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08 May 2008

This week in "Brussels"



European Finance Forum

 

Wednesday, 11 June 2008, 10.00 – 13.00 hours, Brussels

Confirmed Speakers:

Wolf Klinz, MEP; Garces Tolon, Cabinet Kuneva; Valerie Bros, Perm Rep France

Topics to include:

Latest developments on UCITS, Retail Financial Services, French Presidency Programme

 

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ECOFIN to adopt conclusions on supervision and financial stability arrangements

08 May 2008

Council is due to adopt conclusions that allow financial supervisory authorities to consider financial stability concerns in other Member States. Also, the role of the colleges of supervisors should be strengthened and be extended to all cross-border financial groups in the EU. View

FSA Sants warns building societies need more robust stress testing

08 May 2008

The FSA warned building societies to do more on their stress testing assumptions to cope with extreme situations like the liquidity crunch. “Experience to date shows many of you generally have not modelled sufficiently extreme stress scenarios”, Sants said.  View

SEC Cox calls for clear authority to oversee largest investment banks

08 May 2008

The SEC has no explicit statutory mandate to supervise the nation's investment banks on a consolidated basis which should not be tolerated indefinitely, SEC Chairman Cox said. Voluntary consolidated oversight is no longer enough. An appropriate regime should be established “very soon”. View

SEC scrutinizes investment bank liquidity

08 May 2008

Bear Stearns' experience has challenged a number of assumptions relating to the supervision of large and complex securities firms, SEC Director Erik Sirri said. The SEC is now scrutinizing the liquidity of investment banks and discussing the banks' plans for raising new capital. View

IPE: IASB rejects exemption for Dutch system

07 May 2008

An exemption for the Dutch pension system will not be considered as part of the revision of the IFRS, according to Anne McGeachin of the IASB which is reviewing the pension standard IAS19. However the interpretation body IFRIC might be able to provide a solution.   View

Commission consults on insurance guarantee schemes

07 May 2008

The consultation paper is based on the main findings of the OXERA report on insurance guarantee schemes which provides a detailed description and comparative analysis of the existing EU IGS for life and non-life insurance. View

ECON meeting 5-6 May

06 May 2008

ECON considered the draft report on hedge funds and private equity and also held a first exchange of view on the future structure of supervision. The Committee also held an exchange of view with Mr Holmquist on the financial market turmoil, and with Thomas Steffen, chair of CEIOPS. View

Standards bodies develop messaging Investment Roadmap

06 May 2008

Leading financial market messaging standards organizations developed a financial messaging Investment Roadmap to establish one common standard, ISO 20022, while maintaining the existing independent protocols. View

SEC advisory committee takes up fair value accounting

06 May 2008

The jury is still out on the absolute merits of fair value accounting for financial statements, a variety of experts told the SEC’s Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting in an open meeting on 2 May in Chicago. View

ECON chair calls for concrete proposals for change following financial crisis

05 May 2008

“This crisis is a major market failure and calls for strong responses from all the EU policy makers”, ECON chair Pervenche Beres said and announced an upcoming report on Lamfalussy follow-up: Future Structure of Supervision to prepare recommendations for immediate legislative initiatives. View

OECD/IOPS guidelines for licensing regime in the pensions industry

05 May 2008

The guidelines highlight the role of regulators and supervisors as ‘gatekeepers’ of private pension systems. Issues include minimum requirements related to the pension entities’ starting capital, funding policy and risk management mechanisms, as well as their governance structure and investment policy. View

Japan, China, S. Korea to launch consultative body for financial stability

05 May 2008

Finance ministers from Japan, China and South Korea agreed to create a new framework to promote financial stability in Asia, recognizing the current financial market turbulence as a major risk to the regional economy. ''The current international financial market turbulence is one of the main risks to the economies,'' the finance ministers said. View

ASEAN + 3 nations to create swap deal to stem crisis

05 May 2008

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea agreed to create a multilateral currency swap deal worth $80 billion to prevent a recurrence of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. Finance ministers of the 13 Asian economies said the proportion of the contribution between ASEAN and the three other countries to the scheme will be '20 versus 80'. View

MLex: EC rejects MasterCard's request to extend deadline for redrafting card fees

02 May 2008

The Commission has rejected a request by MasterCard for an extension to the six-month period granted for the company to amend its cross-border payment card fees after they were judged anti-competitive last December. View

BoE predicts end of credit crises likely

02 May 2008

Prices in some credit markets are now likely to overstate the losses that will ultimately be felt by the financial system and the economy as a whole, as they appear to include large discounts for illiquidity and uncertainty, the BoE states in its Financial Stability Report. Conditions should improve as market participants recognise that some assets look cheap relative to credit fundamentals. View

BIS Wellink: Cross-border supervision needs to be strengthened

30 April 2008

As the internationalisation of banks may be presumed to continue, further steps are needed to ensure effective and efficient cross-border banking supervision in Europe, Nout Wellink, Chairman of the BCBS said. However, the way to a more integrated pan-European supervisory structure is far from clear. View

Lamfalussy follow-up: future structure of supervision

30 April 2008

ECON presented a working paper on the future structure of supervision in Europe prepared by Ieke Van Den Burg and Daniel Dăianu. The rapporteurs call on the Commission to screen the existing regulatory, supervisory and crisis management framework in the light of the identified failures and announce some 13 issues to which policy responses have to be formulated. View

ECON draft report on hedge funds and private equity

30 April 2008

The rapporteur of the long awaited report, Poul Rasmussen, requests the Commission to submit to Parliament by 30 November 2008 a legislative proposal or proposals on hedge funds, private equity and other relevant actors. He also calls for conventional funds, including UCITS and IORP, to comply with capital requirements, and to strenghen capital requirements for prime brokers. View

3L3 Committees issue revised Impact Assessment Guidelines

30 April 2008

The Impact Assessment Guidelines have been developed as a practical tool to help ensure the effective use of IAs within the 3L3 Committees. The 3L3 Committees summarized the responses received from stakeholders during the consultation period in a feedback statement which also includes the changes made to the guidelines. View

Treasury Sobel: Equivalence of EU-US insurance supervisory regime requires intensive discussion

30 April 2008

“Large U.S. insurance firms operating in Europe fear the EU will find the U.S. insurance supervisory regime not equivalent and that they in turn will face uncertainties and higher costs in continuing their European operations”, Mark Sobel, Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary said. Lively discussions will also continue on the implications of U.S. state re-insurance collateral requirements for unlicensed re-insures, he noted. View

IIF survey of investor relations and transparency in emerging markets

30 April 2008

“A growing number of sovereigns recognize the importance of active investor relations and adequate data dissemination practices in light of the increased role played by private capital flows in today’s environment”, IIF Managing Director Charles Dallara said. View

Book review: Global Financial Regulation

03 May 2008

The book identifies weaknesses in a system faced with new types of institutions such as hedge funds and private equity, as well as the growth in importance of major developing countries, who have been excluded so far from the key decision-making fora. The authors Howard Davies, former Chairman of the FSA, and David Green present a review of a subject which engages the attention of both national and international authorities. View

Forthcoming

 

 

 

14-16 May 2008

40th ICMA AGM and Conference

The Annual General Meeting and Conference of ICMA will take place at the Hilton Vienna Stadtpark. Among the participants are Jean Claude Trichet, President of the ECB, Mag. Wilhelm Molterer, Finance Minister of Austria; Yves Mersch, President of the Central Bank of Luxembourg, Eugene Rotberg Former Vice President and Treasurer, The World Bank; Louis de Montpellier, Deputy General Manager, BIS.

Further information

 

15-16 May 2008

Brussels Economic Forum

Forum will include sessions on growth and adjustment in the euro area, the euro and global financial markets, euro-area governance, and the medium-term challenges for Economic and Monetary Union. Online registration is open until 26 April 2008

Online registration, draft programme

 

2 June 2008

Commission Public hearing on 'Insurance Guarantee Schemes'

Speakers and panellists will participate from the European Parliament, CEIOPS, supervisory authorities, guarantee scheme operators, OXERA, the insurance and banking industry, FIN-USE, Finance Ministries and the Commission. Deadline for registrations is 16 May.

Programme, On-line registration

 

17-18 June 2008

FESE Convention

The 12th FESE Convention in Stockholm will focus on the most topical market and policy developments affecting the exchange industry and financial services institutions. Issues include the latest developments in integration of the EU-US financial services markets, a special focus on MiFID implementation, clearing and settlement of securities, financial stability in global capital markets, and trading and risk management in global derivatives markets.

Programme, registration

 

15 July 2008

Commission Public Hearing on "substitute" retail investment products

 

11-12 September 2008

Eurofi Conference 2008

The Conference on “EU priorities and proposals of the financial services industry for the Ecofin Council” will take place in Nice, prior to the informal ECOFIN Council session. Speakers include: Joaquin Alunmia, Charlie McCreevy, Wolf Klinz, Michel Pébereau, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Thomas Steffen, Eddy Weymeersch, Pervenche Berès, Magdalena Kuneva, Christine Lagarde, Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, and many others.

Programme, Further information

 

 

 

 



© Graham Bishop


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