(This e-mail provides the headers of a selection of the articles published this week. If you would like to upgrade to our Gold service and access all articles - with live links to the underlying news - please click on the button)
Articles from 17-23 June 2022
Policy impacting Finance
MEPs say EU leaders must grab the opportunity to expand and reform the EU : Ukraine and Moldova should become EU candidate countries as soon as possible, Georgia is also part of the European family but more reforms needed; Treat Western Balkan countries fairly and unblock their accession process; EU institutional reform also necessary...
The European Commission recommends to Council confirming Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia's perspective to become members of the EU and provides : Today, the European Commission presented its Opinions on the application for EU membership submitted by Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova as invited by the Council.
European Parliament: EU-Wide Survey: In face of Ukraine war, Citizens close ranks in support of EU : 65% of Europeans see EU membership as a good thing, the highest result since 2007; EU’s economic sanctions against Russia are supported by 80%; 59% say that the defence of freedom and democracy must be a priority ...
Fondation Schuman: The presidential coalition, Ensemble, has failed by a wide margin to win an absolute majority in the National Assembly : The government fell short of its target by 15 votes...The "strategic vote" did not work, nor did the call for a "republican front" as used previously.
Project Syndicate's Pisani-Ferry: France’s Constitution Will Be Tested : By depriving President Emmanuel Macron of a majority in the National Assembly, French voters have ... presented the country’s political system with a major challenge. With both the far left and the far right well represented in parliament, the political conversation has changed irreversibly.
Commission sets out first analysis of the proposals stemming from the Conference on the Future of Europe : These proposals, covering nine broad themes, were based on recommendations made by citizens during the European Citizens' Panels and the National Citizens' Panels, and who contributed their ideas through the Multilingual Digital Platform.
Bruegel: A new European tool to deal with unjustified rising spreads : The European Central Bank needs a new tool to prevent the current rise in spreads, triggered by monetary policy tightening, from escalating into a new euro-area crisis.
Banking Union
The SRB Blog: Euro area banks’ resilience : Euro area banks have emerged from the pandemic largely unscathed, mainly due to the unprecedented support from governments, central banks, regulators and supervisors.
Capital Markets Union
AFME: The EU Must Strengthen the Competitiveness of Its Financial Markets : The outbreak and resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years and now the economic impact of the war in Ukraine underscore why the European Union (EU) needs a resilient and diversified financial system able to withstand sudden economic shocks.
AFME welcomes the political agreement on the CSRD, encourages coordination among EU and international standard setters : The CSRD is a key pillar of the EU sustainable finance framework. Once implemented, it will introduce comprehensive sustainability reporting requirements for companies in the EU.
Vision for the future of EU wholesale financial markets: AFME recommendations on the MIFIR Review : Over the recent period of geo-political instability and global pandemic, EU capital markets continued tointermediate liquidity and facilitate risk management for corporates and investors.
EFAMA welcomes adoption by Council of its General Approach to AIFMD & UCITS Reviews : We commend the swift progress made by the French Presidency in this regard and its thorough approach to the review. The initial proposal of the Commission was designed as a targeted review of a well-functioning framework, an approach which the Council has continued and carried through in its report.
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
Climate change: Parliament pushes for faster EU action and energy independence : Emissions Trading System reform: free allowances for industries phased out more quickly and citizens included later in ETS II; Broader scope and faster implementation in new carbon leakage instrument; A Social Climate Fund to combat energy and mobility poverty
UNEP FI: Carbon pricing policy instruments need a radical redesign and competent implementation : ... a new position paper by the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance argues that carbon pricing must be supported by a mix of policy instruments including international coalitions to provide predictable price signals to businesses and ensure a just and equitable transition for consumers.
ALFI: Key findings from the European Sustainable Investment Funds Report 2022 : Europe holds 83% of global sustainable funds’ net assets, reaching almost EUR 2 trillion at the end of 2021, up 71% from 2020
ICMA: Updated analysis of the proposals for the EuGB Regulation : Trilogue discussions are beginning between the co-legislators to determine a final text for the Regulation on European green bonds.
EBF Position paper – Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD) : The directive should clarify whether it is asking financial entities to identify the adverse impact just once during the onboarding of the client or for each new product/service contract a company is selling to a same client.
Fin Tech Regulation
BIS: The future monetary system : A burst of creative innovation is under way in money and payments, opening up vistas of a future digital monetary system that adapts continuously to serve the public interest.Structural flaws make the crypto universe unsuitable as the basis for a monetary system: it lacks a stable nominal anchor, while limits to its scalability result in fragmentation. Contrary to the decentralisation narrative, crypto often relies on unregulated intermediaries that pose financial risks
IMF: How Crypto and CBDCs Can Use Less Energy Than Existing Payment Systems : Environmentally conscious design can make a major difference in the energy efficiency of digital currencies.
EBF response to European Commission’s Targeted Consultation on a digital euro : This is a key topic for the European banking industry as a digital euro seeks to respond to the unprecedented speed of digitalization of the economy and payments, and has the potential to fundamentally impact the banking system.
Brexit and the City
Government reluctant to engage with the EU on financial services says Lords Committee : Tthe Committee cautions the Government against complacency. It is not yet clear whether the impact of Brexit on the sector has fully played out.
FT: UK financial services co-operation with EU hit by Northern Ireland row : Lords committee finds sector has become ‘collateral damage’ in post-Brexit dispute over trade agreement
Treasury Committee establishes Sub-Committee for scrutiny of financial services regulations : In a new report detailing its approach, the Committee outlines that new forms of scrutiny will be required, given the number of regulatory initiatives is likely to grow as regulators assume additional responsibilities following the UK’s exit from the EU.
Brexit
UKandEU: The Northern Ireland protocol bill and its constitutional implications : It demonstrates the increasing dominance of Whitehall (the Executive) over all other branches of the state – notably the courts and Parliament.
EU-UKForum: Are eurosceptics making a strategic mistake? : The argument runs something like the following: two and a half years after we have left, there is too little to show for Brexit and not enough that could be reversed by an administration not ideologically inclined to pursue the benefits of leaving the EU.
Federal Trust: Brexit undermines the rule of law in the UK
