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14 December 2017

This week in "Brussels"



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  Articles from 07 December 2017 - 14 December 2017

  Banking Union
 
 
Governors and Heads of Supervision finalise Basel III reforms
The Basel Committee's oversight body, the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), has endorsed the outstanding Basel III post-crisis regulatory reforms.  View Article
BIS: Basel III Monitoring Report - Results of the cumulative quantitative impact study
Alongside the finalisation of the Basel III post-crisis reforms, the Basel Committee published the results of a cumulative quantitative impact study (QIS) conducted while developing the standards.   View Article
EBA welcomes the revised Basel framework and provides an overview of its impact in the EU
The European Banking Authority welcomed the agreement reached on the finalisation of the Basel III framework by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), which concludes the global post-crisis prudential reforms.  View Article
Commission welcomes Basel Committee's agreement on post-crisis reforms
The European Commission followed up on the agreement to further strengthen the international post-crisis rules for banks, by setting out its approach to these new rules in the EU.  View Article
EBF calls for rigorous impact assessment of Basel III
The European Banking Federation notes that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and its Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision have reached an agreement on the completion of the Basel III international regulatory framework for banks.  View Article
Financial Times: New Basel rules on capital hit European banks
Top international central bankers and regulators have struck a long-awaited deal on bank capital rules that Mario Draghi hailed as the final step of post-financial crisis reforms and which resolves a transatlantic rift on the treatment of the industry.  View Article
BCBS completes its review of the regulatory treatment of sovereign exposures without changes to current rules and publishes discussion paper
The Basel Committee's oversight body mandated the Committee to review the regulatory treatment of sovereign risk in January 2015. The Basel Committee has now completed its review and is today publishing a discussion paper on the regulatory treatment of sovereign exposures.  View Article
ESAs publish amended technical standards on the mapping of ECAIs
The amendments reflect the recognition of five new credit rating agencies (CRAs) and the deregistration of one CRA. The ITS are part of the EU Single Rulebook for banking and insurance aimed at creating a safe and sound regulatory framework consistently applicable across the European Union.  View Article
Financial Times: Foreign-owned banks to be hit by US tax rules
Major international banks operating in the US could be disproportionately hit by new tax rules that will penalise the way they have structured their global operations, lobbyists and lawyers have claimed.  View Article
VOXEU: A fresh approach to complete the banking union in the Eurozone
Completing the banking union should once again be given priority, and that the EDIS could move forward immediately by providing in its early phase that the ESM would offer a liquidity line to national deposit guarantee schemes that had exhausted their funds, with no sharing of losses.  View Article
ECB approves major projects in field of large-value payments and collateral management
The Governing Council of the ECB approved the consolidation of the Eurosystem’s real-time gross settlement system TARGET2 and the securities settlement platform TARGET2-Securities (T2S), and the development of a Eurosystem Collateral Management System. Both projects will modernise existing systems and increase overall efficiency.  View Article
EBA publishes final draft technical standards on the future EBA register under the Payment Services Directive
The RTS specify the procedures competent authorities (CAs) should follow when providing information to the EBA and those that apply to the EBA when processing and publishing that information. The ITS specify the information that will be made available on the EBA Register.   View Article
EBA publishes final Guidelines on security measures under PSD2
These Guidelines are in support of the objective of PSD2 of contributing to an integrated payments market across the European Union, promoting equal conditions for competition, and mitigating the increased security risks arising from electronic payments.   View Article
EBA publishes final draft technical standards on central contact points under PSD2
The RTS specify the criteria for determining when the appointment of a central contact point in a host Member State (MS) is appropriate and the functions that these contact points should fulfill.  View Article
EPC: Guidelines on cryptographic algorithms usage and key management
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to the European banking industry in the field of cryptographic algorithms and related key management issues.  View Article
 
  Capital Markets Union
 
 
Capital Markets Union: Commission announces new tax guidelines to make life easier for cross-border investors
The new Code of Conduct offers solutions for investors who, as a result of how withholding taxes are applied, end up paying taxes twice on the income they receive from cross-border investments.  View Article
Financial Times: FCA urges asset managers to report Mifid implementation struggles
The Financial Conduct Authority has called on asset managers to notify the regulator if they are struggling with the implementation of sweeping new European market rules that come into force on January 3.  View Article
Update on MiFID II registers from 3 January 2018
ESMA will provide updated Registers information in line with requirements under MIFIR/MiFID II.  View Article
Financial Times: Mifid II impact on investment banking ‘exaggerated’
The much-hyped EU Mifid II investor protections coming into force on January 3 will erode less than 3 percent of investment banks’ annual revenue from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a new study has found.   View Article
PLSA: MIFID II top five actions for pension schemes published by PLSA
The PLSA’s newly published guide is designed to help trustees, scheme managers and other senior decision-makers consider what action is needed before and after the implementation of MiFID II.   View Article
 
  Insurance
 
 
IASB: IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts—Help is at hand
In 2021, insurers will apply the new accounting requirements in IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts. Since the IASB issued IFRS 17 in May 2017, it has been providing support to insurers and others in understanding these new requirements.  View Article
EIOPA releases an editable template for the Insurance Product Information Document
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority has made available an editable template for the Insurance Product Information Document (IPID).  View Article
Commercial Risk Europe: UK general insurers pass PRA stress test but areas for improvement
UK general insurers met the recent regulatory stress test conducted by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and demonstrated higher quality results than the last time an assessment was conducted in 2015. But, in a letter to general insurance firms, the PRA highlighted several areas for improvement.  View Article
EIOPA issues recommendations to improve consumer protection in the unit-linked market
The aim of the Opinion is to promote consistent supervisory practices, to support insurance undertakings in addressing the conflicts of interest resulting from the monetary incentives and to ensure that sound principles are used in managing unitlinked products.   View Article
EIOPA Consumer Trends: Digital technologies are changing the way consumers interact and engage
The EIOPA published Consumer Trends Report, which highlights the progressive presence of digital technologies across all stages of the insurance value chain, with biggest changes being observed in distribution channels.   View Article
 
  Asset Management
 
 
Investment & Pensions Europe: Pan-European pension concept to be presented to parliament
The EU’s plans for a pan-European personal pension plan (PEPP) will proceed to the European Parliament in the new year. Dutch MEP Sophie in ’t Veld has been appointed as rapporteur in charge of taking the policy to the parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs committee (ECON).  View Article
 
  Corporate Governance/Accounting
 
 
IASB issues annual improvements to IFRS Standards
The IASB has issued Annual Improvements to IFRS Standards 2015–2017 Cycle, which makes narrow-scope amendments to four IFRS Standards.  View Article
Accountancy Europe comments on IESBA ED proposed revisions to the Code
Accountancy Europe has published its comment letter on the IESBA ED Proposed Revisions to the Code Pertaining to the Offering and Accepting of Inducements.  View Article
FRC: Investors welcome auditor transparency on materiality and seek improved explanation
Uniquely in the UK, auditors report publicly on the materiality threshold applied to focus their audit work, disclosing what level of misstatement or omission they consider matters to users of financial statements. Investors welcome this transparency according to the FRC´s latest thematic review.  View Article
FRC Lab calls for collective action to promote digital corporate reporting
A new report from the FRC’s Financial Reporting Lab concludes that XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is an important technology in the path to digitisation of company reporting.   View Article
 
  Anti-Money Laundering
 
 
ACCA/CCAB: National Economic Crime Centre is a welcome addition to the fight against economic crime
The CCAB has welcomed this week’s launch of a nationwide anti-corruption strategy, including the formation of a National Economic Crime Centre, as an important first step in an integrated approach to financial crime.  View Article
Accountancy Europe: Fighting financial crime
Accountancy Europe has published its information paper on Fighting financial crime - Auditor’s role in the fight against fraud, corruption and money laundering.  View Article
 
  Financial Services Policy
 
 
ALFI: Review of the European Supervisory Authorities – ALFI takes position
ALFI published its feedback on the Proposal of the Commission COM (2017) 536 for a regulation on the role and powers of the European Supervisory Authorities. The period for feedback extends until 23 January 2018. There are several contributions of other stakeholders from the banking and the asset management industry.  View Article
Insurance Europe: Response provided to consultation on prevention and amicable resolution of disputes
Insurance Europe has responded to the European Commission’s consultation on the prevention and amicable resolution of disputes between investors and public authorities within the Single Market and on investors' rights.  View Article
CFOs risk losing relevance and global competitiveness if they do not embrace technology, says ACCA
Chief Financial Officers have an unprecedented opportunity as core contributors to the adoption of new technologies to drive business growth. However if they don’t embrace this opportunity, they risk losing competitiveness amid a fast-moving digital landscape, according to a new report by ACCA.  View Article
 
  Grahams Articles, Comments & Speeches
 
 
A ‘moderate’ breakthrough in the Brexit impasse: the Commission decides to move on to phase II but sticky issues drag on
This month's 136th Brussels for Breakfast debate and CPD Notes took stock of Theresa May's last-minute deal with the Commission to recommend 'sufficient progress' to begin trade talks. The endorsement of Basel III revamped rules and the upcoming MiFID II and IFRS9 packages were also topical.  View Article
 
  Friends Services
 
 
A ‘moderate’ breakthrough in the Brexit impasse: the Commission decides to move on to phase II but sticky issues drag on
This month's 136th Brussels for Breakfast debate and CPD Notes took stock of Theresa May's last-minute deal with the Commission to recommend 'sufficient progress' to begin trade talks. The endorsement of Basel III revamped rules and the upcoming MiFID II and IFRS9 packages were also topical.  View Article
 
  Political
 
 
Council approves the EU's legislative priorities for 2018-2019
The Council approved the EU's legislative priorities for 2018-2019 which have been agreed with the European Parliament and the Commission.   View Article
 
  Economic
 
 
CEPS: Comprehensive EMU reform or tinkering at the margins?
The European Commission has laid out a new roadmap for reforming EMU. Regrettably, most of the proposed changes, being formalistic and cosmetic, are unlikely to have much impact.  View Article
Investment & Pensions Europe: Withholding tax relief in sight as Commission unveils code of conduct
The European Commission has come up with guidelines to make it easier for investors to reclaim withholding taxes linked to investments in a foreign country.  View Article
Employment up by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU28
The number of persons employed increased by 0.4% in the euro area (EA19) and by 0.3% in the EU28 in the third quarter of 2017 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat.  View Article
GDP up by 0.6% in both the euro area and the EU28
Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.6% in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 during the third quarter of 2017, compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published by Eurostat.  View Article
 

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