EBF MORNING BRIEF Monday 4 May 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. Recommend the EBF newsletters to a colleague. Click here to sign up! |
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FROM THE MEDIA FT, Bloomberg: Bank provisions on souring loans exceed 2008 crisis US and European banks are on track to book more than €45 billion in reservations against possible bad loans in the first quarter, the biggest such provisions since the 2008-09 financial crisis, reports the Financial Times. The FT estimates European bank provisions at about €16 billion for the first quarter, while Bloomberg news, cited by Dutch FD daily, said 18 banks so far have reported €18 billion. The largest US banks boosting their reserves for potential bad loansin the first quarter last year to $25 billion. The full extent will become clear in the next two weeks, when France’s BNP Paribas, Dutch lender ING, Italy’s UniCredit and others report their earnings. Read more (€) FD (NL) Bloomberg: Global banks focus on local priorities The coronavirus pandemic spurred a turn toward nationalism around the world, says Bloomberg. As national governments are relying on banks to funnel trillions of dollars in credit to crisis-hit companies, banks will become less international. Intesa Sanpaolo, headquartered in Milan, is reinforcing an “Italy first” lending policy. In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank put Indian expansion plans on hold while throwing resources at Germany. Bank of America, with its head office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is among several U.S. institutions being more selective in their European lending. Read more Handelsblatt: Central banks make a comeback Almost six weeks ago, ECB chief Christine Lagarde said sentences that today seem to be out of date. "The response should primarily be fiscal policy." Nobody could expect the central banks to react first. A few weeks later, the central banks are again the key players in the crisis, states Handelsblatt. Bloomberg says that funding costs in Europe have probably been given the tonic they need to keep easing from the highest level since 2016. Judging by moves in interest-rate futures, the European Central Bank’s plan to pump a deluge of cash into the euro area’s banks will drag a key lending rate down on Monday. Read more (DE) Bloomberg Reuters: Greece sees economy tanking this year on coronavirus impact Greece expects its economy to contract by 4.7% to 8.9% this year under baseline and adverse scenarios taking into account the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the government’s 2020-21 stability programme submitted to the EU Commission projects, reports Reuters. Read more |
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EBF MEMBERS IN THE NEWS Ireland: BPFI comment on state support for businesses Commenting on the Irish government’s announcement of a suite of measures to further support small, medium and larger business that are negatively impacted by Covid-19 BPFI Chief Executive Brian Hayes said: A €2 billion COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme is an important step in improving the serious liquidity challenges facing SMEs. Read more The Netherlands: Wind energy financed by private individuals & banks In 2019, the Krammer Wind Farm went into operation: 34 turbines on and around the Krammer locks in Zeeland. Financed by private individuals and four banks, two of which - ASN Groenprojectenfonds and Rabobank (through the efforts of Rabo Groenbank) - were able to provide attractive green financing through the Green Projects Regulation, says Niels de Fijter of Windpark Krammer about this project, the construction and financing of which went remarkably smoothly. Read more (NL) UK: HMRC’s consultation on the UK tax implications of LIBOR transition On 19 March 2020 HMRC published a consultation document – “Taxation impacts arising from the withdrawal of LIBOR” – together with draft guidance on the UK tax implications. In the consultation, HMRC’s narrower aim is to identify any statutory references to LIBOR in UK tax legislation that need to be updated and to consult on an appropriate replacement rate. Read more France: The key stages of the State-guaranteed loan in infographics For professionals or companies with less than 5,000 employees and a turnover of fewer than 1.5 billion euros in France here the steps to benefit from the State-guaranteed loan. All over France, bank advisers are available to help and answer all questions. Read more (FR) Denmark: The Corona crisis makes Danes more digital The corona crisis has meant citizens have not been able to obtain personal service from authority to the same extent as usual. This has led the Danes to use digital solutions to a greater extent. Read more (DK) Switzerland: Credit Program Field Reports In the series "Loan Programme Experience Reports" SBA shows experiences and opinions of banks and SMEs on the loan programme. How do the banks cope with the numerous inquiries? How do SMEs assess the programme? SBA has asked his members for experience reports. Read more (DE) |
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EBF Blueprint for a Anti-Money Laundering Policy Lifting the Spell of Dirty Money Based on four priorities, Harmonise, Cooperate, Empower and Be Smarter. the European Banking Federation has formulated 20 concrete policy recommendations that are elaborated in the 40-page EBF blueprint ‘Lifting the Spell of Dirty Money’. The EBF presented its recommendations on on 10 March. Full AML Blueprint |
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FROM THE INSTITUTIONS ECB: Alternative scenarios for the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic The ECB has published a report covering the alternative scenarios for the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on economic activity in the euro area. Read more ESMA publishes annual bond transparency calculations ESMA has published the results of the annual transparency calculations of the large in scale (LIS) and size-specific to the instruments (SSTI) thresholds for bonds. Read more EIOPA revises its timetable for advice on Solvency II Review EIOPA has revised its timetable for advice on the Solvency II review. It has decided to deliver its advice to the European Commission at end December 2020, to take into account the importance of assessing the impact of the current Covid-19 situation on the Solvency II Review. Read more EBRD wins award for global leadership in sustainable trade finance The EBRD’s Green Trade Facilitation Programme (Green TFP) has won the GTR Leaders in Trade global award for its significant contribution to sustainability in trade. Read more European Commission calendar for this week 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 agenda Find out more about the Parliament's engagements and activities for the upcoming week. Read more |
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FROM THE EBF EBF supports Covid-19 update on EU banking package The European Banking Federation welcomes the EU legislative initiatives for regulatory flexibility to boost bank lending announced on Tuesday by the European Commission and hopes that the measures proposed will be implemented within the short timeframe laid out so that business and households can benefit. Read more EBF’s views on the evaluation of the Consumer Credit Directive The EBF believes that the Directive on consumer credit provides a sound and solid framework on fair access to credit, together with clear provisions on consumer protection. 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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This newsletter is published by the EBF Mediacentre. For questions or suggestions contact mediacentre@ebf.eu Recommend the EBF newsletters to a colleague. Click here to sign up! European Banking Federation Avenue des Arts 56, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium |
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