(This e-mail provides the headers of a selection of the articles published this week. If you would like to upgrade to our Gold service and access all articles - with live links to the underlying news - please click on the button)
Articles from 20-27 May 2021
General Financial Policy
POLITICO: Switzerland ends talks on EU partnership treaty : The European Commission warned the decision will erode EU-Swiss relations. Switzerland on Wednesday canceled talks to salvage a long-delayed cooperation agreement with the EU, saying that it could not accept Brussels' demands on issues like citizen's rights and wages.
Remarks by Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis at the ECOFIN press conference : Fiscal policy should remain supportive both this year and next, as the minister already outlined - and also based on the spring economic forecast, we can confirm our approach that we would keep the general escape clause activated in 2022 and but no longer as of 2023.
EURACTIV: Budget rules to apply from 2023 to avoid ‘fiscal risks’ – Commission : The European Commission’s executive vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis, has argued that the provision of liquidity to the debt markets for “too long” in the European Union could result in “fiscal risks” and that therefore the EU’s rules on budgetary discipline are to be reactivated in 2023.
Vox: A new template for the European fiscal framework : The temporary suspension of the European fiscal rules to enable member states to take emergency measures against the Covid crisis offers an opportunity for an ambitious reform of a now clearly outdated fiscal framework.
Better Finance: EC public consultation on the crisis management and deposit insurance (CMDI) framework : Better Finance feedback on why it's important for retail users to make sure there is adequate depositor protection shielding them from the effects of bank failures.
Banking Union
EBA publishes final draft technical standards on own funds and eligible liabilities : With the revised Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) introducing new criteria and requirements for eligible liabilities, these amended RTS capture several aspects of eligible liabilities as well as the changes to the own funds framework.
SRB publishes updated MREL policy and publishes MREL dashboard Q4.2020 : The Single Resolution Board (SRB) published its updated ‘Minimum Requirements for Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities (MREL) Policy under the Banking Package’. The updated policy introduces a number of new elements and refinements, based on the changes required by the Banking Package.
IOSCO Issues Industry Surveys on Conduct Risks in Leveraged Loans and Collateralized Loan Obligations : IOSCO is conducting work to understand the potential conflicts of interest and misaligned incentives among participants in the LL and CLO markets across the chain of intermediation, from credit origination to the sale to end-investors.
EPC: Pushing the frontiers of payments: towards a global payments area : CPMI is seeking to improve cross-border payments. We interviewed Tara Rice, Head of the CPMI Secretariat at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to shed some light on the objectives, success factors and future of this project.
Capital Markets Union
ESMA responds to European Commission consultation on the ESAs : The recommendations put forward aim to support the objectives of the Capital Markets Union and further promote and facilitate supervisory convergence across Member States.
ESMA letter to EC regarding the Review of the CSDR : ESMA has already provided input to the European Commission through two reports (on CSD cross border services, and on internalised settlement) published in November 2020, and, in the coming months, will provide further input through the publication of two more reports on banking-type ancillary services, and on the use of technological innovation by CSDs.
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
EBA publishes results of EU-wide pilot exercise on climate risk : The findings give a clear picture of banks’ data gaps and highlight the sense of urgency to remedy them if they are to achieve a meaningful and smooth transition to a low-carbon economy.
IPE: New climate research house for investors to tackle high impact sectors : "There is a role for Industry Tracker because “despite the massive growth of the sustainable finance industry and more and more countries committing to ambitious net zero targets, capital is not currently being directed to the type of real-economy transformation that is required”.
IAIS: Press Release: IAIS and SIF set out key recommendations for insurance supervisors to strengthen efforts to address climate-related ris : The Application Paper on the Supervision of Climate-related Risks in the Insurance Sector provides recommendations and examples of good practice for insurance supervisors to manage the challenges arising from climate change.
City of London Corporation: Data, Direction, Dialogue : Climate change is a global problem requiring global action. With the world turning its attention to climate action in the runup to COP26, and President Biden’s election bringing the US back to the centre of this debate, the UK and US have an opportunity to collaborate on this vital agenda.
Protecting Customers
Better Finance: Funds Europe article: Financial Advice Fluctuates Randomly According to Mood of the Day : “Behavioural finance experts [at Oxford Risk] have found financial advisers can give “remarkably different” advice from each other to the same clients based on factors including sleep or how long since the adviser last ate.”
Fin Tech Regulation
ESMA launches call for evidence on digital finance : The call for evidence aims to gather relevant information on particular issues including value chains, platforms and groups’ provision of financial and non-financial services.
FT: Bitcoin gyrates on fears of regulatory crackdown : Digital asset market under intense pressure after China warns on use of cryptocurrencies.Cryptocurrency markets swung in chaotic trading and related stocks were hit after Chinese regulators signalled a crackdown on the use of digital coins, which have soared in price this year.
Friends' Standard Services
CSFI: 173rd Brussels 4 Breakfast - 19 May 2021 : It has been a busy month. The EP has formally approved the TCA - but that hasn't stopped efforts by the Commission and by individual member states to take business away from London. The inaugural meeting of the Conference on the Future of Europe was held in Strasbourg... View Article
Economic Policies Impacting EU Finance
FT: G7 is close to deal on taxation of world’s largest companies : Accord would curtail the ability of companies to shift profits to low tax jurisdictions
EBF presents recommendations for a fairer and more efficient EU tax framework EBF Tax Blueprint : Based on these four priorities, the EBF has formulated 10 concrete policy recommendations that are elaborated in the 48-page EBF blueprint ‘Recommendations for a fairer and more efficient EU tax framework’.
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