(This e-mail provides the headers of a selection of the articles published this week. If you would like to upgrade to our Gold service and access all articles - with live links to the underlying news - please click on the button)
Articles from 16 - 22 October
Policy impacting Finance
ECB's de Guindos: Outlook for the euro area economy and financial stability : ...the outlook for financial stability has been downgraded twice: in our Financial Stability Review of May 2022, and the one to be published this week, which sets out how deteriorating economic and financial conditions have further increased risks to the stability of the euro area financial system.
ECB Financial Stability Review shows risks increasing as economic and financial conditions worsen : Households and firms face multiple challenges, including weakening economic outlook, higher inflation and tighter financial conditions Diminished market liquidity raises risk of disorderly asset price adjustments, which could test investment fund resilience V
FSB Chair writes to G20 Leaders ahead of the Bali Summit : The letter notes that developments since the Rome Summit have been a stark reminder that global financial stability should not be taken for granted.
FSB publishes annual report on its work to promote global financial stability : The report warns that the outlook for global financial stability is particularly challenging amidst high inflationary pressures, elevated debt levels, lower growth, and much tighter global financial conditions.
CEPR's Eichengreen/Esteves: Up and away: Inflation and debt consolidation in historical perspective : The global financial crisis and COVID-19 bequeathed large increases in public debt stocks. Future governments may seek to bring them down, including through inflation. This column assembles the history of successful debt consolidations since 1800 and highlights the role of inflation.
Banking Union
Enria, de Guindos, Campa: Strong rules, strong banks: let’s stick to our commitments : The EU banking package matters now more than ever. We need to stick to our global commitments, faithfully implement Basel III and strengthen supervisory powers.
Capital Markets Union
AFME: Capital Markets Union Key Performance Indicators – Fifth Edition : AFME, in collaboration with eleven other European and international organisations, published a report, tracking the progress of Europe’s capital markets against nine key performance indicators and analysing the progress over the past five years.
IOSCO issues Feedback Statement on drivers of liquidity in corporate bond markets during COVID-19 induced market stresses : This includes assessing the feasibility, benefits, and costs of mitigating sudden shifts inliquidity demand and alleviating supply side market constraints, particularly in stress.
IOSCO Reviews Implementation of Liquidity Risk Management Recommendations : IOSCO today published a thematic review ('Review’) assessing the implementation of selected recommendations (‘Recommendations’) issued in 2018 to strengthen the liquidity risk management practices for collective investment schemes ('CIS’) globally.
EBA publishes final technical standards on the measurement of liquidity risks for investment firms : These RTS will ensure that all competent authorities follow the same harmonised approach when adopting the decision to impose further liquidity requirements to an investment firm.?
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
ESAs launch joint Call for Evidence on greenwashing : Due to the growing demand for sustainability-related products and the rapidly evolving regulatory regimes and sustainability-related product offerings, the call is also motivated by the need to better understand which areas may become more prone to greenwashing risks.
Current climate scenario analysis exercises may understate climate exposures and vulnerabilities, warn FSB and NGFS : The report provides a synthesis of the findings from climate scenario analysis exercises undertaken by financial authorities at the individual firm level, at the level of the different financial sectors, and at the overall financial system level.
ECB's Panetta: Greener and cheaper: could the transition away from fossil fuels generate a divine coincidence? : The energy mix needs to change drastically to reach carbon neutrality by 2050
UNEP FI: Net-Zero Banking Alliance 2022 Progress Report : On Finance Day at COP27, the industry-led, UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance published its first Progress Report. This report, which details the intermediate 2030 decarbonisation targets from over 60 member banks, demonstrates the first stage of progress since the Alliance launched in April 2021.
EBF: Are Volatile Geopolitics and Macroeconomics Disrupting the Path to Net Zero? : The world has changed significantly since European banks began making their net zero commitments. The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have completely altered the operating environment. This new reality poses significant questions for European banks’ climate strategies.
ACCA and CFA Institute join forces to deliver climate finance skills : Finance and investment professionals have a critical role to play in helping organisations adapt as they adjust their activities and strategies to build a more sustainable future.
ESAs: Joint Committee Letter to European Commission on the delay in SFDR mandate : ..the ESAs have identified significant challenges to deliver the required input in the time requested. These challenges relate to the substantial number of technical components..
Protecting Customers
ICGN: Bonds Lie in the Portfolio of the Beholder: Do Bonds Affect Equity Monitoring? : Institutional investors conduct more governance research and are less likely to follow proxy advisor vote recommendations when a company’s bonds comprise a larger share of their assets.
Fin Tech Regulation
Keynote speech by Commissioner McGuinness at European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF) Conference : A few weeks ago, the Commission adopted a legislative proposal on instant payments. This proposal aims to make instant euro payments universal, affordable and secure across the EU. Instant payments arrive within seconds – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
EPC: European Commission's proposal for a regulation on instant payments : EC Policy Officer Kobylinska-Hilliard: On 26 October the European Commission (EC) adopted a legislative proposal on instant payments in euro, fulfilling its commitment of the 2020 Retail Payments Strategy for the European Union.
BIS: Crypto trading and Bitcoin prices: evidence from a new database of retail adoption : To date, people do not use cryptocurrencies widely to make payments, to measure value or to finance real-world investments. Yet despite this, retail investors continue entering into crypto exchanges to trade cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. What explains this adoption?
Cybersecurity: Parliament adopts new law to strengthen EU-wide resilience : New legislation sets tighter requirements for businesses, administrations, infrastructure ; Differing national cybersecurity measures make the EU more vulnerable ; New “essential sectors” covered such as energy, transport, banking, health
Economic Policies Impacting EU Finance
Commission: Autumn 2022 Economic Forecast: The EU economy at a turning point : The shocks unleashed by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine are denting global demand and reinforcing global inflationary pressures. The EU is among the most exposed advanced economies,..
Brexit and the City
Bank of England chief questions government's veto power plan : Bailey took the British government to task on Wednesday over its plan to give itself veto powers over post-Brexit financial rules written by independent regulators, including the central bank.
FT: France challenges UK for title of Europe’s biggest equities market : Fall in sterling since Brexit and rising optimism over French stocks have tilted the scale
Brexit
City AM: Without Brexit, there would never have been a harsh austerity Budget this week, says BoE veteran : The real reason Britain is facing harsh austerity measures is the UK’s departure from the EU, according to a senior economist...Former Bank of England interest rate policy maker Michael Saunders said that Brexit has ‘permanently damaged’ the UK’s economy.
Institute for Government's Rutter: Rishi Sunak’s three Brexit headaches : Unfortunately for the prime minister, Brexit is far from done – and his party stands in his way of being able to move on, argues Jill Rutter
UKandEU: UK trade tracker - Septemeber 2022 : Stephen Hunsaker analyses the latest data from the Office for National Statistics’ September UK trade report, highlighting the key import and export trends. This forms the second in a series of UK in a Changing Europe trade trackers.
Federal Trust's Stevens: The US Midterms, Brexit and the US-UK Special Relationship : In this Federal Trust video, our Chairman John Stevens and Director Brendan Donnelly discuss the impact of American politics on Brexit, both historically and in the future.