Articles from 16 - 22 October
General Financial Policy
ECB's Lagarde: Interview with Le Monde : The second wave of the pandemic in Europe, notably in France, and the resulting new restrictions are adding to the uncertainty and weighing on the recovery. Since the rebound we saw over the summer, the recovery has been uneven, uncertain and incomplete and now risks losing momentum.
European Commission issues first emission of EU SURE social bonds : The European Commission issued a €17 billion inaugural social bond under the EU SURE instrument to help protect jobs and keep people in work. The issuing consisted of two bonds, with €10 billion due for repayment in October 2030 and €7 billion due for repayment in 2040.
Press points by Commissioner Hahn at the press conference on the first issuance of EU social bonds under SURE : As key elements of its joint response, the Union has put in place the so-called SURE programme to support MS's temporary employment schemes – to help people and to help MS, in order to help their citizens to keep their jobs...placing a €17 billion inaugural social bond under the EU SURE instrument.
Vox - Micossi: Managing post-Covid sovereign debts in the euro area : As the world comes to terms with a post-Covid reality, the euro area must confront its growing fiscal and sovereign debts. This column argues that common euro area policies are justified in order to address sovereign debt externalities and risks to financial stability.
Bloomberg: Half of Europe’s Smaller Businesses Risk Bankruptcy Within Year : Over half of Europe’s small and medium-sized businesses say they face bankruptcy in the next year if revenues don’t pick up, underscoring the breadth of damage wrought by the Covid-19 crisis.
Banking Union
IMF Seminar events: Cross-Border Payments—A Vision for the Future : The panel discussed the advent of digital currencies and its implications for the future of cross-border payments. Discussants focused on the benefits and challenges associated with CBDC, the importance of global policy coordination, and the role of the private sector.
FSB publishes global transition roadmap for LIBOR : The Financial Stability Board (FSB) today published a global transition roadmap for LIBOR. The roadmap sets out a timetable of actions for financial and non-financial sector firms to take in order to ensure a smooth LIBOR transition by end-2021.
Capital Markets Union
CEPS: Opening the MiFID II Pandora’s box : Earlier this year, the Commission started consulting on a series of priority areas as part of its ongoing MIFID II/MiFIR review. This ECMI webinar focused on two issues that are rather technical (and perhaps controversial) but are nonetheless key to the functioning of capital markets
POLITICO: Maijoor warns MiFID rollback threatens investor protection : Europe’s top securities regulator hit out at plans to roll back EU financial markets rules in the name of economic recovery.
FT: EU sets sights on money market fund reform : French and Irish watchdogs worried about how close products came to experiencing a liquidity crisis in March
Insurance Europe: EC should make European Long-Term Investment Funds more attractive to long-term institutional investors : Insurance Europe has today published its response to an inception impact assessment conducted by the European Commission on the revision of the European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIF) Regulation.
Insurance Europe: It is premature to call for mandatory AI insurance due to insufficient underwriting data and lack of similarity between ri : We believe it is premature for the Parliament to consider mandatory insurance for high-risk AI systems for two reasons.
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
Insurance Europe: ESAs' proposals for ES disclosure templates would not improve transparency for consumers : Insurance Europe has today published its response to a survey by the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) on their proposals for disclosure templates for environmental and/or social financial products.
IPE: ESG is huge opportunity for European managers – report : The upsurge of interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing could prove a major business opportunity for European asset and wealth managers, according to a report from PwC Luxembourg.
Fin Tech Regulation
Bloomberg: The New Tools the EU Wants to Crack Down on Big Tech: QuickTake : The European Union has long been the world’s most aggressive regulator of the world’s biggest technology firms -- and perhaps the most frustrated.
Friends' Standard Services
Brussels 4 Breakfast no167: with Karel Lanoo of CEPS : CSFI Zoom video of my discussion with Karel View Article
Brexit
POLITICO: Three phone calls that unlocked Brexit : UK stalled talks last week, saying a signal was needed from Brussels that the EU was ready to make concessions.
FT: Ireland fires warning shot to asset managers on delegation : Regulator’s damning assessment of Dublin offices comes despite new rules introduced ahead of Brexit
FT: Stock exchanges prepare to activate their Brexit contingency plans : Investors fear a split in share trading activity from January
Reuters: Moody's downgrades UK as COVID-19 and Brexit hit debt outlook : Ratings agency Moody’s cut the United Kingdom’s debt rating on Friday over the huge economic hit from the coronavirus crisis, Brexit and the lack of clear budget plans from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government.