This week in "Brussels"

11 September 2008




Articles from 04 September 2008 - 11 September 2008

AMF amends General Regulation
The French AMF announced changes to Books III and IV of the General Regulation.   View Article

ECB González-Páramo - Serious efforts needed to restore markets
Despite the various market- and regulatory-led initiatives there is no room for complacency, Páramo said underlining that interventions of public authorities cannot substitute the need for the market to enhance disclosure.   View Article

Almunia announces proposals to come on CRD and Credit Rating Agencies
Hopes that we had come through the worst of the turbulence before the summer have proved unfounded, the Commissioner said and announced presenting formal Commission proposals on CRD and CRAs in autumn.  View Article

ECB Tumpel-Gugerell - The role of central banks for banking supervision
The financial turmoil has evidenced the need for strengthening the macro-prudential dimension of regulation and supervision and confirmed the importance of a strong interaction between central banks and banking supervisors, Tumpel-Gugerell said.   View Article

IASB and FASB publish update to 2006 MoU
The report presents the progress of projects laid out in the MoU. The update outlines a plan and projected time line for completing the remaining joint major projects.  View Article

FASB to converge going concern guidance under GAAP with IFRS
The rules under U.S. GAAP would converge with IAS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements, and IAS 10, Events after the Balance Sheet Date. The FASB will soon produce a draft of the converged guidance that will be open for consultation.  View Article

US takes control over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
The US Government seizes control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. US Treasury placed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae under conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.  View Article

JICPA calls for considering IFRS in Japan
There is now an urgent need to seriously consider ways to adopt IFRS also in Japan, JICPA states and calls for more involvement in the standard setting by the IASB.  View Article

ASBJ newsletter No 4
The newsletter covers issues like the development of the ASBJ Standards and the visit of Gerrit Zalm to Japan.   View Article

China: CBRC announces first set of guidance for Basel II implementation
The CBRC announced the year 2008 and 2009 as preparation period for Basel II implementation and will start to process commercial bank’s implementation applications from the year 2010.   View Article

Kuneva announces report on retail banking for next year
The consumer is not adequately served in his needs for financial services, Kuneva regretted and criticized the lack of transparency in comparing costs of bank accounts.  View Article

IMA - Retail investors optimistic despite credit crunch
"Despite the credit crunch and resulting negative investor confidence in May investors were surprisingly upbeat”, Richard Saunders, Chief Executive at IMA said. Events since May will have however further affected confidence.  View Article

ECMI summary on hearing on retail investment products
The European Capital Markets Institute published the report on the Commission hearing on retail investment products which took place on 15 July in Brussels.   View Article

FTD: Germany rejects plans on European supervision
The German government rejects plans for an EU supervisory authority, the FTD reports. ‘At the moment we oppose every modification of the institutional setting’, Jörg Asmussen said.  View Article

ECB Tumpel-Gugerell - SEPA for cards
Independently of the outcome of the debate about the long term justification for an interchange fee the Commission would accept an interim solution, Mrs. Tumpel-Gugerell said interpreting the EC position.   View Article

Reuters: EU proposes 12-month deadline on home foreclosures
The core strategy is to encourage lenders to offer mortgages outside their home state as McCreevy doubts many consumers will go beyond their own region, let alone country, to seek a home loan.  View Article

ICMA: European repo market remains buoyant despite turbulent financial markets
"Despite continuing turbulence in the wholesale money markets, the survey demonstrates that the repo markets show remarkable resilience”, Godfried De Vidts, Chairman of ICMA’s European Repo Council said.   View Article

NYSE Euronext announces launch of Pan-European MTF
NYSE Euronext announced it will launch a MTF for the trading of pan-European blue-chip stocks. The launch of the MTF is planned for November 2008.  View Article

IPE: UCITS III 'heading for mid-life crisis'
The investment industry is in need of the next generation of UCITS IV structures as the credit crunch is hindering the short-term growth of UCITS funds, a survey conducted by Create-Research has suggested.  View Article

Commission consultation on solvency rules applicable to IORPs
The Commission started a consultation on the harmonisation of solvency rules applicable to IORPs to collect the views whether a further harmonisation of the solvency regime for IORPs is desirable.  View Article

IOPS working paper on supervisory oversight of pension fund governance
The paper mainly analyses the responses of IOPS members to a survey on supervisory oversight of pension fund governance.   View Article

EVCA study: Private Equity Flows to CEE countries to double in twelve months
Private equity in Central and Eastern Europe is continuing to see an impressive growth trend which started in 2006, according to a report released by EVCA.   View Article

ASBJ and IASB review progress in achieving convergence in accounting standards
The ASBJ will continue to make progress on the convergence towards 2011 in the light of the IASB’s new work plan, Ikuo Nishikawa, Chairman of the ASBJ, said.   View Article

IMA: Structured products not to be taken at face value
Many structured products which offer both a return related to growth of the stock market and a guarantee against capital loss of these claims should not be taken at face value, IMA believes.   View Article

IMA questions value of transparency as regulatory tool
The value increased transparency will offer needs to be carefully balanced against what it will cost and any unintended consequences it might have, IMA warns responding to the FSA's Discussion Paper "Transparency as a Regulatory Tool".  View Article

ECON meeting 9-10 September
ECON had among others discussions with ECB President Mr Trichet and Commissioner McCreevy. It also voted on the on the reports on Hedge Funds and Private Equity and on the Future Structure of Supervision.  View Article

JURI meeting 8-9 September
JURI Committee held exchanges of views on several company law directives and held a hearing on the statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts.  View Article

IMCO meeting 9-10 September
IMCO Committee held a consideration on the amendments to the report on Consumer Protection and held an exchange of views with Joergen Homquist.   View Article

McCreevy wants Germany facing court over VW law
EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy wants to take Germany to the bloc's top court for failing to amend properly a law shielding Volkswagen from takeover, officials at the EU executive said.  View Article

Germany's WestLB under attack from Brussels
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is threatening to force Germany's troubled WestLB to repay billions of euros of public bailout money if it doesn't “significantly improve its restructuring package”.  View Article

MLex: German banks contest Hessen Landesbank transfer before CFI
The European Court of First Instance has asked the Commission for extra information on its decision to approve the transfer of a German federal public investment fund to a bank part-owned by the federal authority.  View Article

MLex: Banks, retailers apply to intervene in MasterCard appeal before CFI
At least nine parties are understood to have applied to the Court of First Instance to intervene in MasterCard's appeal of last December's Commission decision which ruled the company's cross-border interchange fee incompatible with EU antitrust rules.  View Article



© Graham Bishop