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Trichet - Some lessons from the financial market correction Regulators should focus on reducing the occurrence and severity of systemic crises, Trichet said. The complete elimination of cyclical variations in banks’ lending activity would be an unrealistic goal. View Article |
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SEC extends short-sell ban until after Congress vote The SEC extended the ban on short-selling in the shares of more than 800 financial companies until after Congress enacts the financial bailout plan. View Article |
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Federal regulators clarify accounting rules for banks The SEC and the FASB issued clarifications to the current rules on fair value accounting for banks. The FASB will propose additional interpretative guidance on fair value measurement under U.S. GAAP later this week. View Article |
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US bailout plan rejected The US House of Representatives voted against the financial rescue plan. Secretary Paulson noted that the package was ‘substantial but insufficient’ and announced continuing to work with Congressional leaders to find a way to pass a plan. View Article |
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Treasury announces temporary guarantee program for money market funds The U.S. Treasury Department opened its Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds. Treasury will guarantee the share price of any publicly offered eligible money market mutual fund that applies for and pays a fee to participate in the program. View Article |
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US Emergency Economic Stabilization Act The EESA provides up to $700 billion to the Secretary of the Treasury to buy mortgages and other assets that are clogging the balance sheets of financial institutions. EESA also establishes a program that allows companies to insure their troubled assets. View Article |
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Sato – Keep financial regulations as friendly as possible It is not our intention to stifle financial innovation by over-regulation, FSA Commissioner Sato said adding that Japan hopefully will become a centre of financial innovation and one of the global financial centres in the post-sub-prime-crisis world. View Article |
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OECD: Financial crisis and deposit insurance guarantees The article provides a brief overview of some of the key challenges related to the design of explicit deposit insurance systems. View Article |
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EBF calls for urgent co-ordinated supervisory approach The recent and swift crisis management resolutions taken by three Members States when a large cross-border financial group came under severe pressure is an encouraging demonstration that decisive intervention is possible, EBF says. View Article |
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ECB consults on glossary of terms related to payment, clearing and settlement systems The glossary shall ensure a consistent use of terms in all of the ESCB’s publications that relate to payments, clearing and settlement. View Article |
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ECB Euro Money Market Survey 2008 The survey shows that the aggregate turnover in the euro money market decreased for the first time since 2004, most notably in activity in the secured market segment. View Article |
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Commission proposal on revision of capital requirements for banks The proposal restricts banks in lending beyond a certain limit and establishes Colleges of Supervisors and the mandatory exchange of information between supervisors. View Article |
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IOSCO forms Task Force on Commodities Markets The Task Force will examine whether supervisory approaches are keeping pace with developments in this market and whether regulators are co-operating sufficiently to deal with the increasing globalization of the markets. View Article |
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CESR responses to its Call for evidence on post-trading infrastructures Many respondents criticized the differences in regulatory arrangements across European jurisdictions and the lack of a harmonised regulatory and supervisory framework. View Article |
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FMLC concerned about confusion on role and responsibility of CRAs The premise that a correlation exists between the unregulated activities of CRAs and the recent financial market turmoil is questionable, the FMLC says and is concerned that the consultation paper implies a misunderstanding of what CRAs actually do. View Article |
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CESR/ERGEG final advice on market abuse issues related to energy trading The regulators call for legally binding disclosure obligations in energy sector’s regulation including sanction mechanisms to better prevent market abuse in energy trading. View Article |
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CESR new steps to address market crisis CESR issued an overview about the actions to address key aspects of the financial crisis that fall under the competence of EU securities regulators. View Article |
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CEA says financial turmoil confirms case for group supervision A piecemeal approach to the supervision of large financial groups does not work, said director general Michaela Koller reiterating that an advanced system of supervision that monitors insurers at group level is essential to Solvency II. View Article |
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Presidency compromise on Solvency II The Council Working Party reached a compromise on the Solvency II directive adding some new recitals and asking the Commission to make a binding decision regarding the equivalence of third country solvency regimes. View Article |
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IPE: Capital guarantee hinders pensions, says analyst Institutional investors in Europe are hindered by guarantees to grow returns and in their ability help stabilise capital markets, according to Peter Brezinschek, chief analyst of Raiffeisen Zentralbank. View Article |
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AMF Regulation & Asset Management Newsletter The newsletter concentrates on the currently discussed asset management company passport which is clearly supported by the AMF. View Article |
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CESR amended guidelines on eligible assets for investments in UCITS CESR amended its guidelines on eligible assets upon a request from the Commission to clarify prohibition of physical short-selling by UCITS. View Article |
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CESR consults on advice on UCITS Management Company Passport CESR is holding a short consultation on its advice to the European Commission on the UCITS Management Company Passport. The consultation period is two weeks only. View Article |
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Greece begins final phase of pension fund mergers Greece is pushing through the third and last restructuring phase for the local public pension system by merging the 133 current funds into 13 new ones. View Article |
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McCreevy initiatives on accounting rules for small businesses Member States should be allowed the option to exempt micro entities from the accounting requirements, McCreevy proposed. “With the move to IFRS for listed companies, the Accounting Directives have become less relevant”, he said. View Article |
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EFRAG final letter on reducing complexity in reporting financial instruments EFRAG considers that it is premature, and perhaps even inappropriate, to decide that the long-term objective should be full fair value for financial instruments and that changes to IAS 39 should be made only if they represent a step towards that objective View Article |
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September 2008 Graham Bishop’s Personal OVERVIEW -“Sept 08” will reverberate down the economic history books for a generation – or will it be for two generations? In the US, the business model of a simple broker/dealer that transformed in the 1980s into a leveraged investment bank View Article |
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COMPETITIVENESS meeting 25-26 September The Competitiveness Council adopted the conclusions on Better Regulation which targets a 25% reduction of administrative burden arising from EU legislation by 2012. View Article |
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Commission clears acquisition of parts of ABN AMRO's assets by Deutsche Bank The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not raise competition concerns. However, the Dutch Central Bank has suspended its decision on the sale of those same assets, citing circumstances on the financial markets. View Article |
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MLex Comment: Faster EC bank rescue approvals won’t resolve competition issues The Commission is streamlining the system for bank rescue aid approvals, bypassing the need for the full commission to assess the impact of the bailouts on competition. Such expedited rescue aid approvals can go only some way to help restore confidence. View Article |
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Commission approves UK rescue aid package for Bradford & Bingley The Commission authorised the UK authorities' package of measures for Bradford & Bingley. UK authorities have given a commitment to submit a restructuring plan by March 2009. View Article |
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Commission opens in-depth investigation into restructuring of WestLB The investigation will evaluate whether the envisaged restructuring is capable of restoring the long-term viability of the bank, whether state support is limited to the minimum necessary, and whether compensatory measures should be put in place. View Article |