This week in "Brussels"

18 September 2008




Articles from 11 September 2008 - 18 September 2008

IOSCO addresses current market turmoil
IOSCO discussed current market conditions and further prioritise IOSCO’s work in response to the subprime crisis. A report on the findings and recommendations is expected in the next months.  View Article

BBA warns against consequences of UK reform plans on depositor protection
More weight should be placed on improving the FSA’s execution of its existing regulatory powers and the proposed escalation of regulatory intervention on the basis of heightened supervision rather than on new arrangements, BBA states.   View Article

ECB concerned about UK plans to transfer oversight of retail payment systems
It can be questioned whether giving oversight responsibilities to a non-central bank entity is compliant with European legislation, ECB states and calls it appropriate that the oversight of payment systems is undertaken by central banks.  View Article

IMA calls for stability legislative committee
IMA welcomes the proposal for a Special Resolution Regime in the UK and calls for the establishment of a Financial Stability Legislative Committee, to be chaired by the BoE.  View Article

Sibos conference: Crisis demands fresh approach to risk - Financial crisis caused by risk failure at senior levels
Only a full-scale reappraisal of risk management and an overhaul of capital adequacy regulation can prevent future banking crises, delegates were told.   View Article

Single Market News No. 51
The European Commission issued the latest Single Market News. It includes an article on the UCITS IV proposal and outlines its main key areas.   View Article

SEC clarifies accounting issues relating to bank support for money market mutual funds
The SEC clarified that bank support of money market mutual funds generally does not result in a requirement to present the fund on-balance sheet.  View Article

SEC rules against naked short selling abuses
"The SEC has zero tolerance for abusive naked short selling," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox announcing several coordinated actions to strengthen investor protections against "naked" short selling.    View Article

US Government ready to bail out AIG
The Fed authorized to lend up to $85 billion to the AIG. A disorderly failure of AIG could add to already significant levels of financial market fragility, the Board said.    View Article

PCAOB Gradison - a single auditing standard the primary goal
"Accounting and auditing in the United States are at a crossroads”, Gradison said. “My personal view is that in the long run adoption of a single high-quality auditing standard ought to be the primary goal.”  View Article

PCAOB Niemeier criticizes plan to adopt IFRS
Adopting the IFRS and scrapping U.S. GAAP would do far more harm than good to U.S. companies and investors, Charles Niemeier, a member of the PCAOB said.  View Article

Bank of America Buys Merrill Lynch
Bank of America Corporation announced it has agreed to acquire Merrill Lynch in a $50 billion all-stock transaction.  View Article

Lehman Brothers announces to file chapter 11 bankruptcy petition
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. announced that it intends to file a petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.  View Article

SEC statement regarding recent markets events – Lehman
The SEC is taking actions to ensure that customers of Lehman Brothers will not be adversely affected by recent market events. It is also co-ordinating with overseas regulators to protect Lehman’s customers and to maintain orderly markets.  View Article

Fed initiatives to support financial markets - Lehman
The Federal Reserve Board on Sunday announced several initiatives to provide additional support to financial markets, including enhancements to its existing liquidity facilities.    View Article

FSA Sato - Action in response to global market turmoil
The early implementation of Basel II was one of the reasons of the comparatively small and indirect impact on Japan's financial sector, Sato said and warned that it will take a decent time for the situation to return to normal.   View Article

HBOS to be taken over by Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB and HBOS announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended acquisition by Lloyds TSB of HBOS.   View Article

McCreevy - cross-border supervision for Insurance and Banking
Among the most important issues to resolve is group supervision and group support, Commissioner McCreevy said and also announced amendments to the CRD and a White Paper on financial stability.   View Article

Trichet calls for closer cooperation between central banks and supervisors
The ECB considers a bigger role in supervising commercial banks, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in a speech at the Eurofi conference in Nice.  View Article

Working group issues guidance on new message standard for cover payments
Banks have been warned that they may face disruption and delays to payments STP following the introduction of new messaging standards for cover payments as demanded by regulatory agencies.  View Article

FESE study on “Alternative” Markets/Segments in equity
The study provides an overview of the alternative markets/segments and finds that these generally have less strict listing requirements aimed at capturing an alternative issuer profile.  View Article

EBF response to Call for Evidence on MiFID
The transposition of the MiFID provisions show a good degree of consistency across Member States, FBE says and notes that the implementation is in the first instance a question of compliance, which should be assessed by the national authorities.  View Article

LCH.Clearnet set to develop multi asset derivatives clearing platform
LCH.Clearnet is set to develop the first multi asset derivatives clearing platform named Synαpse.    View Article

European clearing code failing to deliver
More than 80 formal applications have been made by clearing and settlement houses for interoperability and mutual access in accordance with the European Commission's voluntary code of conduct, but none has gone live.  View Article

IOSCO urges greater international co-ordination in oversight of CRAs
IOSCO favours a consistent global regulatory approach and proposes an international monitoring body to facilitate the need for greater interaction between CRAs and regulators.  View Article

CESR: Proposal on CRA - intensity of supervision that can possibly not be met
The goal for a potential regulation should be the supervision and monitoring of principles, CESR states and criticizes that the proposal does not clarify the nature of this supervision.   View Article

CEA - situation for European insurers not comparable to US
Europe’s insurers are unlikely to be overly affected by short-term liquidity concerns, the CEA said commenting on the recent market events in the US.  View Article

IAIS-OECD Questionnaire on the Corporate Governance of Insurers
The purpose of the questionnaire is to obtain information on current practices in the corporate governance of insurers and views on what might constitute good practices.    View Article

EFRAG comments on CESR draft Statement on fair value
EFRAG members were concerned about CESR’s positioning of the statement and suggest that CESR re-positions its Statement as input to the IASB, rather than providing guidance to preparers.   View Article

IASB update on credit crisis and expert advisory panel draft report
The draft report summarises the discussions of the panel and provides information and guidance for measuring and disclosing fair values. The update provides a timetable on forthcoming exposure drafts.  View Article

EC cautious on IASB moves
The European Commission has said it expects the IASB to proceed with extreme caution in the implementation of improvements to IAS19 accounting standards planned for 2011.  View Article

La Tribune: A Flimsy Triumph for Global Accounting Standards
Nicolas Véron identifies a risk of politicization of the standard-setting process to the detriment of its ultimate aims.   View Article

EFRAG assessment of IFRIC 16 Hedges of a Net Investment in a Foreign Operation
EFRAG consults on the endorsement for use in the EU of the IFRIC 16 - Hedges of a Net Investment in a Foreign Operation.   View Article

Informal ECOFIN meeting 12-13 September
EU economy and finance ministers and governors of the central banks agreed on a joint response to confront the economic slowdown and restore confidence in the financial markets.  View Article

MLex Comment: LloydsTSB, HBOS deal may herald tougher enforcement for banks
The decision by UK financial regulators to allow the merger despite any potential competition concerns could augur for heavier-handed treatment of the banking sector in the future.  View Article

MLex Comment: Smooth regulatory ride expected for Aon Corp's Benfield purchase
Aon Corporation's takeover of UK's Benfield Group is to combine the world number one and three in reinsurance brokerage. The presence of strong competitors, among other factors, predicate in favour of a smooth regulatory ride.  View Article

Financial Regulation in the EU: the current state of play
15 September 2008 Graham Bishop (A version of this article is appearing in this month's Financial Regulator, published by Central Banking Publications) The EU’s community of financial regulators suffered a profound shock a year ago but that is now giving way to meeting the demand that  View Article



© Graham Bishop