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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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Speech McCreevy: Crisis or no crisis – Credit Crisis & the Aftermath07 February 2008 |
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Commissioner McCreevy underlined that corporate governance needs to be strengthened. “The risks associated with using broker channels to source mortgage transactions, and how those risks are managed requires attention”, McCreevy said. View |
Speech McCreevy: Crisis or no crisis – Lessons for financial markets and regulators07 February 2008 |
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Commissioner McCreevy acknowledged that the speed and severity of the turmoil that has swept through the financial markets since last summer have taken both market participants and regulators by surprise. “Regulators being too far behind the "knowledge curve" is not satisfactory ”, McCreevy said. View |
Telegraph: Northern Rock-style crisis 'would cause chaos in Eurozone'07 February 2008 |
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A Northern Rock-style disaster would cause "chaos" if it happened in the Eurozone, Charlie McCreevy warned. With 44 financial regulatory institutions on the Continent it was almost impossible to conceive of how they would unite to combat a potential Europe-wide bank run. View |
Speech Kroes: European Competition Policy in the age of globalisation – towards a global competition order?07 February 2008 |
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Commissioner Kroes underlined that competition authorities need to work closer together. “At present there are too many jurisdictional barriers which hamper efficient anti-trust enforcement”, she said. “Effective enforcement of competition rules in an international environment requires that authorities in Europe co-operate with authorities outside”, Mrs Kroes added. View |
EFRAG's Final Comment Letter on ED of a Proposed IFRS for SMEs07 February 2008 |
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EFRAG has completed its due process regarding the Exposure Draft of a Proposed IFRS for Small and Medium-sized Entities noting that the proposed standard needs to be further improved. View |
EFRAG Draft Comment Letter on the Amendments to IFRS 2 and IFRIC 1106 February 2008 |
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EFRAG has issued its draft comment letter on the IASB's Exposure Draft of proposed amendments to IFRS 2 and IFRIC 11: Group Cash-settled Share-based Payment Transactions. View |
EFRAG Final Comment Letter on ED 9 Joint Arrangements06 February 2008 |
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EFRAG has completed its due process regarding the Exposure Draft ED 9 Joint Arrangements and has submitted its final comment letter to the IASB. View |
IOSCO urges public companies to clarify use of accounting standards06 February 2008 |
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IOSCO published a statement urging publicly traded companies to provide investors with clear and accurate information on the accounting standards used in the preparation of their accounts. “We are recommending that all publicly traded companies include information which clearly explains the basis on which their accounts have been prepared”, Mr Prada said. View |
IOSCO addresses sub-prime crisis06 February 2008 |
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IOSCO reviewed the progress being made by the Task Force on the sub-prime crisis launched in Tokyo in November 2007. The Task Force is due to publish its final conclusions in May 2008. View |
G7 to talk with Russia, three Asian economies06 February 2008 |
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The Group of Seven financial leaders will hold an "outreach" session Saturday with China, South Korea, Indonesia and Russia to discuss macro-economic conditions, Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said Tuesday. Japan intends to work out a G7 message to stabilize global financial markets rattled by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. View |
FSA Business Plan for 2008/906 February 2008 |
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The FSA published its Business Plan setting out the FSA's programme of work for the year ahead of addressing the risks highlighted by the Financial Risk Outlook. View |
AMF Financial Regulation Newsletter06 February 2008 |
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The AMF released its Financial Regulation Newsletter which includes an interview with French Minister of State for European Affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, discussing the main priorities in terms of financial market regulation for the French Presidency starting mid 2008. View |
FT: FSA threatens tougher stand on insider deals06 February 2008 |
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Senior management in investment banks face a greater chance of being prosecuted for maintaining weak defences against insider dealing, even in the absence of specific instances of market abuse, a senior lawyer has warned. View |
MLex: 'Surcharging' may be risky tool for card fee transparency06 February 2008 |
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Commissioner Neelie Kroes has suggested that allowing retailers to add a margin to credit card purchases could inject much-needed transparency into the costs of payments cards. But many think she is opening a can of worms by forcing the debate on a practice used variously and controversially by the likes of Ikea and Ryanair. View |
IMA Quarterly Investment Fund Statistics – 4th Quarter 200706 February 2008 |
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IMA published its quarterly investment fund statistics for the fourth quarter of 2007. View |
Independent: Reputations on the line for ratings agencies06 February 2008 |
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Having failed to call the credit crisis, the rating sector's image needs a makeover. The credit-rating agencies, fingered early on as important villains in the unfolding credit crisis, have alighted on a new plan to shore up investors' confidence in their abilities and to head off potentially ruinous new rules from angry law-makers. View |
FSA Japan starts consultation on Financial Instruments Business Supervision06 February 2008 |
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The Financial Services Agency Japan has drafted the partial amendment to the Guidelines for Financial Instruments Business Supervision. The FSA plans to add new supervisory checkpoints to the Guidelines in order to act against illegally unregistered firms. View |
FT: SocGen faces US investigation06 February 2008 |
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether Société Générale violated US securities laws as it unwound and revealed its €4.9bn loss from Jérôme Kerviel’s allegedly rogue derivatives trades, the Financial Times has learnt. View |
FT: Europe banks to launch derivatives platform05 February 2008 |
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A group of Europe’s biggest banks are preparing to launch a new trading platform for financial derivatives, going under the codename Project Rainbow, to compete with the region’s exchanges. View |
IPE: "Portability not main aim of pension promise"05 February 2008 |
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The Commission is “too much focused” on full portability of pension rights and has forgotten occupational pensions are a bonus which companies offer employees to stay with the firm, according to Austrian economics professor Ulrich Runggaldier. View |
FEE: Commission should reflect on calls for more transparency05 February 2008 |
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Commenting on the Commission's second progress report on the reduction of administrative burdens, Jacques Potdevin, President of FEE reiterated his concerns that the Commission's current approach may reduce much needed market transparency and exclude SMEs from the internal market. View |
Telegraph: Société Générale 'failed to control Jérôme Kerviel'05 February 2008 |
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Société Générale came under fire after France's finance minister said faulty internal controls at the embattled French bank had contributed to the world's worst rogue trader scandal. View |
FT: Moody’s offers to change debt rating system05 February 2008 |
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Moody’s moved on Monday to respond to its critics by proposing a new rating system for complex debt securities that would rely on numbers rather than letters. Critics have said the ratings process must become more transparent given the complexity of structured investment pools. View |
US Treasury comments in advance of the G-7 Meeting in Tokyo05 February 2008 |
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Ahead of the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Tokyo on 9 February, Under Secretary David McCormick outlined that the discussions will include current conditions and financial market developments, the international financial institutions, development issues, and climate change. View |
CESR MiFID Level 3 Work Programme05 February 2008 |
| CESR published its MiFID level 3 work programme for future work under MiFID (Q4 2007 – 2008). View |
Independent: Credit card misery05 February 2008 |
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Two years ago, banks were desperately fighting for credit card market share. Now they are closing accounts. After years of easy money, Britain's credit card providers are having to face the harsh reality of a world that seems to be conspiring against them. View |
EFRAG Update January 200804 February 2008 |
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EFRAG published its January edition of the EFRAG Update, which summarises the discussions held in December 2007 and January 2008 View |
IOPS good practices in risk management of alternative investment04 February 2008 |
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IOPS released a set of good practices relating to the risk management of alternative investments by pension funds. The document is directed at pension supervisory authorities to aid them in their assessment of whether the pension funds under their jurisdiction are managing their alternative investments adequately. View |
Lagarde report on Société Générale04 February 2008 |
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France's finance minister Christine Lagarde issued her report to the Prime Minister on the Société Générale case. “Certain internal control mechanisms at Société Générale did not work”, she concluded, “and those that did were not always followed up with the appropriate changes.” View |
IMF study points to gaps in securities market regulation04 February 2008 |
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Gaps in securities market regulation are a worldwide phenomenon. The inability of securities market regulators to enforce compliance with existing rules and regulations hinders the healthy development of markets. The IMF study identified four main areas of concern. View |
FT: US-EU set to open talks over regulation pact02 February 2008 |
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The US and the European Union on Friday agreed to start work on creating the first system of “mutual recognition” between their respective financial regulators under which both sides would recognise many of each other’s rules to allow cheaper and easier cross-border trading. View |
Statement SEC and Commission on Mutual Recognition in Securities Markets01 February 2008 |
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At their meeting in Washington, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox and European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy discussed topics of mutual interest, including the current market volatility, accounting standards, sovereign wealth funds, credit rating agencies, XBRL developments and mutual recognition of securities regulation. View |
SEC begins small business costs and benefits study of Sarbanes-Oxley Act01 February 2008 |
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The SEC announced that its professional staff has commenced a cost-benefit study of an upcoming auditor attestation requirement for smaller companies under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and proposes a one-year extension of final compliance requirements for smaller companies while the study is underway. View |
UK says finance ministers to take forward details on tackling financial crisis01 February 2008 |
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Specific proposals on how to tackle the global financial crisis should be taken forward by G8 finance ministers when they meet in Japan next month, said British Prime Gordon Brown's spokesman, Michael Ellam. Ellam denied leaders were effectively powerless to stop the credit crunch. View |
Summit backs hedge funds' proposals on transparency01 February 2008 |
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European leaders attending this week's "mini-summit" on the credit crunch have welcomed a report issued by some of the UK's biggest hedge fund managers that seeks to establish best-practice standards for the industry. View |
EFAMA's comments on “substitute” retail investment products01 February 2008 |
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EFAMA published it's comments on the Commission's call for evidence on "substitute" retail investment products. EFAMA supports the Commission’s initiative to put an end to the “current regulatory patchwork governing product disclosure and intermediary regulation”. View |
DNB steps up pensions supervision on market worries01 February 2008 |
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The Dutch Central Bank has warned it is increasing its supervision of Dutch pension funds’ management and investment strategies on the back of growing concern about the negative impact of the US financial crisis. View |
Opening remarks of McCreevy at ‘Newsmaker’ debate in Washington01 February 2008 |
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Commissioner McCreevy focused on the current financial turmoil, sovereign wealth funds, and forthcoming issues as mutual recognition in the field of securities and insurance. “Several major financial institutions have been recapitalised, not to say rescued, by sovereign wealth funds”, McCreevy said. View |
Commission study on capital maintenance regime - 2nd Company Law Directive01 February 2008 |
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The Commission published an external feasibility study on an alternative to the capital maintenance regime established by the 2nd Company Law Directive. The study provides a factual background on some of the main features of the legal capital regime established by the second Company Law Directive. View |
NYSE Euronext targets Asia Pacific markets31 January 2008 |
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In a further move to extend its presence in the Asia Pacific region, Nyse Euronext is to expand its Liffe derivatives business in Singapore as part of a strategic push to get greater traction in emerging Asian growth markets. View |
Commission acts to ensure Member States implement Capital Requirements Directive31 January 2008 |
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The Commission has acted to ensure that the Capital Requirement Directives are implemented in Hungary and Spain. The Capital Requirement Directives were to be transposed by 31 December 2006. View |
Commission launches EU consumer investigations in retail markets31 January 2008 |
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Commissioner Kuneva announced the launch of new EU consumer investigations aimed at breaking down barriers that distort consumer choice and competition in retail markets. These barriers include issues on price distortion, limited consumer choice, barriers that prevent switching, and so-called ‘competition killers’. View |
Commission takes steps against Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic on taxation of outbound dividends31 January 2008 |
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The Commission sent requests for information to Germany and Estonia about their rules under which dividends, and in the case of Germany also interest, paid to foreign pension funds may be taxed more heavily than dividends paid to domestic pension funds. View |
Commission refers Czech Republic, Poland and Spain to Court over non-implementation of MiFID Directive31 January 2008 |
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The Commission decided to refer three Member States to the European Court of Justice over non-implementation of the MiFID Directive. The deadline for transposition of those measures expired on 31 January 2007. View |
EFRAG issues a European discussion paper on 'The Financial Reporting of Pensions'31 January 2008 |
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EFRAG issued a discussion paper on “The Financial Reporting of Pensions”. Its objective is to take a fresh look at the principles that might be reflected in future accounting standards on pension benefits that are related to employment. View |
IPE: ‘Reform Dutch first pillar’ – OECD31 January 2008 |
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The OECD has said the Dutch first pillar pension system must be reformed as, unrevised, it will account for the bulk of future state funding deficits. View |
CEIOPS QIS4 Background Documents31 January 2008 |
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CEIOPS released two background documents to the QIS4 technical specifications. The information concerns, among others, an overview of the differences in calibration of the SCR in QIS4 as compared to QIS3. View |
Commission progress report on reducing administrative burdens31 January 2008 |
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The Commission issued its second progress report on the reduction of administrative burdens in the EU for 2007 and the outlook for 2008. View |
BNP Paribas considers Societe Generale bid31 January 2008 |
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BNP Paribas has confirmed that it is considering a bid for Société Générale, the rival French bank hit by a £3.7bn trading scandal. A BNP Paribas spokesman told Reuters: "We are studying it because all of Europe's banks are studying it." View |
Japan's banks poised to target western rivals30 January 2008 |
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The recent plight of US banks, reeling from the turmoil in the subprime mortgage market, has been greeted by Japan's financial institutions with a mixture of anxiety and glee. "Now it is our turn to do in the US, what US banks did in Japan in the 1990s," says the chief investment officer of one of Japan's largest insurance companies. View |
Joint communiqué on the global economy29 January 2008 |
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Joint communiqué on the global economy by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso. View |
JAC joint statement on ‘substitute’ retail investment products18 January 2008 |
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Responding to the Commission call on ‘substitute’ retail investment products, the Joint Associations Committee (JAC) underlines that harmonization would impose significant costs, be of limited benefit to investors, and would create avoidable regulatory costs for both the financial services industry generally and consumers. View |
Forthcoming
Conference on the European Private Company
The European Commission will organise a conference on the SPE in
Conference Programme, registration form
June 2008
Commission Public Hearing on "substitute" retail investment products