for 2019. Greece is part of this exercise for the first time, following the end of the macro-economic adjustment programme.  View Article
ACCA: Governments must redesign the tax system to support the fight against climate change
In a report – Tax as a force for good: Rebalancing our tax systems to support a global economy fit for the future - ACCA calls on governments to rethink the design of the tax system holistically.   View Article
ECA: VAT reimbursement in cohesion spending is problematic
The reimbursement of VAT, an important cost element in EU cohesion spending, is prone to error and does not always represent the best use of EU funds, according to a rapid case review by the ECA.   View Article
November 2018: Economic Sentiment broadly stable in the euro area, down in the EU
In November, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) remained broadly stable in the euro area (-0.2 points to 109.5), while it decreased in the EU (by 0.8 points to 109.6).  View Article
Volume of retail trade up by 0.3% in euro area
In October 2018 compared with September 2018, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade increased by 0.3% in the euro area (EA19) and by 0.1% in the EU28, according to estimates from Eurostat.  View Article


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