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30 June 2011

This week in "Brussels"
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Banking Securities Insurance
Asset Management Corporate Governance/Accounting Financial Services Policy
Financial Stability - Policy Analysis Economic Crisis European Council/Parliament
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Articles from 23 June 2011 - 30 June 2011

Banking

EBA Chairman: The future of EU regulation
At the BBA conference, Enria stressed that banking rules are to be overhauled as a result of the reform endorsed by the G20. This will provide an exceptional opportunity for giving life to the idea of the single rulebook, and produce a much more integrated regulatory framework in the Single Market.   View Article
Reuters: Up to 15 EU banks to fail stress test
Up to one in six European banks is set to fail an EU-wide financial health check, according to eurozone sources close to the stress-testing, as officials scramble to set up backstops for those at risk.  View Article
Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision agreed measures for global systemically important banks
These measures include the methodology for assessing systemic importance and the additional required capital. The measures will strengthen the resilience of global systemically important banks and create strong incentives for them to reduce their systemic importance over time.   View Article
Commission approves resolution of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society
The two Irish financial institutions received massive state support during the crisis after they overexposed themselves to the commercial loan and property development sector. Their exit from the market deals with the distortions of competition caused by the support.   View Article
BIS invites new banks to join
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) invites the central banks of four countries to join as new members, further underpinning its global activities.  View Article
New appointments at BIS
The Governor of the Bank of England is appointed chairman of the Global Economy Meeting (GEM) and the Economic Consultative Committee (ECC), while the Governor of Sveriges Riksbank is the new Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision(BCBS).  View Article

Securities

Council published progress report on investor compensation schemes
During the working party meetings, some proposed provisions were subject to strong reservations and are still under discussion. The main Member States’ concerns are related to the increase of the coverage level and the harmonisation of funding principles.  View Article
ESMA publishes the last annual report of CESR
2010 marked the last year of CESR's existence. The Committee of European Securities Regulators has been replaced, after nine years of existence, by ESMA, the European Securities and Markets Authority. This last annual report for CESR sets out the work done by the Committee during the year 2010.  View Article
Systemic risk: The role of securities regulators
Greg Medcraft, Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), said that the nature of innovation means that it is difficult for regulators to anticipate or even keep up with developments, and systemic risks can emerge very quickly.   View Article
FN: Former watchdog calls for more ESMA cash
Eddy Wymeersch has called for the European Securities and Markets Authority, the new super-regulator, to receive more funding. He believes the money is crucial to help ESMA implement and police a raft of new rules introduced since the credit crunch.  View Article
FN: Derivatives' regulatory day of reckoning nears
European banks and end-users of derivatives are facing a three-pronged regulatory assault on the industry, the full extent of which will become evident over the next year.  View Article
Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext seek approval from the European Commission for planned business combination
Deutsche Börse (XETRA:DB1) and NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) confirm that they have today formally notified their planned business combination to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition, thereby triggering the formal start of the anti-trust review process in Europe.  View Article
FT: LSE plan for TMX wins key backing
11 Canadian financial services executives have thrown their weight behind the London Stock Exchange’s proposed merger with Canada's TMX Group, saying a rival offer from a consortium led by Canada's big banks would create a monopoly riddled with conflicts of interest.  View Article
FT: Failure puts LSE in sweet spot
Jeremy Grant writes in the FT that now that the Canadian venture is over, Mr Rolet will continue to expand the business organically. Luckily things are not going too badly, after a wobbly two years since he took over in May 2009.  View Article
WSJ: In case of ETF emergency
The ETF has been hailed for its simple and transparent secondary market model: ETFs allow baskets of assets to be traded on an exchange with all the transparency, liquidity and regulatory oversight for which the equities markets have long been credited.  View Article
FN: LSE chief warns over risks of new regulatory focus
The chief executive of the London Stock Exchange today warned new UK regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority, that any plan to regulate both wholesale and retail markets under one mantra could drive wholesale business overseas.  View Article
FSA launches FCA approach document
The Financial Services Authority has today outlined how its successor body charged with conduct and markets regulation will be tougher, bolder and more engaged with consumers.  View Article
Canadian Securities Administrators seek comments on regulation of over-the-counter derivatives trade reporting and repositories
The CSA published for comment 'Consultation Paper – Derivatives: Trade Repositories', which sets out a series of recommendations that are designed to improve regulatory oversight of OTC derivatives transactions, while maintaining consistency with international developments.  View Article
FN: EuroCCP slashes clearing fees
EuroCCP, the European arm of The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation of the US, is set to slash the fees it charges trading firms, which is likely to spark competition in the post-trade sector when they are given the chance to choose their clearer for the first time.  View Article

Insurance

CEA remains concerned about FATCA implementation
The CEA has reiterated its concerns about the disproportionate impact of the US Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) on European insurers who have a low number of US policyholders and whose products pose a low risk of tax evasion.   View Article
Ian Williams: Solvency II - Level 2 implementation measures Consultation Response - retirement and socially useful products
The European Commission has published its summary of the comments it received in response to the consultation on the Level 2 implementation measures for Solvency II.  View Article

Asset Management

FN: Do pension funds assume too much? No-one can decide
"We have ended up basing the entirety of our trillion-dollar pensions industry on it, and from California to London to Amsterdam, regulators, accountants, actuaries and everyone else are still arguing over the results."  View Article
IPE: Spanish pension reform could be introduced as early as 2012
Spain's Congress has approved the government's proposed pension reform, which will now be discussed in the Senate before its possible introduction in 2012. After several months of debate since the bill's introduction in January, the pensions reform was approved by Spain's Chamber of Deputies.   View Article
Chris Verhaegen elected chair of EIOPA Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group
Ms Chris Verhaegen, Secretary General of EFRP, has been elected chair of the Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).  View Article
FN: Will UCITS consign offshore hedge funds to history?
David Miller from Cheviot Asset Management argues that risk control and regulation alone do not add value without the ambition to seek out return. The challenge for hedge funds choosing the UCITS route is that ticking boxes to satisfy the regulator is not enough.  View Article
A state pension for the 21st century: A response by NAPF
The National Association of Pension Funds' response recommends that the UK Government go ahead with Option Two – the Single Tier pension – and sets out a series of measures the Government should implement to help pension schemes cope with the transition to the new system.  View Article
'The Future of Financial Reporting' - a NAPF response to an ABS consultation
The National Association of Pension Funds argues that pension schemes do not meet the criteria for ‘public accountability’, and that decisions about how they report can thus be based on the merits of the case.  View Article
IPE: New IAS19 regulations will 'ruin' occupational pension funds
According to Herbert Brändli, head of the Profond multi-employer Pensionskasse, new accountancy rules under revised IAS19 standards will paint a "false picture" of pension funds and "ruin" occupational pensions.  View Article

Corporate Governance/Accounting

FASB's website portal for non-public entities
The FASB informed on the launch of its new web portal for non-public entities. The portal is designed to make the latest information about FASB activities focused on private companies and not-for-profit organisations easily accessible to stakeholders.  View Article
IASB: SME Implementation Group published its first Q&A guidance
The SME Implementation Group, responsible for assisting the IASB on matters related to the implementation of the IFRS for SMEs, published its first question and answer guidance on the IFRS for SMEs that is set out in Q&A 2011/01 'Use of the IFRS for SMEs in a Parent’s Separate Financial Statements'.  View Article
EGIAN: Support for robust reform programme for the European Union audit profession
EGIAN published its position paper to support the robust reform programme for the European Union audit profession. Within the scope of the reform programme which EGIAN is proposing, they think that further debate is now needed to develop a fair system of audit liability in the European Union.   View Article

Financial Services Policy

European Parliament opinion poll shows public support for tax on financial transactions
Other results show a majority of respondents feeling the euro has not mitigated the effects of the crisis and urging Member States to act in a more coordinated fashion to tackle the problem.  View Article
Summary of the plenary session debate on economic governance
Sharon Bowles insisted on the need for reverse QMV, underlining that this was not about political "grandstanding", but rather helped improve a sense of ownership by Europe's citizens. She believed it was possible to bridge the final outstanding differences.  View Article

Economic Crisis

Olli Rehn on Greece: One crucial challenge is to fight tax evasion
Rehn stressed that the only way to avoid immediate default is for the Greek Parliament to endorse the revised economic programme. The programme includes both the medium-term fiscal strategy and the privatisation programme.   View Article
European Council urged Greece to finalise key laws on fiscal strategy and privatisation
The euro area Heads of State agree that required additional funding for Greece will be financed through both official and private sources.   View Article
Bank of England has 'Greek default contingency plan'
The Bank of England has a contingency plan in place in case Greece defaults on its debt payments, its governor Sir Mervyn King has said. Speaking before the Treasury Committee, he would not say how likely he thought a default would be, but added that the markets put the risk at 80 per cent.  View Article
Greek Government survived first vote, heads for second
Kathimerini reports that Prime Minister Papandreou won Parliament's support for a tough austerity package designed to stave off default, securing 155 votes from Greece's 300-seat House.  View Article
CER Essay, Simon Tilford: Germany's brief moment in the sun
Four years ago, Germany was widely seen as the sick man of Europe. Now the talk is of Germany’s unrivalled strength, even of its hegemonic status in Europe. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the case of the eurozone, whose survival – so the narrative goes – hangs on German benevolence.  View Article
OMFIF David Marsh: Germans start euro retreat
German finance and business representatives are a hard-headed lot. For them, the euro was an economic and political project that seemed a good idea at the time. But now a retreat seems to be underway.  View Article
FT: Europe's return to Westphalia
Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are forever protesting that the euro and the European Union are indivisible. They mean well. The purpose is to reassure: Germany and France will rescue the single currency because its failure would herald the collapse of the entire European enterprise.  View Article

International/G20

IMF Executive Board selects Christine Lagarde as Managing Director
Ms Lagarde, who succeeds Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is the first woman named to the top IMF post since the institution's inception in 1944. The Managing Director is the chief of the IMF's operating staff and Chairman of the Executive Board.   View Article
Statement by Christine Lagarde to the IMF Executive Board
Lagarde stressed that the Fund must keep its recently-regained pivotal role with respect to global economic and financial cooperation. The international community needs the Fund and the Fund must have the necessary mandate from its membership to discharge its duties.  View Article

Think Tanks

Bruegel: A summer to-do list for European leaders
At their meeting last week, European leaders agreed again to "do whatever is necessary to ensure the financial stability of the euro area as a whole". But they did not say how. Jean Pisani-Ferry proposes a "to-do list" which covers the banking sectors as well as derivatives regulation.   View Article




© Graham Bishop

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