This week in "Brussels"
18 April 2019
EP adoption of financial regulation on banking union, capital rules, cross-border distribution of funds, money laundering and beefing up EU financial supervision agencies, EIOPA’s Risk Dashboard, Commission launches infringement action against 17 states over IORP II and more.
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Articles from 11 April 2019 - 18 April 2019 |
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Banking Union |
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Parliament approves rules to reduce risks to EU banks and protect taxpayers
Parliament adopted a significant step towards reducing risks in the banking system and establishing the Banking Union. View Article |
ECB launches public consultation on amendments to the supervisory fees framework
The ECB is launching a public consultation on proposed changes to the ECB Regulation on supervisory fees. This consultation incorporates the feedback received during the first public consultation on this issue in 2017 and input from the national competent authorities. View Article |
ECB publishes supervisory banking statistics for the fourth quarter of 2018
Capital ratios for significant institutions increased slightly in the fourth quarter of 2018, with the total capital ratio at 17.95%. The NPL ratio fell to 3.80%, the lowest level since the time series first published in 2015. The liquidity coverage ratio increased to 145.61% View Article |
BIS' Restoy: Market integration: the role of regulation
Speech by Fernando Restoy, Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements' Financial Stability Institute, about regulation as a cause or consequence of fragmentation and the relevant role of international standards. View Article |
FCA sets out its priorities for 2019/20
As the UK finalises preparations to leave the European Union, the immediate priority will remain supporting an orderly transition post-exit. The FCA will also continue to play a leading role in shaping the global regulatory framework working with other national regulators and international bodies. View Article |
ECB: The benefits and costs of adjusting bank capitalisation: evidence from euro area countries
The paper proposes a framework for assessing the impact of system-wide and bank-level capital buffers. The assessment rests on a factor-augmented vector autoregression (FAVAR) model that relates individual bank adjustments to macroeconomic dynamics. View Article |
ECB: Card payments in Europe
The Eurosystem reviewed the progress towards SEPA for cards and identified barriers hampering its establishment by market players. On this basis, it re-evaluated its policies and objectives to facilitate the activities of market players and help promote the development of SEPA for cards. View Article |
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Capital Markets Union |
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AFME: The new Financial Global Capital Markets Growth Index
The Global Financial Markets Association and New Financial published the new Financial Global Capital Markets Growth Index. View Article |
Bank of England: Fees regime for financial market infrastructure supervision 2019/20 and other related policy changes
This consultation paper sets out the expected FMI fee rates for 2019/20 for financial market infrastructures (FMI) that are recognised by the Bank and subject to the FMI fee regime. View Article |
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Clients Union |
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Insurance Europe: Insurers highlight challenges of applying GDPR
Insurance Europe has responded to questionnaires from the European Commission on insurers’ experiences and concerns about the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). View Article |
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Insurance |
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EIOPA’s Risk Dashboard for April 2019 shows broadly unchanged risk levels for the European Union insurance sector
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority published its updated Risk Dashboard based on the fourth quarter 2018 Solvency II data. The results show that the risk exposures of the European Union insurance sector remain overall stable. View Article |
EIOPA calls for consistent application of the proportionality principle for the supervision of Solvency Capital Requirement
The EIOPA issued a Supervisory Statement on the application of the proportionality principle in the supervision of the Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) calculated in accordance with the standard formula. View Article |
Bank of England: Insurance stress test 2019: Request for technical input
The PRA will be conducting an insurance stress test for the largest UK regulated life and general insurers from July to September 2019. View Article |
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Asset Management |
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EFAMA welcomes the final agreement on legislation to facilitate the cross-border distribution of funds
The European Fund and Asset Management Association welcomes the vote by the European Parliament plenary, formally adopting the trilogue agreement on the Commission's initiative to remove cross-border barriers to the distribution of investment funds. View Article |
EIOPA identifies areas for improvement in the supervision of Prudent Person Rule compliance by IORPs
The EIOPA published the findings of its peer review examining how national competent authorities (NCAs) ensure that institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) comply with the Prudent Person Rule. View Article |
Investment & Pensions Europe: Commission launches infringement action against 17 states over IORP II
The European Commission has opened infringement cases against 17 EU countries in relation to the transposition of IORP II, the new EU pension fund directive. View Article |
EIOPA updates Pension registers
The EIOPA published Decisions to revise the Register of Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORPs) Prudential Provisions, the Register of Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORPs), and the Database of Pension Plans and Products in the European Economic Area. View Article |
Investment & Pensions Europe: Moody’s: PEPP rollout to boost insurers and ESG-focused managers
Asset managers incorporating environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors into their investment processes stand to benefit from the introduction of the pan-European personal pension product (PEPP), according to credit rating agency Moody’s. View Article |
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Corporate Governance/Accounting |
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ACCA: Global economic confidence bounces in Q1 but still points to economic slowdown
Global economic confidence remained low in Q1 2019, despite rising for the first time in a year, finds the latest Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) from ACCA and IMA. View Article |
Deloitte comments on the IASB's proposed amendments to IAS 37
Deloitte has responded to the IASB's ED/2018/2 'Cost of Fulfilling a Contract (Proposed amendments to IAS 37)' that was published in December 2018. View Article |
ICAEW: Companies need to recognize the benefits of whistleblowing
Whistleblowing is central to the plurality of checks and balances that allow businesses to thrive. A report from ICAEW, "How whistleblowing helps companies", elaborates the importance of effective whistleblowing and provides guidance for boards on how to create environments that encourage it. View Article |
Accountancy Europe: Digitalisation - auditing more than financial data
Wesley Schulte from Finext urges accountants to "include assessments of human resources or environmental impact to create audits that are of value for a company". View Article |
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Financial Services Policy |
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MEPs strengthen EU financial watchdogs
MEPs approved rules strengthening the EU financial supervision needed for safer financial markets, fighting money laundering, and protecting consumers. View Article |
POLITICO: Financial agencies revamp, capital rules and fund sales all pass European Parliament
Lawmakers adopted a string of financial measures in a wrap-up of work before the election. View Article |
Audit&Risk: Web attacks make finance the most targeted sector in EMEA
Finance is once again the most attacked sector in EMEA, according to a report by security company NTT Security. An increase in the number of web attacks on financial organisations pushed business and professional services into second place. View Article |
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Political |
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Wolfgang Münchau: We have reached the end of the Franco-German love-in
Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to accept the German-led majority view to agree to a long Brexit extension is perhaps the most clear sign of an end to the love-in between the two countries, writes Münchau in the FT. View Article |
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Financial |
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ECA examines EU innovation support for SMEs
The ECA is conducting an audit of EU’s innovation support scheme for SMEs, including start-ups. It will assess the relevance and effectiveness of the ‘SME instrument’, launched in 2014. It will also examine whether the EC has addressed the challenges facing SMEs with a high potential for innovation. View Article |
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Economic |
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Trade with the United States: Council authorises negotiations on elimination of tariffs for industrial goods and on conformity assessment
The Council approved mandates for the Commission to open negotiations with the United States on two agreements. View Article |
Eurogroup President Mario Centeno: A source of stability: the role of the euro in an uncertain world
Speech by Eurogroup President Mario Centeno at the London Business School, in which Centeno explains how the euro will survive a global slowdown, predicted for the end of this year. View Article |
Annual inflation down to 1.4% in the euro area
The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.4% in March 2019, down from 1.5% in February 2019. European Union annual inflation was 1.6% in March 2019, stable compared to February 2019. View Article |
Euro area international trade in goods surplus €17.9 bn
The first estimate for euro area (EA19) exports of goods to the rest of the world in February 2019 was €183.3 billion, an increase of 4.4% compared with February 2018 (€175.6 bn). View Article |
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Graham's tweets |
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© Graham Bishop
Banking Union