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European Finance Forum
Confirmed speakers include:
Peter Skinner (MEP)
Karel van Hulle (European Commission)
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Topics to include:
Solvency II
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EP adopts consumer credit directive16 January 2008 |
| The European Parliament adopted at second reading the consumer credit directive. The amendments adopted should conclude the legislative procedure as they were negotiated with the Council in advance. The new legislation will cover consumer loans between €200 and €75 000 which have to be repaid within more than one month. View |
MLex: Northern Rock faces a slim-down, nationalised or not, in EC state aid review16 January 2008 |
| Northern Rock still intends to have its strategic review ready by mid-February, in time for Brussels regulators to begin an assessment of its planned restructuring, but a lack of obvious refinancing candidates and the looming threat of nationalisation mean the continued operation of the bank in its existing form must be doubtful. View |
EBF comments on Consumer Credit Directive - reservations remain16 January 2008 |
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The EBF noted the adoption of the CCD after some six years of intense discussions as a first signal towards further integration but raised a number of reservations. The EBF fears that the text generates doubts as to whether this directive will really help build a more integrated and competitive consumer credit market in Europe. View |
Eurofinas: Consumer Credit Directive – a missed opportunity16 January 2008 |
| Eurofinas claims that a certain number of key topics in the adopted Directive fall short from fully harmonizing the rules existing at national level by allowing Member States to either their keep existing regime or adopt more stringent requirements. Regulatory fragmentation will therefore persist. View |
Tax tensions threaten to drive banks away15 January 2008 |
| London’s pre-eminence as an international financial centre could be damaged by friction over tax issues, foreign banks have warned. The Association of Foreign Banks says that several new tax initiatives ran the risk of making the UK a less business-friendly location for banks. View |
ICMA regulatory policy newsletter15 January 2008 |
| ICMA issued its regulatory policy newsletter No.8. Issues covered include articles on the resilience of the Repo Market, the post-MiFID regulatory landscape, and the debate on supervisory structures in Europe. View |
Plenary Meeting14 January 2008 |
| The European Parliament adopted, at second reading, the consumer credit directive. The amendments adopted should conclude the legislative procedure as these were negotiated with the Council in advance. Parliament also adopted an own-initiative report on the tax treatment of cross-border losses. View |
Speech Kroes: Europe's Payment systems after the MasterCard decision14 January 2008 |
| Speaking at the European Retail Round Table Conference Commissioner Kroes was worried that market participants appear to have interpreted the SEPA Cards framework in a way that a card scheme is only SEPA compliant if it covers all 31 states of the SEPA territory. “There is no need for national systems to be replaced by the existing international schemes because of SEPA”, she underlined. View |
AMF Economic and Financial Newsletter - Autumn 200713 January 2008 |
| The AMF issued its Economic and Financial Newsletter stating that the market corrections effects on employment, access to credit and, by extension, investment and consumption have undermined the short-term growth prospects in the USA and, to a lesser extent, the euro area. View |
OMX signs Bombay Stock Exchange11 January 2008 |
| Nordic and Baltic market operator OMX has inked a deal to supply a trading and clearing platform to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The OMX platform will support the BSE's derivatives and cash securities operations. The first phase of the system roll-out is targeted for launch by mid 2008. View |
ECB report on oversight standards for card payments11 January 2008 |
| The ECB issued a report entitled “Oversight Framework for Card Payment Schemes - Standards”, which lays down Eurosystem oversight standards with regard to card payment schemes operating in the euro area. These standards focus on ensuring the safety and efficiency of the card payment schemes. View |
IASB completes the second phase of the business combinations project10 January 2008 |
| The IASB completed the second phase of its business combinations project by issuing today a revised version of IFRS 3 Business Combinations and an amended version of IAS 27 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements. The new requirements take effect on 1 July 2009, although entities are permitted to adopt them earlier. View |
Speech McCreevy: The Importance of Open Markets10 January 2008 |
| Commissioner McCreevy called for an open Europe and reminded of the ongoing dialogues with the US, Japan and China, and Russia and India. “These dialogues have the potential for wider, global cooperation, notably in financial services”, he said. View |
CEPS: Financial supervision is not well served by half-baked solutions08 January 2008 |
| Karel Lanoo states that the decisions taken by the EU finance ministers at the Ecofin Council meeting in December 2007, in response to the turmoil in the markets, highlight the urgent need to subject the current European supervisory set-up to a more radical review. View |
Forthcoming
CESR Public Hearing on equivalence of Chinese, Japanese and
CESR will hold a Public Hearing on equivalence of Chinese, Japanese and US GAAP. The Commission has to determine the equivalence of third country GAAP under the Prospectus and Transparency Directives by
Commission Public Hearing on Solvency II
The Commission Services are organising a Public Hearing on the draft QIS4 specifications. Panel sessions will cover Groups, SMEs, and the use of internal models. Registration is open until
June 2008
Commission Public Hearing on "substitute" retail investment products