Welcome to our Friends weekly e-mail.
Highlights of my week: Outgoing SSM Chair Enria gave a valedictory speech at the LSE that encapsulated the wisdom - built up over 15 years at the heart of EU bank regulation - that saved the EU banking system during three major shocks. But he also laid bare the failure of Europe’s politicians to complete the banking union – epitomised by the almost simultaneous, ritualistic “taking note” by the Euro area Summit of Eurogroup’s work on the future of the EU financial markets. The Parliament continues to develop plans to improve its functioning in the next `mandate’. The European Payments Institute (EPI) completed two acquisitions on the road to providing an “innovative, secure and instant digital payment solution” – leaving one to wonder what the benefits of a digital euro will be. This problem was also identified by CEPS! The New Finance think tank set out the social challenges that must be resolved to develop EU capital markets, just as Finextra reported on how market vendors are “gouging” users with aggressive price rises. Bloomberg reported that the post-pandemic boom in City of London employment seems to be abating.
Graham Bishop
Articles from 27 October - 2 November 2023
Policy impacting Finance
Statement of the Euro Summit, meeting in inclusive format : We take note of the Eurogroup’s ongoing work in inclusive format on the future of European capital and financial markets, to renew and enhance private sector investment, unlock funding for common challenges and allow the European Union to demonstrate leadership on the green and digital transitions View Article
Andrea Enria (Chair SSM) at LSE's FMG: Exogenous shocks and endogenous challenges: five years of European banking supervision (and beyond) : The events that shaped the SSM’s trajectory include the exogenous shocks of the past five years – a pandemic, a war at the borders of the European Union, and an unexpected flare in inflation with a fast exit from a low interest rate environment. View Article
Reuters: Global fund managers sharpen bank scrutiny following crisis - survey : Fund managers fear short-term liquidity issues; Counterparty failure could put trading positions at risk; Investors are regularly monitoring banks' credit ratings View Article
POLITICO: Revealed: EU’s plan to sex up the European Parliament : Ahead of the European election, top MEPs think of ways to make the Parliament less, well, dull. View Article
EPC's Duff: Towards common accord? The European Union contemplates treaty change : In recent months, parallel efforts have been made by the European Parliament and European Commission to articulate a prospectus for treaty amendment. The Council remains fearful and inarticulate, divided over the content and timing of any such reform. View Article
Bruegel's Darvas: The European Union’s remarkable growth performance relative to the United States : The EU has outperformed the US on per-capita output growth; in terms of output per hour worked, some EU countries are as productive as the US View Article
Banking Union
ECON: Public hearing with Andrea Enria, Chair of the ECB / SSM Supervisory Board - 7 November 2023 : As documented in the different sections of this briefing (latest supervisory data, NPLs, unrealised losses, stress tests etc.), euro area banks are overall in a solid position today and also the weaker banks in the spectrum have improved their position, regarding NPL ratios in particular. View Article
14th FMA Supervisory Conference: ‘Risk, regulation and resilience’ Keynote speech by Dominique Laboureix : The theme today, ‘Risk, regulation and resilience’, is a very topical and timely one. In a way, it sums up rather neatly what I have experienced so far in my first months as Chair of the Single Resolution. View Article
ECB's Panetta:Extending the benefits of digital technologies to cross-border payments : Making cross-border payments cheaper, faster, and easily accessible would bring huge benefits to businesses and households alike, especially in emerging markets and developing economies. View Article
Banken Verband: Comments on the European Commission's legislative proposals of 28 June 2023 to revise the Second Payment Services Directive : Contrary to the announcement that only a further development of the payment services law would be aimed at, a surprisingly large number of changes have been made in detail compared to the previous regulatory texts. View Article
EPI successfully completes acquisition of iDEAL and Payconiq International : It underscores EPI’s commitment to provide Europe with an innovative, secure and instant digital payment solution. View Article
FSI's Restoy: Deposit stability: what should policymakers look at? : Remarks by Mr Fernando Restoy, Chair, Financial Stability Institute, at the FSI-IADI event on "Deposits in the spotlight - Do we need to rethink the treatment of deposits?" View Article
European Banking Industry Committee (EBIC) asks for a postponement of the Basel III implementation date : Given the substantial and comprehensive nature of the forthcoming legislative changes brought about by CRR III, a minimum of 18 months between the publication of CRR III rules in the Official Journal of the EU and the effective implementation date of the new rules will be necessary. View Article
CEPS: Adequacy of the Information to be Disclosed under Article 89(1) of the Capital Requirements Directive IV : The study provides an assessment of the adequacy of the indicators covered in the current country-by-country reporting (CBCR) View Article
Banken Verband: Comments on EBA’s Draft Guidelines on the establishment and maintenance of national lists or registers of credit servicers : GBIC points out that the EBA should also aim to create an overarching, Europe-wide consolidated register of all credit servicers based on data from all the national registers, so as to ensure Europe-wide transparency on credit servicers and to standardise and simplify the supervisory process. View Article
Capital Markets Union
ESMA publishes analysis on the evolution of EEA share market structure since the application of MiFID II : The European market structure has changed in an important manner during the observed period. The important decrease in trading volumes observed after 2021 was linked to the impact of the UK withdrawal View Article
New Finance: EU capital markets: a new call to action : This report identifies five of the biggest social and economic challenges facing the EU, analyses whether EU capital markets are in a position to address these challenges, and outlines a small number of high-priority steps to accelerate capital markets development. View Article
FESE note on NCA product interventions on leveraged products : FESE fully shares the objective of safeguarding investor protection and agrees that some product intervention measures both at European and national levels might occasionally be necessary for specific products. View Article
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
Delors Centre's Mack: Show greenwashing the red card – How Europe can make sustainable finance work : Despite detailed legislation, financial market participants differ significantly in their expectations of sustainable investment products and face the risk of greenwashing, where issuers - intentionally or unintentionally - make misleading sustainability claims. View Article
Protecting Customers
finextra: Research finds market data vendors are gouging users with aggressive price raises : A new study by Substantive Research finds that market data prices are rising faster than ever despite an ongoing review by the Financial Conduct Authority into competitive practices in the market. View Article
EFAMA: New rules on multiple voting shares must strike the right balance between issuer and investor needs : Limiting multiple-vote share structures to listings on SME growth markets, as proposed by the European Commission, would ensure that the main goal of the initiative is supported, without broader unintended consequences. View Article
ACCA welcomes strengthening of UK auditor ethics code : ACCA, the world’s leading global accountancy body, is broadly supportive of the UK’s update to ethical standards (ES) for auditors to align with international best practice. However, it notes the need for clarification and additional guidance. View Article
Politico: EU and Japan reach deal on cross-border data flows : The EU data economy is expected to almost triple by 2025, the European Commission said.The agreement will make doing business in the online world “easier, less costly and more efficient," the Commission said in a statement. View Article
Fin Tech Regulation
CEPS' Lanoo, Thomadakis : A digital euro beyond impulse : A new study highlights that to ensure widespread adoption, the digital euro must offer a compelling value proposition and clear benefits to consumers and merchants in the EU... View Article
CEPR's Danielsson: Artificial intelligence and financial stability : This column argues that although AI will bring considerable benefits, it also raises new challenges and can even destabilise the financial system. View Article
City of London: UK leads AI investment in Europe – ahead of France and Germany : In the UK, private capital investment was £3 billion in 2022, with UK AI scale-ups securing nearly double the funding compared to France, Germany, and the rest of Europe combined. View Article
Broadening the International Role of the Euro
Bloomberg : The Euro Is Creeping Into a Very Euroskeptic Country : The Czech Republic has an aversion to joining the euro, but companies are slowly taking the country into the single currency anyway. View Article
Brexit and the City
Bloomberg: City of London Finance Jobs Are Disappearing as Gloom Sets In : Post-pandemic hiring frenzy has left some firms overstaffed; Number of job seekers also declined, employment report says View Article
TheCityUK: The rise of UK cities beyond London : Two thirds of the nearly 2.5 million people who work in financial and related professional services are based outside London. Major firms are setting up new offices and innovation hubs, moving teams and divisions, and building out their senior leadership teams in many thriving financial hubs. View Article
HM Treasury: Future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets : The government has confirmed its final proposals for cryptoasset regulation in the UK, including its intention to bring a number of cryptoasset activities into the regulatory perimeter for financial services for the first time. View Article
City AM: London Stock Exchange chief Julia Hoggett: The City can’t just be for ‘fat cats’ : Brits need to stop thinking of the City as the realm of “fat cats” and “grandees” in order to widen access to the UK’s capital markets and boost the flow of cash into the UK’s beleaguered listed companies, the London Stock Exchange‘s boss has warned. View Article
Brexit
Institute for Government's Gill: Rishi Sunak’s AI summit is a bold gamble : The PM deserves credit for attempting global leadership in a key area for the UK.26 OCT 2023 View Article
Federal Trust's Martin: VIDEO: Brexit Failing Northern Ireland : He expects an initiative from the British government designed to encourage the DUP to return to Stormont. Interest will then switch to the next General Election in the Republic. View Article
Follow us on  
About this email
If you do not wish to receive these e-mails, please click this link If you wish to add a colleague, please inform: office@grahambishop.com
Euro Comment Limited PO Box 2002, Battle, East Sussex, TN33 0WL, UK Tel:+44 (0)1424 777123 Email: office@grahambishop.com (Registered in England and Wales No. 7984039)
|