Follow Us

Follow us on Twitter  Follow us on LinkedIn
 
Home>
Print Page Save to My Library <Next Article  Previous Article>
02 December 2010

This week in "Brussels"
Jump directly to
Financial Services Policy Banking Securities
Insurance Asset Management Corporate Governance/Accounting
Financial Services Month in Brussels - Report Edited Minutes of Key Legislative Bodies Brief Opinions/Commentaries
Financial Stability - Policy Analysis Best of Media About this email

Articles from 25 November 2010 - 02 December 2010

Financial Services Policy

European Council President Van Rompuy will submit a text on limited Treaty changes reflecting the agreed European Stability Mechanism
Van Rompuy stressed that in view of markets' developments, it was important to clarify rapidly the role of the private sector in the mechanism. The framework will be fully in line with the IMF approach.  View Article
Commissioner Olli Rehn: Reducing systemic risk in the financial system
Speaking at the AFME conference, he stressed that no EU sovereign has defaulted on its debt. Instead, the EU Member States have put up massive resources to back up any Member State facing liquidity problems.   View Article
Statement by the Eurogroup on the European Stability Mechanism
The ESM will reinforce economic governance, aiming at an effective and rigorous economic surveillance, which will focus on prevention and will substantially reduce the probability of a crisis arising in the future.  View Article
Joint statement of Commissioner Rehn and IMF Strauss-Kahn on Ireland
They stressed that the programme shows the authorities' determination to reorganise the banking sector while deleveraging the banks and injecting fresh capital into them. The programme will also strengthen regulation and supervision.  View Article
Eurogroup and ECOFIN Ministers agreed to grant financial assistance to Ireland
The financial package of the programme will cover financing needs up to €85 billion, including €10 billion for immediate recapitalisation measures, €25 billion on a contingency basis for banking system supports and €50 billion covering budget financing needs.  View Article
ECON committee: Trichet told MEPs to fix the economic governance package
Trichet spelled out his concerns regarding the Commission's proposals, saying that the preventative arm of the S&G pact lacked detail, and that the planned sanctions could be evaded too easily by invoking exceptional circumstances.  View Article
Commission consults on Packaged Retail Investment Products
The consultation outlines possible measures for improving the transparency and comparability of investment products and ensuring that effective rules always govern the sales of the products.  View Article
ECON committee: Almunia presented the state of play and priorities of competition policy
The EC has authorised aid for over €4,500 bn – almost 39% of EU GDP – since the beginning of the crisis. Almunia announced that, market conditions permitting, the EC should return to the normal State aid régime on January 1st, 2012.  View Article
Commission prolongs crisis framework with stricter conditions
The EC has agreed to prolong into 2011 its state aid crisis framework subject to modified conditions to continue with a gradual phasing-out. Every bank requiring state support in the form of capital or impaired asset measures will have to submit a restructuring plan.  View Article
State aid: Scoreboard shows continued trend towards less and better-targeted aid despite crisis-related spike
To minimise the impact of the tightening in credit conditions, Member States also granted aid to the real economy under the Temporary Framework adopted by the Commission at the end of 2008. The aid consisted mostly of a subsidy of up to 500,000 per company.  View Article
FAQ on the European Stability Mechanism
This new framework, which includes in particular a stronger focus on debt sustainability, will be set up in the Euro Area as of mid-2013.   View Article

Banking

BCBS releases results of December Meeting
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision agreed on the details of the Basel III rules text, which includes global regulatory standards on capital adequacy and liquidity.  View Article
Joint AFME and ISDA response to European Commission Consultation on Countercyclical Buffers
AFME and ISDA recognise the need for the Commission and relevant regulators to address excessive procyclicality and to help ensure that banks are adequately capitalised when entering a downturn.  View Article
European Commission rejected ING's request to repay hybrid capital to private investors
Competition Commissioner Almunia stressed that ING cannot repay its private hybrid capital holders until it has repaid the capital it received from the Dutch State in full. This is to ensure a fair distribution of the rescue burden in the first place.  View Article

Securities

ECON committee: First exchange of views on European Market Infrastructure Regulation
Rapporteur Werner Langen wants to follow a tight timetable, arguing that the G20 had agreed to have implemented the OTC market reform by the end of 2012. Mr Langen aims for a plenary vote before the 2011 summer break.   View Article
Belgian Presidency progress report on short selling and CDS
Concerning the restrictions on uncovered short sales, the views of delegations are divided on the need to impose permanent restrictions on short selling. However, some argue that there is not enough evidence to do so, and that this will reduce liquidity on the markets.  View Article
CESR invites expressions of interest in ESMA’s Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group
On the basis of the establishment of the ESMA, a Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group would be set up to help facilitate consultation with stakeholders in areas relevant to the tasks of the authority.  View Article
IOSCO issues guidelines for the regulation of conflicts of interest facing market intermediaries
The report examines the role of market intermediaries in financial markets and highlights different scenarios where conflicts of interest can take place. It identifies remedies and proposes suitable guidelines which can be used by EMC jurisdictions for better management of conflicts of interest.  View Article
Financial News: Fresh clash looms over new OTC rules
An amendment to a working draft of European regulation has sparked fears that exchanges may build monopolies in the derivatives market.  View Article
CESR finds Member States broadly compliant with Prospectus Directive
The CESR report contains the key findings and gives a picture of the practices applied in Member States in relation to different organisational aspects and controls in place regarding prospectus controls. The mapping shows existing divergences in practices and in the day-to-day application.  View Article
Appointment of new FESE President and Vice President
Following the decision of the FESE General Assembly, Hans-Ole Jochumsen, Executive Vice President of the NASDAQ OMX Group, has been appointed as the new FESE President and Deirdre Somers, CEO of the Irish Stock Exchange, has been appointed as the Vice President of FESE.  View Article
BIS releases Triennial Central Bank Survey Report on global foreign exchange market activity in 2010
The report shows that growth in the positions of OTC foreign exchange instruments was moderate at 9%, compared with an increase of 83% in notional amounts outstanding of currency instruments in the 2004-07 period.   View Article

Insurance

CEIOPS calls for evidence on Solvency II equivalence assessment
CEIOPS issued a call for evidence to assess the equivalence of the Bermudian, Japanese and Swiss supervisory systems with Solvency II.  View Article
CEA contributes to consultation on EC White Paper on insurance guarantee schemes
The CEA argues that there is no case for an EU initiative on insurance guarantee schemes, as an adequate level of policy-holder protection is already assured through the existing and forthcoming European insurance regulatory framework.  View Article
Commission consults on the review of the Insurance Mediation Directive
The consultation is intended to cover all major issues relating to a fundamental review of the IMD, in particular those identified by the Commission, such as legal uncertainty due to diverging interpretations concerning exemptions from the IMD scope.   View Article

Asset Management

IOPS published revised principles of private pension supervision
The objectives of private pension supervision focus on protecting the interests of pension fund members and beneficiaries by promoting the stability, security and good governance of pension funds.  View Article

Corporate Governance/Accounting

EFRAG published feedback statement on its proactive work
EFRAG issued its feedback statement on the public consultation on its proactive work. The feedback statement provides a summary of the comments received, along with EFRAG’s responses and proposed actions.  View Article
Financial Reporting Review Panel published priorities for 2011/12
The Financial Reporting Review Panel, part of the FRC, announced that its review activity in 2011/12 will focus on the sectors of Commercial Property, Insurance, Support Services and Travel.  View Article
IPSASB: Improvements to IPSASs - 2010
The IPSASB completed its improvements project for 2010 with the release of Improvements to IPSASs – 2010. The IPSASB’s improvements project is modeled on the IASB’s annual update programme.  View Article
IASB updated its work plan
The IASB has updated its work plan to reflect the changes according to the updated convergence report and to provide more detail on the expected timing of pronouncements.  View Article
IASB Foundation Trustees extended comment period for strategy review
The IFRS Foundation Trustees extended the deadline for comments on their public consultation paper on the strategy review they are undertaking. The new deadline is 24 February 2011.   View Article
ACCA: Enhance the role of audit
A new report from ACCA, which gathers expert opinions from a series of round tables held during 2010 in key financial markets around the world, claims that auditors should report on risk, governance, the business model and other forward-looking information.  View Article

Financial Services Month in Brussels - Report

November 2010 - Financial Services Month in Brussels
Graham Bishops Personal Overview  View Article

Brief Opinions/Commentaries

Paul Goldschmidt on the ECOFIN Council meeting: Rather more Questions than Answers!
Goldschmidt argues that the insistence by officials in some relatively stronger EMU countries that they are not concerned by the current turmoil lacks credibility.  View Article
Wolfgang Münchau: Europe is edging towards the unthinkable
Münchau makes a set of proposals in his FT column on the steps that would be sufficient to take us out of the crisis. The first would be to restructure the debt of Ireland, Greece and Portugal, down to a level consistence with solvency under some realistic post-crisis growth rates.   View Article

Financial Stability - Policy Analysis

CER: Why Berlin won’t back down on euro reform
The debate about the new rescue and restructuring mechanism will be technically complex and politically divisive. The required treaty changes may not happen in time, and yet the other Europeans will have few options but to follow German leadership on eurozone reform.  View Article

Best of Media

Financial News: And what happens if it gets to Belgium?
The European sovereign debt crisis is knocking at the door of the very heart of Europe - and Belgium could be next in the firing line.  View Article




© Graham Bishop

< Next Previous >
Key
 Hover over the blue highlighted text to view the acronym meaning
Hover over these icons for more information


Add new comment





 


www.grahambishop.com
// Business Applications by Denaploy 		Web Master Information
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy