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European Finance Forum
Confirmed Speakers:
Wolf Klinz, MEP; Niall Bohan, European Commission;
Eliana Garces-Tolon, Cabinet Kuneva; Valerie Bros,
Topics to include:
Latest developments on UCITS, Retail Financial Services, French Presidency Programme
ECON Committee Notes
The debate on the report on Hedge Funds and Private Equity revealed that the technical specifications of “Rule 39” still lack clarification. The Committee also held a hearing on the future structure of supervision in
Articles from 22 May 2008 - 29 May 2008
| HM Treasury announces new FSA chair Lord Adair Turner has been appointed as Chairman of the Financial Services Authority. Lord Turner will take up his appointment in September when Sir Callum McCarthy steps down. View Article |
| IOSCO final report on sub-prime crisis The report contains a comprehensive analysis and recommendations for future IOSCO work on issuer transparency and investor due diligence, firm risk management and prudential supervision, and valuation and accounting issues. View Article |
| EU study on preventing financial exclusion Millions of Europeans face an increased risk of social exclusion through lack of access to basic financial services, according to a new Commission study. The Commission intends to ensure that nobody is denied access to a basic bank account. View Article |
| FSA publishes industry feedback on liquidity requirements Most respondents agreed that one single quantitative regime should replace the existing three. Some scepticism exists about the usefulness of quantitative requirements to safeguard against long-term chronic liquidity stresses. View Article |
| FSA consults on increasing transparency in regulation The discussion paper ask whether transparency is a legitimate regulatory tool and explores the creation of a ‘Code of Practice on Regulatory Transparency’ for determining what further information the regulator might publish. View Article |
| AMF Financial Regulation Newsletter The newsletter includes an interview with Christine Lagarde on the consequences of recent events in global markets. She calls for increased mutual recognition of markets and intermediaries on both sides of the Atlantic. View Article |
| AMF Economic and Financial Newsletter The newsletter provides an overview about the economic situation and financial markets and also elaborates on currents equity and credit market developments. It also contains an article about risk issues raised by recent trends in financial markets. View Article |
| Finland integrates supervisory authorities The Finnish Government announced a plan to integrate the supervisory authorities of the financial and insurance sectors. The new legal provisions would enter into force in time to allow the new supervisory authority to start operating on 1 January 2009. View Article |
| Fed Kohn calls on private firms to establish larger liquidity buffers Market participants must thoroughly reassess the market-liquidity assumptions, Kohn said. However, major central banks could perhaps agree to accept a common pool of very safe collateral, facilitating the liquidity management of global banks. View Article |
| SEC signs protocols for sharing information on IAS The SEC signed protocols to share information on the application of IFRS with financial regulators in four European countries. The SEC anticipates signing additional protocols with other CESR member jurisdictions in the future. View Article |
| Fed Kroszner calls for greater transparency and less complexity in credit instruments Recovery in the mortgage market will take time and will require more market and regulatory discipline, Governor Randall Kroszner said underlining that clarity and simplicity will be key issues. View Article |
| Commission consults on review of Committees of Supervisors The Commission services do not consider that a radical overhaul of the existing Decisions is needed. The overall objective is to align, clarify and strengthen the responsibilities of the Committees of Supervisors. View Article |
| CESR report on Market Participants Consultative Panel The Market Participants Consultative Panel held its 16th meeting on 9 April 2008 in Paris and included discussions on the recent market turmoil and the role of rating agencies. View Article |
| CEIOPS consults on Issues Paper on ORSA The Paper explains CEIOPS preliminary views on the definition and importance of the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment as a management tool, the purpose of the ORSA, some requirements building on the Directive Proposal and some principles and guidance on th View Article |
| Main Conclusions of the CEIOPS Members’ Meeting CEIOPS members strongly supported modifying the Committee’s decision making process. CEIOPS will now proceed to adopt the principle of a qualified majority voting, coupled with a comply-or-explain procedure. View Article |
| Allianz and Commerzbank reported to bid for Postbank German Allianz and Commerzbank are reported to jointly bid for Deutsche Postbank that would see a merger of Dresdner’s retail banking operations with Commerzbank and Postbank. View Article |
| CCorp and DTCC form central clearer for derivatives CCorp and DTCC have signed an agreement that facilitates central counterparty services for the OTC derivatives marketplace. The initiative will launch 2008 and will be fully implemented 2009. View Article |
| Council draft conclusions on Clearing and Settlement ECOFIN is expected to reach conclusions on the Code of Conduct, the safety and soundness of the post-trading infrastructure, the Giovannini Barriers and on Target-2 for Securities on its next meeting on 3 June. View Article |
| ECB invites CSDs to join T2S initiative The Governing Council of the ECB issued a proposal to all European CSDs to join the TARGET2-Securities initiative. An economic impact analysis show that T2S has the potential to bring significant benefits to securities market participants. View Article |
| FT: France calls for rating agency registry Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, plans to push for registration of credit ratings agencies that want to operate in Europe when France takes over the presidency of the European Union in July. View Article |
| ASF on separate ratings scales for structured finance products The letter to the SEC outlines how implementation of such scale change proposals would harm rather than promote the process of restoring greater confidence in structured securities ratings by labeling such securities as different. View Article |
| IOSCO changes to Code of Conduct for Credit Rating Agencies IOSCO agreed on changes to the Code of Conduct, demanding CRAs differentiate ratings of structured finance products from other ratings and provide better information on the rating process. View Article |
| CEIOPS final advice on Proportionality The advice develops ideas on how to gear the new risk-based regime to the nature, scale and complexity of risks. CEIOPS has proposed principles under all three Pillars, including on internal models and group supervision. View Article |
| CEIOPS final advice on Insurance Groups CEIOPS final advice focuses on measures to facilitate their effective supervision. Part I relates to the Group Support Regime, Part II to the rights and duties of the Group Supervisor and Colleges of Supervisors. View Article |
| Council progress report on Solvency II The Presidency Working Party on Solvency II issued its progress report, outlining the open (and substantial) issues on which a compromise still has to be found. View Article |
| Deutsche Börse/Eurex - structural changes on derivatives markets not necessary Structural changes in the framework under which the derivatives market operates today in a global environment are not necessary, a White Paper released by Deutsche Börse and Eurex concludes, although some improvements are possible. View Article |
| McCreevy underlines need for international solution for fund industry reforms The forthcoming Commission proposals for the reform of UCITS will not contain management company passport provisions, Commissioner McCreevy said and called on securities market regulators develop robust and effective solutions. View Article |
| SEC Cox supports IASB new monitoring group As IFRS gain acceptance around the world the only real question is how quickly both the accounting standards and the process by which they are established and developed can be globally recognized as world-class, Cox said. View Article |
| IASB and FASB consult on conceptual framework The IASB and US FASB published consultative documents that seek public comment on two of the eight phases of their joint project to develop an improved conceptual framework. View Article |
| IIF Dallara calls for thorough dialogue on valuation issues There is a need for clarification on a number of fronts, IIF Managing Director Dallara states. This includes considering other refinements in valuation methodologies and greater flexibility regarding the transfer of assets between accounting categories. View Article |
| Commission Effect Study on IAS 23 - Borrowing Costs The report analyses the potential effects of adopting the revised IAS 23 in the EU. It concludes that the adoption of IAS 23 would have positive cost-benefit effects and recommends its endorsement in the EU. View Article |
| IASB Tweedie defends 'fair value' accounting Fair value accounting has been accused by some of exacerbating the present financial crisis, Sir David Tweedie says. But the crises has been caused by bad lending and scattered by banking's ‘originate-to-distribute' policies. View Article |
| IASB Annual Report 2007 The annual report includes an overview of the Trustee's oversight activities for 2007, as well as reports of the Chairman of the IASC Foundation Trustees, the IASB Chairman and independent auditors. View Article |
| IOSCO to expand review of audit services issues IOSCO released a contingency planning paper to assist IOSCO members in considering and preparing for potential contingencies involving audit firms that may affect the delivery of audit services in the global capital markets. View Article |
| EFRAG requests comments on amendments to IFRS 1 and IAS 27 The amendments provide relief for first-time adopters when measuring the cost of investments in subsidiaries, associates, and jointly controlled entities. IAS 27 has been amended to change among others the rules for recognition of dividend revenue. View Article |
| EFRAG Update May 2008 The May edition of the EFRAG Update summarises the discussions held at the recent EFRAG TEG meetings. View Article |
| EFRAG consults on assessment of improvements to IFRS EFRAG consults on its assessment of the amendments to the IFRS and on the costs and benefits that would arise from its application in the EU. View Article |
| The Month in Brussels - May 2008 The nature of the political reaction to the financial turmoil seems to be transmuting, away from the somewhat mechanical issue of identifying and rectifying regulatory weaknesses towards a more fundamental questioning of the workings of capitalism. View Article |
| COMPETITIVENESS meeting 29-30 May The Council adopted conclusions on better regulation with particular emphasis on reduction of administrative burdens on businesses, simplification of legislation and the use of impact assessments. View Article |
| JURI meeting 28-29 May European Parliament's JURI Committee adopted the reports on 'Transparency for Institutional Investors' by Mr Lehne, and two opinions on 'Hedge Funds and Private Equity' prepared by Piia-Noora Kauppi and 'Solvency II' by Sharon Bowles. View Article |
Forthcoming
CEBS hearing on options and discretions in the CRD
CEBS will hold a public hearing on its consultation paper on on options and national discretions in the Capital Requirements Directive as part of developing its response to the Commission's Call for Technical Advice. The hearing will take place at CEBS premises in
17-18 June 2008
FESE Convention
The 12th FESE Convention in
CEBS hearing on technical advice on Liquidity Risk Management
CEBS is organising a public hearing on the second part of its' advice on liquidity risk management at CEBS premises in
Public hearing on the CESR and CEBS joint consultation paper on commodities
CEBS and CESR organise a hearing on the technical advice to the European Commission’s review of commodities business at CEBS’s premises in
Commission public hearing on "substitute" retail investment products
The hearing will discuss the evolving market for retail investment products and whether the current fragmented regulatory framework provides a sound basis for ensuring that investors receive the information and the quality of service they need to make appropriate investment decisions.
11-12 September 2008
Eurofi Conference 2008
The Conference on “EU priorities and proposals of the financial services industry for the Ecofin Council” will take place in Nice, prior to the informal ECOFIN Council session. Speakers include: Joaquin Alunmia, Charlie McCreevy, Wolf Klinz, Michel Pébereau, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Thomas Steffen, Eddy Weymeersch, Pervenche Berès, Magdalena Kuneva, Christine Lagarde, Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, and many others.
Programme, Further information
Published by The GrahamBishop Team