FROM THE MEDIA

CNBC: banks set for better earnings season, bad loan payouts stabilize

With European banks gearing up to report third-quarter earnings as they look to continue a fragile recovery, analysts are expecting sharp reductions in loan loss provisions to drive a fragile stabilization, CNBC reports. Across the pan-European Stoxx 600 index, aggregate third-quarter earnings are expected to decrease 36.7% from the same period in 2019, according to Refinitiv, with revenues declining 12.1% on an annual basis. Read more Bloomberg on UBS

WSJ: Banks Await Green Light for Cash Dividend Payments

The chief executives of some of Europe’s biggest banks are hoping regulators will soon let them resume cash dividend payments, easing pressure on their flagging share prices, the Wall Street Journal reports. Spanish lender Banco Santander SA is even planning to pay a dividend in shares this year as an alternative. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England told banks to stop paying cash dividends earlier this year to preserve capital to fight the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. But the policy has deterred investors and helped send bank shares lower. Read more (€)

BBC: Brexit: Have EU-UK trade talks reached a dead end?

After months of wrangling and shadow-boxing, posturing and incomprehension of the bottom-line priorities of the other side - are the negotiations truly over? The BBC's Kate Adler takes stock of the situation. Read more

MAIN EVENTS today

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CYBERSECURITY & RESILIENCE:
THE BASIS OF IT ALL IN DIGITAL INNOVATION

ONLINE webinar, Thursday 22 October, 15:30 CEST
 

Tune in and listen to Pentti Hakkarainen, ECB representative, Member of the Supervisory Board, speaking at 'Cybersecurity & Resilience: the basis of it all in digital innovation', our webinar taking place on 22 October at 15:30

Do not forget to register: http://ebf.eu/events/cyber-security-resilience/

FROM THE EBF MEMBERS

Finance Finland: Finnish insurance survey 2020

​The majority of insurance customers are happy with their insurance company’s claims handling process and compensation in the event of a loss or damage. This was one of the results in Finance Finland’s (FFI) Insurance Survey, which interviewed Finnish insurance customers on their opinions and experiences regarding insurances and social security. Read more

BPFI: Safeguarding Your Money

Two-thirds of people who needed help from others to manage their money during the COVID-19 lockdown have not taken back control of their own finances. This is according to new research commissioned by BPFI together with Safeguarding Ireland. Bank & Payments Finance Ireland (BPFI) and Safeguarding Ireland recommend that, while following public health guidelines, people should take back and keep control of their own money as much as possible – in order to combat financial abuse. Read more 

FBF: Strengthening of companies' equity capital

French banks have proven their ability to support companies massively and rapidly. At a time of economic recovery, they are mobilising to strengthen companies' balance sheets and enable them to develop, the French Banking Federation (FBF) writes in its latest press release. Read more (FR)

AEB: Banks key to recovery from pandemic

In short, in the coming months we must lay the foundations for a better future. As a sector we are not looking for prominence or recognition, but we do make clear our desire to help, because we know we can do it. Therefore, we reiterate our offer to play a role in the implementation of the European Union's NextGen plan, as we humbly believe that we can help in the selection of projects, guaranteeing their granularity, effectiveness and objectivity, José M.Roldán, President of the Association of Spanish Banks (AEB), said at the XI Encuentro Financiero Expansión-KPMG conference. Read more (ES)

FROM THE INSTITUTIONS

ECB Presidente Lagarde interview with Le Monde

President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has given an interview about the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP). Lagarde stated that the ECB has more options in their toolbox to use if the economic crisis gets worse. She also argued that the PEPP has fulfilled its objective to stabilise the markets and will continue to bring inflation back to its pre-pandemic path. Read more

EBA: Finansinspektionen: Measures to address macroprudential risk

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published an Opinion following the notification by Finansinspektionen, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), of its intention to extend a measure introduced in 2018, which aims at enhancing the resilience of Swedish banks to potential severe downward corrections in residential real estate markets. Based on the evidence submitted, the EBA does not object to the extension of such measure, which Finansinspektionen intends to apply to credit institutions that have adopted the Internal Rating-Based (IRB) Approach. The extension will be applied from 31 December 2020 until 30 December 2021. Read more

IMF: A Leap Forward on Cross-Border Payments

When paying for coffee, we swipe, tap, wave, and soon may wink—a quick and painless exchange of coffee for money. But when paying for imports or sending remittances, we often fill-out forms, wait for days, and pay—too much. Progress to improve cross-border payments has been slow, but is just about to take off. That is how history evolves—one small step at a time, until it suddenly leaps forward. The confluence of new technologies and renewed determination among policymakers are making significant improvements possible. Meanwhile, households and firms have come to expect (and demand) better services. Read more
 

FSB: Effective Practices for Cyber Incident Response and Recovery

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a report including the toolkit of effective practices for financial institutions’ cyber incident response and recovery. The toolkit includes 49 practices for effective cyber incident response and recovery across seven components: (i) governance, (ii) planning and preparation, (iii) analysis, (iv) mitigation, (v) restoration and recovery, (vi) coordination and communication, and (vii) improvement. Read more

BIS: Covid-19 and banking supervision: where do we go from here?

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision timely and comprehensive response to Covid-19 is another chapter of its long and successful history of global cooperation. As supervision adapts to the challenges of the future, global cooperation should be inclusive in nature and involve a wide range of stakeholders. We must avoid the silo effect of listening only to a subset of our stakeholders, which is a recipe for tunnel vision and regulatory capture. The work of the Committee benefits from an extensive outreach with other global standard setters and international fora, including the G20 and Financial Stability Board, academics, market participants, and the general public. This outreach is integral to the way in which we meet our mandate, Pablo Hernández de Cos, Chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and Governor of the Bank of Spain, said at the 21st International Conference of Banking Supervisors. Read more 

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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