This week in "Brussels"

28 May 2009




©GrahamBishop.com 2009Jump directly to articles on:-
Financial Services PolicyBankingSecuritiesAsset Management
Corporate GovernanceFinancial Services Month in Brussels - ReportCompetition issues in financial Services
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Articles from 21 May 2009 - 28 May 2009
Financial Services Policy Back to top 

Commission consults on European Financial Supervision
The package involves a European Systemic Risk Council and a European System of Financial Supervisors. The 3L3 Committees will be replaced by supervisory authorities. The new architecture should be up and running during 2010.  View Article

EBF welcomes proposals for Financial Supervisory architecture
Welcoming the report, the Federation is, however, disappointed that the involvement of the industry does not appear to have been given much consideration in the new framework, at both the macro and micro levels.  View Article

FESE welcomes US plans on OTC derivatives markets
FESE welcomes the regulatory reform of OTC derivatives markets, in particular the proposed action to promote efficiency and transparency and to mitigate risk in the OTC derivatives market.   View Article



Banking Back to top 

Kroes underlines need for more banking regulation
"It is important that we don’t return to our old complacent attitudes to banking", Kroes said. "You should expect that we will be making banks smaller and more focused on core businesses like lending".  View Article

Kroes – complexities call for further harmonised regulations in Europe
Banks will need to redefine their business models, Kroes said. “For many that will mean a greater focus on retail banking”, she said criticizing the currently fragmented, sometimes self-regulatory, approach of regulation in Europe.  View Article

FT: Lloyds considers sell-off to win approval for state aid
Lloyds Banking Group believes it might have to sell assets in order to win European Commission approval for aid from the UK government. Lloyds expects that the aid approval request would need  a commitment to cut the size of its balance sheet.  View Article

FT: UK braced for call to shrink Lloyds
Alistair Darling is braced for an order by the European Commission seeking the shrinking of Lloyds Banking Group as a condition for the granting of state aid. Brussels could insist that the bank shrink its balance sheet.  View Article



Securities Back to top 

LCH.Clearnet to launch client clearing for OTC interest rate swaps
LCH.Clearnet is to launch the planned extension of its OTC interest rate swap clearing service, SwapClear. The new client clearing service is scheduled to be launched in the second half of 2009.  View Article

LCH.Clearnet to launch clearing in co-operation with EMCF
LCH.Clearnet signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF) to introduce a user-choice clearing model.  View Article

CESR report on EU based CRAs compliance with IOSCO code
CESR’s overall conclusion is that they are broadly compliant with the IOSCO Code. However, there are a number of provisions on which these CRAs deviate from the IOSCO Code and give room for improvement.   View Article

Chi-X Europe dark pool launches
Chi-Delta is a non-displayed, reference-pegged order book and uses the MiFID reference price waiver for pre-trade transparency for non-displayed orders that do not meet the “Large in Scale” order size requirements.   View Article



Asset Management Back to top 

Joint EFAMA – SWIFT progress report in fund processing standardization
The survey offers a new tool to measure progress towards electronic and standardized processing of cross-border fund orders, Peter De Proft, EFAMA Director General, notes.  View Article

AIMA to mobilise global hedge fund industry on EU
"There are provisions with potentially serious consequences for managers, investors, service providers and advisers internationally", Andrew Baker, AIMA CEO, said. "The draft directive has created enormous confusion".  View Article



Corporate Governance Back to top 

IASB update on accounting review exercise
The IASB update provides an overview of the current state of play on issues such as fair value accounting, accounting for off balance sheet vehicles, and disclosures.  View Article

EFRAG Letter on financial statement presentation
EFRAG criticizes that the detailed proposals do not get the balance right and is concerned that the proposals will result in so many lines in the primary financial statements that the key messages of those statements will be obscured.  View Article



Financial Services Month in Brussels - Report Back to top 

May 2009
Global co-operation on financial services supervision is now cemented in, but the unwieldy nature of such a large group probably requires sub-groups to take an operational lead and the G7 continues to provide that.  View Article



Competition issues in financial Services Back to top 

Commission overview of measures adopted for financial crises
The Commission updated its overview of measures adopted as a response to the financial and economic crisis. This information is compiled from a range of sources and cannot confirm the completeness.  View Article

Commission approves Italian risk-capital measure to boost real economy
The measure will allow for more flexible risk-capital investments until 2010, in line with the Commission's Temporary Framework for state aid measures to support access to finance in the current financial and economic crisis.   View Article

Commission approves Danish bank recapitalisation scheme
The rescue aid the Danish authorities have granted to Fionia Bank is in the form of a credit facility of up to €685 million and a €134 million capital injection to bring the level of solvency up to a constant 11.5%.  View Article





© Graham Bishop