This week in "Brussels"
30 April 2015
EBA, BCBS, ECB, Deutsche Bank, The City, EPC, MiFID II, ESMA, CCPs, CFA, EIOPA, Gabriel Bernardino, Fitch, EFAMA, MMFR Report, Capital Markets Union, QE, IOSCO, AIMA, FEE, IASB, Basel Comittee, IFAC, European Commission, BIS
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Articles from 23 April 2015 - 30 April 2015 |
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Banking |
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EBA consults on a revised data template for the identification of G-SIIS
The need for this revision was prompted by the new data template and some minor revisions introduced by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in January 2015 for the identification of global systemically important banks. View Article |
Financial Times: Stagnation, fines and regulation leave European banks struggling
Are European banks in terminal decline? Tough regulation on capital and pay, fines for past misdemeanours and economic stagnation in home markets have hit Europe’s biggest banks hard. View Article |
ECB: Monitoring, regulation and self-regulation in the European banking sector
Sabine Lautenschläge said she does not believe in self-regulation in financial markets. “You cannot have stable and functional banks without comprehensive regulation and energetic supervision.” View Article |
ECB: The banking union and financial integration
Danièle Nouy: "CMU can increase the resilience of the financial system by generating alternative sources of funding for the economy and reducing the dependence of the non-financial sector on bank funding, which is particularly detrimental in periods of bank deleveraging." View Article |
BCBS: 8th progress report on adoption of the Basel regulatory framework
The report focuses on the status of domestic rule-making processes to ensure that the Basel standards are transformed into national law or regulation according to the internationally agreed timeframes. View Article |
Reuters: Germany to keep agency for troubled banks while EU fund set up
The SRM is intended as a pan-European bailout fund, which will be built up over eight years from levies on banks that start 2016, reaching a total of 55 billion euros by 2024. It will then replace any national agencies. View Article |
Financial Times: Deutsche Bank pays record fine for Libor manipulation
Deutsche Bank has paid a record $2.5bn to authorities in the US and UK to settle allegations that it manipulated the Libor benchmark rate, a key interbank borrowing rate. View Article |
Financial Times: The outdated ring fence that will starve City of London finance
Proposals for regulation of British banks are already overdue for repeal, writes Simon Samuels. View Article |
EPC: Trends expected to shape the future of payments in Europe and other regions around the globe
The EPC newsletter includes articles on the SEPA process, instant payments, the U.S. payment system, cyber security and account-servicing PSPs, among other topics. View Article |
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Securities |
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MiFID II: Meeting of the European Securities Commission
Documents on transparency, SMEs and growth, FX contracts, investor protection (including payment for research), reasonable commercial basis and portfolio compression. View Article |
ESMA published updated EMIR Q&A – focus on reporting
This update relates to the second level of the EMIR validation specifications to be commonly applied by the trade repositories to ensure that reporting is performed according to the EMIR regime. View Article |
ESMA consults on draft guidelines specifying criteria for the assessment of knowledge and competence in MiFID II
The consultation paper proposes that such criteria should be met by attaining an “appropriate qualification” and “appropriate experience” and sets out the areas of knowledge and competence that need to be assessed against, in order to provide investment advice or information to clients. View Article |
ESMA recognised third-country CCPs
The ten recognised CCPs are established in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. Recognition by ESMA allows third country CCPs to provide clearing services to clearing members or trading venues established in the EU. View Article |
Financial Times: Centralised risk raises systemic worries over derivatives
FIA Global will call for greater transparency and disclosure from clearers for banks and broker-dealers to help identify credit and operational risks. This comes after regulators put pressure on the global market to push more swap trades into clearing houses. View Article |
CFA Institute study calls for standardisation, simplification and transparency within the shadow banking sector
The report makes recommendations regarding the management of collateral and reforms to the securitisation market. View Article |
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Insurance |
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Euractiv: Interview with Gabriel Bernardino
A pan-European pension markets product would help spur more cross-border economic activity and instill confidence in the single market amongst consumers, says EIOPA chairman Gabriel Bernardino. View Article |
EurActiv: Commission to put financial services, insurance under spotlight
The EU executive is set to launch a broad consultation on the state of the internal market for financial services to gauge how fragmented markets are and what can be done to encourage more cross-border activity in the insurance sector. View Article |
EIOPA: Future of the insurance supervision and challenges for Ireland
Gabriel Bernardino states the proper benefits from Solvency II implementation and explains how he sees the role of EIOPA in the move from regulation to supervision. View Article |
Fitch: Low rates a risk, but German insurers can meet guarantees
Sustained low interest rates are the biggest risk for European insurers, and German firms are the most exposed in the region due to their widespread use of guaranteed returns, Fitch Ratings says. View Article |
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Asset Management |
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EFAMA annual asset management report sees strong growth in 2014
The report focuses on the value of assets professionally managed in Europe, with a distinction between investment funds and discretionary mandate assets, across both the retail and institutional landscape. View Article |
EFAMA: MMFR report at odds with Capital Markets Union’s policy focus to promote alternative sources of financing to the economy
EFAMA is concerned the report voted by the European Parliament will, if implemented, seriously impact the ability for companies in Europe to manage their liquidity and the short term funding that MMFs provide to the capital markets. View Article |
PensionsEurope: The effects of QE on pension funds
The current low-interest rate environment and the QE policy of the ECB put severe pressure on both Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution pensions funds. View Article |
IOSCO: Emerging market regulators aim for deeper and more resilient capital markets
Global emerging capital market regulators reinforced their commitment to maintain market resilience while focusing on efforts to accelerate the sustainable growth and development of emerging capital markets. View Article |
Tabb Forum: Could liquidity itself shape fair and efficient market structure?
There has long been a question of whether regulatory relief should set market structure to ameliorate market deficiencies or whether competitive forces are sufficient to lead to efficient and productive markets. One of the competitive forces that can help today’s equity markets is liquidity itself. View Article |
AIMA published updated guide for fund directors
The Guide takes account of regulatory and tax reforms since the financial crisis, such as the AIFMD and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. View Article |
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Corporate Governance/Accounting |
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FEE comment letter on Basel Committee’s consultation on guidance on accounting for expected credit losses
FEE agrees with the principles for banks in the guidance proposed by the Basel Committee, on accounting for expected credit losses. View Article |
IASB votes to defer the effective date of the new Revenue Standard
The IASB is planning to issue an Exposure Draft with proposed clarifications to the Standard, stemming from the joint Transition Resource Group meetings. Another reason for the postponement is to keep the effective date of the IASB’s and the FASB’s Revenue Standards aligned. View Article |
IFAC: New guide realised to support professional accountancy organizations in advocacy and public policy efforts
The guide offers practical advice to help professional accountancy organizations create an environment in which professional accountants are listened to and can speak out on topical societal issues. View Article |
IFAC: Coalition meeting supports better public sector financial reporting
Convened by IFAC, the "Accountability. Now." coalition met for the first time to develop strategies to encourage high-quality public sector financial reporting, greater government transparency and accountability, and empowered citizen engagement. View Article |
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Financial Services Policy |
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European Commission: European financial stability and integration review
The first part of the report is more descriptive and data driven, the second part has a special focus on particular policy areas that impact European financial stability and integration developments including those expected to have a significant impact on economic growth. View Article |
European Commission: Refocusing financial integration on growth and jobs
Commissioner Hill tackled banking union, securitisation and CMU. "I expect there to be less new legislation in the future and more focus on bedding-in the reforms of recent years. Businesses need stability and regulatory certainty," he said. View Article |
ECB: Financial integration in Europe rebounds, report finds
Financial integration in the euro area has made good progress in most market segments and increased in 2014, as measured by FINTEC. This progress can be seen across the money, bond, and banking market segments, while the picture for the equity market segment is more mixed. View Article |
Reuters: Non-banks should also undergo stress tests, says ECB's Constancio
Stress tests should be extended to major European financial institutions other than banks to help underpin the integrity of the region's financial system, the ECB's vice president said. View Article |
BIS: Ultra-low or negative interest rates - what they mean for financial stability and growth
Hervé Hannoun: "The policy of prolonged ultra-low, or negative, interest rates relies on transmission channels with uncertain effectiveness and potentially serious unintended consequences." View Article |
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Think Tanks/EP groups |
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Bruegel: Capital Markets Union - a vision for the long term
Capital Markets Union is a welcome initiative. It could augment economic risk sharing, set the right conditions for more dynamic development of risk capital for high-growth firms and improve choices and returns for savers. View Article |
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© Graham Bishop
Banking