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AArticles from 5 March 2020 - 12 March 2020

 

Banking Union

ESMA consults on draft technical standards for benchmarks : ESMA launched a consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR) covering governance, methodology, infringements reporting, critical benchmarks. View Article

AFME comments on SRB policy under the banking package consultation : AFME fully supports the SRB’s policy aims, i.e. for the proposed provisions to be effective, efficient and proportionate, whilst also promoting a level playing field across banks.  View Article

EBA launches call for expression of interest for its new Banking Stakeholders Group (BSG) : The call for expression is launched because of the ESAs review process that took place in 2019 and entered into force in January 2020. The mandate of the current members will expire on 30 June 2020.  View Article

EBA launches consultation to update methodology to identify G-SIIs : The need for this revision was prompted, on one hand, by the revised framework for global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) published by the BCBS, on the other hand, by the recent mandate given to the EBA to draft an additional methodology for the allocation of G-SII buffer rates to identified G-SIIs.  View Article

EBA highlights the importance of data and information preparedness to perform a valuation for resolution : The EBA published the Chapter on how resolution authorities should assess institutions’ management information systems, in the context of the resolvability assessment, to ensure that data and information are swiftly provided to support a robust valuation for resolution (valuation MIS).  View Article

EBF presents recommendations on fighting dirty money in EU : As the European Commission is preparing its next steps towards creating a solid EU framework for fighting money launderers, the European Banking Federation today presented its blueprint with recommendations for an effective EU’s Anti-Money Laundering policy, known as AML. View Article

Bank of England: CRD IV and capital : This statement is relevant to PRA-authorised firms to which the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) applies. It sets out the Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA’s) expectations on the quality of regulatory capital resources that firms are required to hold under the CRR.  View Article

EBF: Review of the framework for the Standardised Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) : The new Standardised Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) is considered to be overly conservative by the industry. The SA-CCR addresses the risk of a counterparty to a derivatives transaction defaulting.  View Article

ISDA: CRR III: Appropriateness and consistency : ISDA Chief Executive Officer Scott O'Malia said that we can expect a busy year with legislative proposals for the third Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR III) expected in June. View Article

EPC: Publication of the updated SEPA Proxy Lookup scheme rulebook : The European payment Council (EPC) has published version 2.0 of the SEPA Proxy Lookup (SPL) scheme rulebook which consists of a set of rules, practices and standards that makes it possible to operate, join and participate in the SPL scheme.  View Article

EPC: Publication of the updated 2019 EPC SEPA payment scheme rulebooks : Updated 2019 rulebook versions for the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) scheme, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme, the SEPA Direct Debit Core (SDD Core) scheme and the SDD Business-to-Business (SDD B2B) scheme have been published.  View Article

Capital Markets Union

ESMA’s supervision focuses on outstanding credit ratings, data quality and third country CCPs : ESMA is also preparing for its new supervisory responsibilities under the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR), the Securitisation Regulation (SECR), the Benchmarks Regulation and MiFIR. View Article

AFME publishes recommendations for partial settlement under Central Securities Depository Regulation : The recommendations aim to encourage greater and more harmonised use of partial settlement across the industry as a way of improving settlement rates. View Article

ESMA consults on MiFIR transparency regime for non-equity instruments : ESMA launched a Consultation Paper reviewing the transparency regime for non-equity instruments and the trading obligation for derivatives under the Market in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). View Article

AMF - MiFID II: Focus on the relationship between producers and distributors : MiFID II has established new obligations concerning the relationship between producers and distributors of financial instruments, to ensure greater protection of investors. View Article

EFAMA’s Response to EIOPA’s Consultation on PEPP Level-2 Measures : In a response to EIOPA’s Consultation on PEPP Level-2 Measures, EFAMA, the voice of the investment management industry has said that the cost of advice should be excluded from the fee cap to allow the PEPP to be successful. View Article

EBA concludes that no specific regulatory LGD should be set for credit insurance claims : The EBA published an Opinion on the treatment of credit insurance in the prudential framework, in response to the extensive feedback received in its public consultations on draft Guidelines on credit risk mitigation for institutions applying the IRB approach with own estimates of Loss Given Default (LGD).  View Article

Insurance Europe: Insurers welcome review of NFRD, call for ESG data/assessments to be reported directly by investee companies : Insurance Europe has published its response to a consultation by the European Commission on an impact assessment on the review of the non-financial reporting directive (NFRD), which covers reporting on topics such as environmental protection and social responsibility. View Article

Commercial Risk Europe: European insurers well prepared to deal with coronavirus but credit market likely to take hit and harden : The European insurance sector is well positioned to deal with the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) on both the asset and liability sides of its balance sheet by using exposure management, reinsurance or other mechanisms, according to credit ratings agency AM Best. View Article

Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)

 

Valdis Dombrovskis presents the European Industrial Strategy

 

European Commission: A new Industrial Strategy for a globally competitive, green and digital Europe : The Commission presents a new Strategy to help Europe's industry lead the twin transitions towards climate neutrality and digital leadership. The Strategy aims to drive Europe's competitiveness and its strategic autonomy at a time of moving geopolitical plates and increasing global competition. View Article

Sustainable finance: TEG final report on the EU taxonomy : The final report on EU taxonomy, developed by the Technical Expert Group (TEG) on Sustainable Finance, contains recommendations relating to the overarching design of the Taxonomy, as well as guidance on how companies and financial institutions can make disclosures using the taxonomy. View Article

EurActiv: EU experts recommend two-tier approach to ‘green’ investment rules : European policymakers should use a two-tier approach to define sustainable investments in order to smooth the bloc’s transition to a low carbon economy, a group of industry experts has said. View Article

ICMA AMIC´s first Review of 2020 on Sustainable Finance, Fund Liquidity and Primary Markets : ICMA’s AMIC publishes its first Review of 2020, featuring articles on Sustainable Finance, Fund Liquidity and Primary Markets. This bi-annual publication highlights the role of the buy-side community within ICMA, reminds readers of AMIC’s objectives and priorities and outlines the activities of its working groups, alongside some enduring AMIC topics. View Article

Bloomberg: Finance can’t decide how it wants to deal with climate change : Whether markets should help prevent ecological disaster or simply minimize the losses from it is a major open question. As concern about climate change grows, and as marketing of “sustainable finance” products ramps up, it may be customers—both retail and institutional—and policymakers who have the final say. View Article

Fin Tech Regulation

European Commission: Shaping Europe's digital future: Eurobarometer survey shows support for sustainability and data sharing : The survey, released today, measured attitudes towards the impact of digitalisation on daily lives of Europeans in 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom. It covers several different areas including digitalisation and the environment, sharing personal information, disinformation, digital skills and the use of digital ID. View Article

Friends' Standard Services

 

 

The view from Brussels of the EU/UK negotiations: a total illusion of “independence” : Graham Bishop happened to be in Brussels for a conference just after the `negotiations’ finished last week. His clear conclusion is that the UK is about to be sacrificed on the altar of an ideological purity about independence that is a total illusion. View Article

160th Brussels for Breakfast – CPD Notes : Organised by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), hosted by CISI with fellow speakers Gergely Polner (Hanbury Strategy) and Niamh Moloney (LSE Dept. of Law).  View Article

160th Brussels for Breakfast – CPD Notes : Organised by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), hosted by CISI with fellow speakers Gergely Polner (Hanbury Strategy) and Niamh Moloney (LSE Dept. of Law).  View Article

Economic Policies Impacting EU Finance

Coronavirus crisis: “Commission will use all the tools at its disposal to make sure the European economy weathers the storm” : The Commission received a mandate to further step up its response to the Coronavirus, or COVID-19 outbreak, on all fronts and coordinate Member State actions. View Article

IMF: Limiting the economic fallout of the coronavirus with large targeted policies : Substantial targeted policies are needed to support the economy through the epidemic, keeping intact the web of economic and financial relationships between workers and businesses, lenders and borrowers, and suppliers and end-users for activity to recover once the outbreak fades, warned the IMF. View Article

Bank of England measures to respond to the economic shock from Covid-19 : The Bank’s three policy committees are today announcing a comprehensive and timely package of measures to help UK businesses and households bridge across the economic disruption that is likely to be associated with Covid-19. View Article

The Guardian: An Italian financial crisis is certain – the big question is how contagious it is : The EU can rewrite its rules and let governments borrow more to counter the crisis or let Italy go the way of Greece, writes Larry Elliott. View Article

Broadening the International Role of the Euro

Keynote speech by President Charles Michel on the international role of the euro at the Centre for European Policy Studies : Michel delivers three main messages: First, Europeans must have a clear goal in sight: for geopolitical, climate and digital matters. Next, a euro that is attractive internationally is a key element in making progress towards that objective. Finally, for an attractive euro, we need a strong EMU. View Article

LSE: The reputation of the euro and the European Central Bank: Interlinked or disconnected? : Researchers have found that while support for the euro is primarily value based, trust in the ECB depends predominantly on citizens’ satisfaction with the EU’s overall performance and citizens’ outlooks on the economy. View Article

Basic Enconomic Indicators

GDP up by 0.1% and employment by 0.3% in the euro area : Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.1% in the euro area (EA19) and by 0.2% in the EU27 during the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with the previous quarter. View Article

EU27 Politics

EurActiv: Von der Leyen sees ‘momentum’ for improving EU-US relations : European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “there might be momentum” for improving the EU’s relationship with the US, but it remained unclear when she will present a trade offer to US President Donald Trump to avoid further tariffs. View Article

Ursula von der Leyen - City AM

A Union that strives for more: the first 100 days : The new Commission led by President Ursula von der Leyen took office on 1 December 2019. Within its first 100 days, the Commission focused on delivering its most important priorities set in the President's political guidelines. View Article

LSE: Brexit will affect, but not determine, the EU’s roles in a changing world arena : What effects might Brexit have on the EU’s capacity to play an effective role in the world arena, asks Michael Smith (University of Warwick)? View Article

UK in a Changing Europe: Populist radical right parties across Europe not eager to leave the EU : Even the most passionately eurosceptic politicians are typically reluctant to campaign for their countries’ exit from the EU, research suggests. View Article

 

Graham Bishop retweeted
	EURACTIV @EURACTIV
The spread of the coronavirus epidemic is set to derail post-Brexit trade talks between London and the EU, UK Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove admitted. bit.ly/2TKyQjX
	Graham Bishop @GrahamBishopcom
Brexit negotiations took centre stage in today's #Brussels4Breakfast debate @CISI organised by @CSFI1 ,though the subsequent discussion on the plight of EU banks proved to be very sobering. Read my notes here ow.ly/qC0r50yJ9Gx #Brexit #tradetalks #MREL #EBA
	Graham Bishop @GrahamBishopcom
Read my notes on the latest #Brussels4Breakfast debate - Is this the ultimate perfect storm for the EU’s banking system? #Brexit #tradetalks #tradedeal #MREL #EBA ow.ly/vI3Q50yJ9gd
Graham Bishop retweeted
	Bloomberg @business
BREAKING: ECB President Christine Lagarde warns Europe risks a major economic shock similar to the financial crisis without urgent action on coronavirus trib.al/EWrW7cf pic.twitter.com/TnkbIMPloi
Graham Bishop retweeted
	FT Brussels @ftbrussels
Brussels warns no quick decision on City market access on.ft.com/38H02UG
	Graham Bishop @GrahamBishopcom
I happened to be in Brussels for a conference just after the #Brexit`negotiations’ finished last week - here's my view on what's next for Brexit Britain #tradetalks ow.ly/EulV50yHFsc
	Graham Bishop @GrahamBishopcom
The UK is about to be sacrificed on the altar of an ideological purity about independence that is a total illusion - my view from Brussels of the EU/UK negotiations #Brexit #tradetalks ow.ly/XxUW50yHFoa
Graham Bishop retweeted
	FT Brussels @ftbrussels
UK and EU set to table competing draft trade deals on.ft.com/2IxbuaT
Graham Bishop retweeted
	Bloomberg Brexit @Brexit
London's banks will have to wait months to learn if they’ll get EU access, says Michel Barnier, despite U.K. pressure for a quick deal trib.al/UTesCpk
Graham Bishop retweeted
	FT Brussels @ftbrussels
Barnier warns of ‘serious’ differences after Brexit talks on.ft.com/2TJJDK1