EBF MORNING BRIEF Monday 22 June 2020 Good morning. Here the top news stories and events in European banking, financial regulation and EU policy, brought to you by the European Banking Federation.
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FROM THE MEDIA
Bloomberg: ECB looks to defuse German legal timebomb
The European Central Bank’s most determined attempt yet to confront the German legal headache bedeviling its quantitative easing policy may emerge as soon as this week, says Bloomberg. That’s what its president, Christine Lagarde, hinted at after its June 4 decision, saying that the account of that meeting due to be published this Thursday will include a description of officials’ justifications for continuing the measure. Reuters reports that changes to the composition of Germany’s top court are likely to make it less confrontational towards the ECB following its ruling. Read more Reuters
Politico: Little agreement reached in EU budget summit After a roughly four-hour videoconference to discuss a proposed €1.85 trillion budget and coronavirus recovery package, the EU's 27 heads of state and government did little more than reaffirm some entrenched differences on the most fundamental issues, writes Politico. The participants pledged to reach an agreement next month, despite the enormous differences among the member states, says Euractiv. Read more Euractiv
Coindesk: Italian banks are ready to trial a digital euro
The Italian Banking Association (ABI) announced that its member banks are willing to pilot a digital euro, writes Coindesk. ABI, made up of over 700 Italian banking institutions, expressed its desire to help speed up the implementation of a digital currency backed by the ECB by participating in related projects and experiments. Read more
FT: Bank regulators warned against protectionism Banking regulators will do untold damage to global financial stability if they erect barriers to protect local markets once huge loan losses from the coronavirus crisis begin to hit lenders, the Institute of International Finance has warned according to the FT. Read more (€)
S&P Global: Remote working could amplify exclusive behaviors Prolonged working from home could reinforce exclusive behaviors and biases and undermine inclusive workplace cultures, which experts warn could have long-term implications for organizations that do not pay attention to the risks, says S&P Global. Read more
Reuters: Greece should complete reforms to reduce bad debt Greece should complete reforms to help its banks deal with the impact of the coronavirus crisis and reduce their bad debt, the ECB's mission chief for Greece has said according to Reuters. Read more |
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FROM THE INSTITUTIONS
ECON: Temporary and targeted relief in prudential rules for EU banks
The European Parliament approved the “quick fix” to the capital requirement regulation (CRR) to temporarily ensure favourable conditions for banks. This will support credit flows to companies and households and absorb losses, mitigating the economic consequences of the Covid-19 lock-down. Read more ECB: Reading the economy’s vital signs The Global Weakness Index is a real-time measure of how weak the global economy is. As coronavirus spreads across the world, the latest Research Bulletin proposes this new indicator and assesses how it can help provide early warnings of a downturn that can be crucial for a fast policy response. Read more
Commission welcomes the adoption EP's Taxonomy Regulation
The European Commission welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament of the Taxonomy Regulation – a key piece of legislation that will contribute to the European Green Deal by boosting private sector investment in green and sustainable projects. Read more EBA extends deadline for its Guidelines on payment moratoria The European Banking Authority (EBA) decided to extend the application date of its Guidelines on legislative and non-legislative moratoria to 30 September 2020. With EU economies not yet fully opened, this extension shows the importance of continued support to the measures taken by banks to extend loans in response to the extraordinary nature of the current situation. Read more European Commission weekly schedule Find out more about the European Commission's engagement and activities for the upcoming week. Read more
European Central Bank weekly schedule Find out more about the ECB's engagements and activities for the upcoming week. Read more
EU Parliament weekly schedule Find out more about the Parliament's engagements and activities for the upcoming week. Read more |
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Encouraging and rewarding sustainability The EBF report on accelerating sustainable finance in the banking sector
At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25), EBF presented the Encouraging and rewarding sustainability report. The report outlines a number of concrete proposals to stimulate and contribute to the debate of the European institutions, regulators and banks on how to scale up sustainable activities, mobilise and redirect private financial flows to support such activities, develop new instruments and increase the number of eligible projects and help capital markets developments.
Download as PDF
Visit also our Sustainable Finance page |
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EBF MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
Belgium: Launch Multicultural Bankers Network
Febelfin will launch the Multicultural Bankers Network on 2 July during an interactive webinar. This network is open to all employees active in the Belgian financial sector. Becoming a member is free of charge. Read more
Germany: Banks ON SCREEN: Europe needs an answer to Libra
The Association of German Banks held a debate on the Vblog Banken ON SCREEN on DLT and cryptocurrencies. Blockchain - a few years ago this was only a topic for IT nerds. More and more blockchain-based industrial projects, and not least the Libra Association's Facebook project to launch its own cryptocurrency on the world market, have now put digital currencies based on this technology in the spotlight. Read more (DE)
UK: Why operational resilience is a strategic imperative
Financial institutions have been forced to make quick and sometimes difficult decisions to achieve business continuity due to Covid-19. Caroline Winch from Confirmation discussed with UK Finance why operational resilience is now a strategic imperative. Read more
Netherlands: Covid-19: Dutch businesses endorse sustainability
Over 250 companies have signed the statement 'Dutch companies endorse sustainability in Covid-19 recovery’, in which they pledge support for taking sustainability as the cornerstone in the Covid-19 recovery plans. The statement is made at the initiative of the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition in collaboration with Global Compact Netherlands, MVO Nederland and the “Nederlandse Vereniging van Banken” (Dutch Banking Association) and VNO-NCW. Read more |
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The European Banking Federation and fTLD Registry Services (fTLD) are partnering to educate the European banking sector about the cybersecurity role .BANK plays in protecting banks against Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, phishing and spoofing attacks that lead to breaches, identity theft and financial fraud. fTLD administers the .BANK domain and the EBF has served on its Advisory Council since 2013. To learn more about the security benefits of .BANK, visit https://www.register.bank/ebf/ or contact fTLD at EBF@fTLD.com. |
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ABOUT THE EUROPEAN BANKING FEDERATION
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. |
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