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03 May 2018

This week in "Brussels"



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  Articles from 26 April 2018 - 03 May 2018

  Banking Union
 
 
EBA consults on Guidelines on disclosure of non-performing and forborne exposures
The Guidelines specify the information related to non-performing (NPE) and forborne exposures and foreclosed assets that banks should disclose and provide uniform disclosure formats. By addressing potential asymmetries of information and providing common disclosure on the quality of banks' assets, the Guidelines seek to foster transparency and market discipline.   View Article
EU Parliament: proposal for a regulation of the EP and of the Council amending Regulation as regards the location of the seat of the EBA
In the context of the UK's notification of its intention to leave the Union the other 27 Member States, meeting in the margins of the General Affairs Council (‘Article 50’), selected Paris, France, as the new seat of the European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority).  View Article
ECB: Risk reduction in the euro area – how low can you go?
Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, stated that, "to reap the full benefits of the banking union, we need a harmonised regulatory framework."  View Article
Bank of England: Model risk management principles for stress testing
This Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) Policy Statement provides feedback to responses to Consultation Paper 26/17 ‘Model risk management principles for stress testing’. It contains the final Supervisory Statement 3/18 ‘Model risk management principles for stress testing’.  View Article
EPC: Consumer Financial Services Action Plan: payment-related actions
Roxane Romme, Policy Officer at European Commission, DG FISMA, shares her views on latest developments under Single Market activity covered in EC Action plan – more specifically focuses on tackling transparency and fees in cross-border transactions.  View Article
IB Times: The revolution in banking that will be good news for the customer
The second Payment Services Directive is set to change the future of the banking sector. Traditional banks need to focus on their back-office IT systems but they must also dedicate time to creating a personalised approach that offers great, bespoke value to all customers, writes Pini Yakuel.  View Article
Bank of England: Consolidation of three UK Payment System Operators
The New Payment System Operator (NPSO) has taken over responsibility for the operation of two of the UK’s retail payment systems – Bacs and Faster Payments.   View Article
ECB sets supervisory fees at €474.8 million for 2018
Total expenditure on supervision in 2018 is estimated at €502.5 million, partially covered by €27.7m surplus not spent in 2017. The expenditure increase includes costs associated with Brexit and biennial stress tests. The ECB’s ongoing review of internal models is still a major component.  View Article
Financial Times: Trump administration picks the wrong time to ease up on banks
Loosening the rules on leveraged loans right now looks peculiar, writes Gillian Tett.  View Article
Financial Times: Financial regulators turn their sights on banks’ use of cloud
Financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have turned their attention to the cloud, as concerns mount over how to supervise online storage services, which hold information from the world’s biggest banks.  View Article
 
  Capital Markets Union
 
 
Remarks by Vice-President Dombrovskis at the first informal ECOFIN press conference in Sofia
The Commission Vice-President said that there is legislation to promote venture capital, to enable safe and transparent securitisation, and to make it easier for SMEs to tap capital markets via a reformed prospectus, but he also stressed that European capital markets are facing new challenges.  View Article
FSB publishes second consultation on unique product identifier governance
The consultation sets out proposals for the governance arrangements for a global UPI, as a key harmonised identifier designed to facilitate effective aggregation of transaction reports from over-the-counter derivatives markets.  View Article
ISDA publishes new academic paper on margin requirements for non-cleared derivatives market
The paper examines the rationale for the 10-day liquidity horizon applied under the initial margin rules for non-cleared trades, and assesses whether it is appropriate. The 10-day period is double the five days set for cleared trades.  View Article
ESMA launches bond liquidity system under MiFID II
ESMA published its first liquidity assessment for bonds subject to the pre- and post-trade requirements of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Regulation.  View Article
Financial Times: MiFID II regime shines light on trading relations
Fund managers in Europe may face tough conversations with some brokers after a regulatory drive to publicly disclose more information on their trading relationships begins.  View Article
ISDA elects new board members; expands CCP representation on board
ISDA has announced that four new directors are joining its Board of Directors, as it continues to expand its regional and business diversity.  View Article
Bruegel: Making a reality of Europe’s Capital Markets Union
The authors of this publication suggest that capital markets will only transform with concrete action and that ESMA reform should be a priority but cannot be the only one. Policymakers need to set priorities that will move the project forward.  View Article
 
  Clients Union
 
 
Financial Times: Europe bets its data law will lead to tech supremacy
John Thornhill argues that the very threat of the GDPR has forced every responsible business in Europe to scrutinise how it gathers, stores and uses data, which is a good thing. Yet there are several glaring drawbacks to the regulation.  View Article
 
  Insurance
 
 
City A.M.: FCA's guidelines are undervaluing consumers' PPI claims by billions of pounds, barristers allege
Barristers from St John's Buildings are claiming that consumers could be underpaid by billions of pounds if banks follow the financial regulator's guidance on Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) payouts.  View Article
EIOPA's Risk Dashboard for fourth quarter of 2017: Risk exposure of the European Union insurance sector remains stable
The results show that the risk exposure of the insurance sector in the European Union remained stable. Despite positive macroeconomic developments, low interest rates are still a major source of risk for European insurers.  View Article
Insurance Europe: Current SME definition does not work for insurers
Insurance Europe has published a position paper in response to a European Commission consultation on its review of the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  View Article
 
  Asset Management
 
 
Financial Times: EU steps back from tough new fund management rules
The EU has stepped back from one of the toughest aspects of new plans that would restrict the UK’s £8tn fund management industry from providing services to overseas clients.  View Article
Financial Times: FCA’s Bailey slams EU’s post-Brexit plans for asset managers
The UK’s top financial watchdog has slammed plans by European regulators to shake up the rules governing asset managers after Brexit.  View Article
ECMI: A proportional prudential regime for investment firms
Possibly facilitated by the perspective of Brexit, the European Commission has proposed, for the first time, a truly proportional regime in its new prudential framework for investment firms, writes General Manager of ECMI Karel Lanoo.  View Article
European Commission: Pensions in the EU
The 2018 Pensions Adequacy Report analyses how current and future pensions help prevent old-age poverty and maintain the income of men and women for the duration of their retirement. It recognises efforts of Member States to ensure adequate pensions, but states that more needs to be done.   View Article
EIOPA is significantly enhancing European pensions statistics
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority published its decision regarding the submission of occupational pensions information.  View Article
Investment & Pensions Europe: Asset managers urged to collaborate on cybersecurity
The directors and senior management of asset managers should increase collaboration across the industry to improve its resilience to cybercrime, according to the Investment Association (IA).  View Article
 
  Corporate Governance/Accounting
 
 
IFAC: Global accounting ethics & audit standards achieving worldwide adoption
Nearly 80% of jurisdictions worldwide have adopted International Standards for Auditing for mandatory audits, while more than 60% have fully adopted the international Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, according to a new study by IFAC on rates of adoption of international standards.  View Article
Accountancy Europe: Member States’ implementation of new EU audit rules
Accountancy Europe has updated its report on Member States’ implementation of new EU audit rules as of April 2018.  View Article
ECIIA: Over disclosure of information could erode stakeholder trust
In the rush to comply with pressure to disclose ever-increasing levels of non-financial information, companies could inadvertently erode stakeholder trust by publishing too much data, delegates heard at the 22nd European Corporate Governance Conference in Sofia this April.  View Article
EFRAG: Long-term investment and equity instruments consultation
EFRAG is developing its technical advice to the Commission on recycling and impairment of equity instruments designated at fair value through other comprehensive income.  View Article
 
  Financial Services Policy
 
 
European Parliament: Third country equivalence in EU banking and financial regulation
The focus of this briefing is on the supervisory and regulatory regime for banking and financial services provided on a cross-border basis by third country firms in the EU under equivalence regimes. It also gives an overview on the possible role of equivalence regimes in the context of Brexit.  View Article
The ESAs conclude a multilateral Memorandum of Understanding with the EFTA Surveillance Authority
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA - the ESAs) have concluded a multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation, information exchange and consultation with the EFTA Surveillance Authority.   View Article
ECB publishes European framework for testing financial sector resilience to cyber attacks
TIBER-EU is the first European framework for controlled cyber hacking to test resilience of financial market entities. Framework facilitates testing for cross-border entities under oversight of several authorities. Goals are to help entities gain insight about their protection, detection and response capabilities and to help them fighting cyber attacks.  View Article
Financial Times: BBVA issues corporate loan using blockchain
Spain’s BBVA has become the first global bank to issue a loan using the distributed ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies and has the potential to revolutionise banking processes.   View Article
 
  Economic
 
 
Federal Trust: Eurozone Stabilisation Fund: Revisited
Mark Nevin proposes a Stabilisation Fund for the Eurozone to insure against asymmetric economic shocks. Under the paper's proposals, payments into and out of the Stabilisation Fund would be based on national economic performance relative to each country’s potential growth rate.   View Article
Vox EU: Deepening EMU requires a coherent and well-sequenced package
This column argues that while the proposals in a recent CEPR Policy Insight are both timely and attractive, the mix seems unbalanced and carries significant risks. The focus of the proposals on reducing fiscal risks could lead to financial distress, ultimately requiring more, not fewer, rescues.  View Article
Bruegel: State contingent debt as insurance for euro-area sovereigns
Stability mechanisms have been improved at European level, with the promotion of the banking union and the establishment of an EMF. However, authors argue that such crisis contingencies should include markets in their risk-sharing, which would require better coordination with institutions.  View Article
EU budget: Commission proposes a modern budget for a Union that protects, empowers and defends
The Commission proposed a pragmatic, modern, long-term budget for the 2021-2027 period.  View Article
POLITICO: Paris, Berlin push for consensus on eurozone overhaul
France and Germany are determined to reach a common position on how best to strengthen economic safeguards within the single currency bloc before the end of June, when eurozone leaders meet in Brussels to agree on a roadmap for reform, French and German finance ministers said.  View Article
Accountancy Europe: EC’s exchange of data to combat VAT fraud in the e-commerce
Accountancy Europe has published its response to the Commission on the consultation “Exchange of data to combat VAT fraud in the e-commerce”.  View Article
April 2018: Economic Sentiment stabilises in both the euro area and the EU
In April, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) remained unchanged in the euro area (at 112.7 points) and broadly stable in the EU (-0.3 points to 112.3). The indicators stabilised following three consecutive drops and remain at elevated levels.   View Article
GDP up by 0.4% in both the euro area and the EU28
Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.4% in both the euro area (EA19) and in the EU28 during the first quarter of 2018, compared with the previous quarter, according to a preliminary flash estimate published by Eurostat.  View Article
Euro area unemployment at 8.5%
The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 8.5% in March 2018, stable compared with February 2018 and down from 9.4% in March 2017. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since December 2008.  View Article
 

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