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07 May 2015

This week in "Brussels"



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  Articles from 30 April 2015 - 07 May 2015

  Banking
 
 
EBA issues final guidance on recovery indicators
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its final Guidelines on indicators for the recovery and resolution plans of credit institutions and investment firms across the EU.   View Article
BIS: The international monetary and financial system - eliminating the blind spot
Speech by Jaime Caruana, General Manager, Bank for International Settlements, at the IMF conference “Rethinking macro policy III: progress or confusion?” questioning whether domestically focused policies in a world of global firms, currencies and capitals flows, are adequate for a global game.  View Article
EBA updates its monitoring of Additional Tier 1 capital instruments
The European Banking Authority’s (EBA) update is partly based on the review of new Additional Tier 1 (AT1) issuances and includes some final conclusions of the EBA on issues previously flagged as being under investigation. The EBA expects to gather further insight on the basis of future issuances.   View Article
IMF: Does Basel Compliance Matter for Bank Performance?
The results of the paper by authors Rym Ayadi, Sami Ben Naceur, Barbara Casu, and Barry Quinn indicate that overall BCP compliance, or indeed compliance with any of its individual chapters, has no association with bank efficiency.  View Article
EBF response to the EBA discussion paper on the future of the Internal Rating Based (IRB) approach
The European Banking Federation (EBF) has conducted an in-depth study on the characteristics of IRB models. The upshot of the study was that model differences stem from 3 sources, namely market characteristics, supervisory practices and bank modelling choices.   View Article
BBA: NEDS - regulators should clarify expectations
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) recently responded to the joint Financial Conduct Authority/Prudential Regulation Authority consultation on its approach to the application of the Senior Managers Regime (SMR), which will come into effect on 7 March next year for non-executive directors (NEDs).  View Article
ECB publishes its Euro Money Market Study 2014
The European Central Bank (ECB) is publishing its biennial report entitled “Euro Money Market Study 2014”. This study focuses on euro money market developments during the second quarter of 2014 and compares them with the second quarters of previous years.  View Article
EPC publishes an updated version of the document ‘Guidance on reason codes for SEPA Direct Debit R-transactions’
The updated document reflects principal changes incorporated into the SDD Core Rulebook version 9.1 and the SDD B2B Rulebook version 7.1 to take effect in November 2016.  View Article
EPC publishes ‘Clarification paper on the use of electronic mandate solutions’
The purpose of this document is to clarify some implications of the use of electronic mandate solutions for the creditor (biller) and the debtor (payer), with regard to collections under the SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) Schemes.   View Article
EurActiv: Denmark announces plan to join EU banking union
A new report by the Danish Ministry for Justice presented on 30 April concludes that Denmark won't be giving up sovereignty by joining the EU's banking union. This means the country can proceed without having to first hold a referendum.  View Article
EBF statement on EU payment services agreement
The European Banking Federation issued its statement in response to the conclusion of EU trilogue talks on PSD2, the second revision of the Payment Services Directive.  View Article
 
  Securities
 
 
MiFID II: Meeting of the European Securities Committee
Documents on transparency, SMEs and growth, FX contracts, investor protection (including payment for research), reasonable commercial basis and portfolio compression.  View Article
ICMA responds to EC consultation document on a Review of the Prospectus Directive
Highlights of the response include re-interpreting Article 5 and amending the PD Regulation Annexes; enabling incorporation by reference of specified future information; and that a prospectus for non-exempt offers of securities in the secondary market is unnecessary.  View Article
Banking Technology: Banks face mad rush to prepare for MiFIR
Financial institutions will need to maintain records, report transactions and supply reference data under the EC’s forthcoming MiFIR regulation. Those who expect plenty of time for implementation and no regulatory conflicts are likely to be disappointed, according to a report by analyst firm Aite.  View Article
ESMA releases final guidelines clarifying the definition of commodity derivatives under MiFID I
ESMA published guidelines on the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) I. These guidelines will apply from 7 August 2015 and will be superseded by the Commission’s delegated acts on MIFID II.  View Article
ABBL views on the Capital Markets Union
Although the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL) believes the idea that a diversification of funding sources is necessary, it stresses that banks shall remain central to the financing of the economy, so it is concerned that some regulatory and tax initiatives might work against this objective.  View Article
ECBC Responds to European Commission’s Green Paper on Building a Capital Markets Union
The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) calls for the introduction of a new financial instrument in the European Union – European Secured Notes (ESN), to address a funding segment located between the traditional covered bond and high-quality securitisation.  View Article
 
  Insurance
 
 
EIOPA updates on preparation for Solvency II
European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) updated its Solvency II webpage in order to help (re)insurers and other market participants find at a glance all relevant information on the new regime.   View Article
Insurance Europe: Concerns raised on OECD BEPS rules for controlled foreign companies
The European insurance and reinsurance federation recently highlighted concerns regarding the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) public discussion draft on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) action 3 on strengthening controlled foreign company (CFC) rules.  View Article
ECIROA: Solvency II to benefit captives but concerns remain
Günter Dröse, Chairman of the European Captive Insurance and Reinsurance Owners Association (ECIROA), is optimistic that captives based in EU domiciles-including Dublin, Luxembourg, Gibraltar and Malta-will be ready for the January 2016 implementation deadline.  View Article
 
  Asset Management
 
 
AIMA: Hedge funds step up financing of the economy
Hedge fund firms and other alternative asset managers are playing an increasingly important role in financing the economy, according to a new paper published by AIMA.   View Article
ECB: Interview with Vítor Constâncio
The interview covers the performance and effects of QE, inflation, pension funds, securities, Greece, and CMU.  View Article
IPE: Low interest rates could increase cost of pensions by 10%
Consultancies warn that interest rates have fallen so far this year that Dutch pension funds may be forced to increase contributions or cut costs on pension arrangements.  View Article
NAPF, ABI and TUC jointly call for an Independent Retirement Savings Commission
In a report entitled ‘The Case for an Independent Retirement Savings Commission’, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) make the case for a standing independent retirement savings commission.   View Article
Financial Times: UK’s largest companies under pressure over pension contributions
The alert comes as 30 FTSE 100 companies are due to begin triennial financial health checks on their defined benefit pension schemes — with most facing ballooning deficits.  View Article
 
  Corporate Governance/Accounting
 
 
IASB/Issue 3 of the Essentials: Sizing Up the Balance Sheet
The Essentials aims to increase investors’ awareness of IFRS and to enhance the insights they obtain when analysing information produced by IFRS financial statements. Each issue aims to provide an overview of how a specific accounting Standard is relevant to financial statement analysis.  View Article
EFRAG seeks comments on its draft endorsement advice on IFRS 9 Financial Instruments
EFRAG has issued a draft endorsement advice letter (with supporting appendices) and a separate Invitation to Comment relating to the endorsement for use in the EU of IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (the Standard). Comments are requested by 30 June 2015.  View Article
 
  Financial Services Policy
 
 
ESAs - main risks to EU financial market stability have intensified
The Joint Committee of the ESAs published its fifth Report on Risks and Vulnerabilities in the EU Financial System. The report found that in the past six months, risks affecting the EU financial system have not changed in substance, but have further intensified.  View Article
 
  International/G20
 
 
EUbusiness: EU pushes global investment court to save US trade deal
The EU's trade commissioner defended plans Wednesday for an international investment court that could deal with any disputes arising from a massive free trade treaty with the United States.  View Article
 
  Grahams Articles, Comments & Speeches
 
 
Deepening EMU – Round-up of Key Events – April 2015
Cyprus was ‘back on track’ with the programme after the foreclosure framework implementation, but for Greece, "time is running out". Studies shows the dangers of Brexit for businesses and insurance. ECB an EU Commission held a Conference on Financial Integration and Stability.   View Article
 
  Education and Learning
 
 
Brussels for Brunch April 2015
Welcome to our second Brussels for Brunch webinar. Graham Bishop and Martin Watkins (E&Y) discuss the latest developments emerging from Brussels.   View Article
 
  Think Tanks/EP groups
 
 
CEPR: €-coin indicator records a further increase in April
The €-coin indicator rose in April, for the fifth month running, to 0.33 (from 0.26 in March). The indicator was mainly buoyed by the increase in industrial production and rising share prices.  View Article
 

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