EBF MORNING BRIEF Tuesday 25 February 2020 Good morning. These are 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 Reuters: Negative rates may lead to European bank mergers Declining revenues during a prolonged period of negative interest rates are likely to prompt European banks to merge, a senior official at S&P Global Ratings said on Monday, says Reuters. While interest rates were initially expected to start rising in 2019 and 2020, rate increases are now not seen until 2022 at the earliest and will be gradual even then. Read more Bloomberg: ECB launches strategic review European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde kicked off a public consultation on her strategy review with the first direct video address by the institution’s chief to euro-area citizens, reports Bloomberg. Adopting a communication technique untested by her predecessors, the Frenchwoman spoke to camera to invite views on monetary policy in a broadcast on Twitter released in tandem with a press statement outlining the ECB’s plans. Read more Politico: EU ambassadors green-light next Brexit mandate EU ambassadors agreed on Michel Barnier's mandate for the next phase of Brexit talks, according to Politico. EU ministers will adopt the text on Tuesday as planned. The latest version of the mandate has some additional changes on the sensitive issue of the so-called “level playing field,” which would require the U.K. to align with EU rules in exchange for access to the single market, according to one EU official. The U.K. wants to be able to diverge from EU regulation should it wish to. Read more Euractiv |
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MAIN EVENTS today EBF Stress Testing Working Group meeting *All events take place in Brussels unless stated otherwise |
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FROM THE INSTITUTIONS ECB: ECB kick-starts Eurosystem listening events for strategy review The European Central Bank and the 19 euro area national central banks, which together form the Eurosystem, are inviting euro area citizens and organisations to contribute ideas and comments on the way the central bank conducts its monetary policy within the framework set out by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The ECB is launching dedicated web pages to explain the review process, together with an online form which citizens can use to submit proposals and comments in euro area languages. Read more BIS: Monetary policy strategies & tools when interest rates are low Lael Brainard, Member of the Borad of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commented on a report covering “Monetary policy strategies and tools when inflation and interest rates are low.” The report explores the important question of whether the new monetary policy tools are likely to be sufficiently powerful in the next downturn. It assesses how unconventional tools-including forward guidance, balance sheet policies, negative nominal interest rates, yield curve control, and exchange rate policies-have performed over the past few decades., employing a novel approach by examining the effect on an index of financial conditions the authors construct. Read more G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Meeting Communiqué The G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors have published the communique about the scope and focus of the G20 summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, they pointed to issues for further actions, containing reports from different working groups. and environmental impacts, and state aid to Romania, among other things. Read more |
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EBF MEMBERS IN THE NEWS Sweden: The new capital requirements harm Sweden's economy The European Commission is preparing proposals for new rules for banks' capital adequacy. These run the risk of hitting well-capitalized Swedish banks severely and damaging Swedish competitiveness, corporate investment and employment, says Hans Lindberg and Johan Hansing of the Swedish Bankers' Association. Read more (SE) Germany: How long should I keep bank statements? Who does not know that? Old invoices, receipts and contracts fill countless files. Bank statements are also often kept for years. But how long should or should they really be kept? When can they be safely shredded or disposed of in the digital waste paper basket? There is no uniform legal requirement for the storage of bank statements. Read more (DE) France: French banking industry is a dynamic player in the job market The French banking industry is a dynamic player in the job market with 42,300 hires in 2018, a figure that has been constantly increasing since 2014. 362,800 people work in banks belonging to the French Banking Federation (FBF) on French territory With a downward trend in staff since 2011, less than 1% per year on average, the banking sector remains one of the main private employers in France (1.9% of private salaried employment). Read more (FR) |
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Fintex Summit, 14-15 May 2020, Baku, Azerbaijan
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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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