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Graham Bishop is renowned for his vision and the courage to propose radical ideas, yet ground them in a mastery of the technical details of the financial system. He has been referred to as a one-man think tank.
European Commission: His influence at the meeting point of politics, economics and finance has been recognised on many occasions - most recently when the European Commission asked him to study the attitudes of investors toward the euro area sovereign bond markets. In particular, he explored attitudes towards the potential for a “common euro area safe asset”: what characteristics should it possess and whether it would ameliorate any of the concerns expressed about the features of existing bond markets.
Graham's many pro bono activities illuminate and reinforce his Consultancy Services. His deep knowledge of Europe’s financial system is integrated with his understanding of EU economic and budgetary policy-making – whilst set within the necessary framework of democratic accountability.
He was a member of the Commission's Consultative Group on the Impact of the Euro on Capital Markets; of the Commission's Strategy Group on Financial Services; and of the Committee of Independent Experts on the preparation of the changeover to the single currency (1994/5).
This Website, as well as Graham's Consultancy Service, is designed to bring clients the direct insights that flow from Graham’s position as a leading technical analyst of economic and structural developments in the financial markets of Europe.
"Institutional investors and major financial firms now face a huge commercial challenge in Europe. The vision of political integration has entered a critical phase: ...."
"..analysis of obscure bureaucratic manoeuvrings towards fiscal union, labour mobility and tax co-ordination etc. is quite outside the comfort zone of many..."
"It is now entirely foreseeable that governments may make potentially far-reaching changes that would impact the valuation of European financial assets, as well as reforming the nature of the regulations governing key parts of the financial sector’s business".
"..So the consequences of this crisis will be historic – and will reverberate around global financial markets. The stakes for participants in European financial markets could not be higher.."
Consultancy services can take many forms: face-to-face meetings, telephone discussions, written comments, speeches, special articles, customised research projects, etc.
Despite reports in December that a political agreement had been reached in trialogue negotiations on the central securities depositories (CSD) regulation, it was clarified that the technical details would require a lot more attention so final results are not expected before informal tripartite meetings in late March.
Several points were made about the ongoing negotiations with the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). Despite Mario Draghi saying in December that “we should not create a Single Resolution Mechanism that is single in name only”, those present agreed that the final decision-making process could well turn out to be "clunky", as according to the Treaty only the Council or the Commission could be given the authority to make resolution decisions, not the Single Resolution Board. This would inevitably mean that dozens (perhaps more than a hundred) of people will be involved in each resolution case, making the procedure complex and, in Draghi’s words, “cumbersome”.
The euro area states committed to finalise an intergovernmental treaty on the Single Resolution Fund by 1 March. However, EP President Schulz said in a speech on 19 December that “we [the EP] wish the community method to provide the legal basis for the Banking Union and also for the resolution fund. We reject the idea of a further intergovernmental treaty”. This was seen by some as an indication that the SRM discussions might turn into a political battle that would be without an immediate solution, given the end of both the Parliament’s and Commission’s terms of office. However, others expressed confidence that a compromise would be reached in the interest of European financial markets, given the crucial issue of trust in the resolution process that was needed to complement the “cranky” decision-making process.
The EU needs to continue shaping the debate at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), even though the Commission will soon wind down for its changeover in the autumn. It was suggested that the dynamic within the Federal Reserve might well change and the US might take a more vigorous approach at Basel.
Rolling Blog
Graham Bishop - Consultant on EU Integration - Political, Financial, Economic, Budgetary
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