FROM THE MEDIA

FT: Apple charged with abusing market power in mobile payments

Brussels regulators have charged Apple with breaking EU competition law by abusing its dominant position in mobile payments to limit rivals’ access to contactless technology, the Financial Times (FT) reports. “Mobile payments play a rapidly growing role in our digital economy. It is important for the integration of European payments markets that consumers benefit from a competitive and innovative payments landscape,” Margrethe Vestager, EU’s executive vice-president in charge of competition policy says. Read more

Bloomberg: EU bank regulator probes whether ESG risks are covered

As reported by Bloomberg, the European Banking Authority (EBA) is looking at whether the current framework for setting minimum levels of capital for banks and investment firms adequately incorporates ESG risks. EBA says that the Pillar 1 framework already contains mechanisms that allow for addressing ESG risks. Still, there may be reasons for a “dedicated prudential treatment of exposures substantially associated with environmental and/or social objectives and those subject to environmental and/or social impacts”. Read more

The Guardian: Swiss consider amending banking secrecy laws 

Swiss politicians will debate the future of the country’s controversial banking secrecy law, as it faces pressure from UN officials. According to The Guardian, a committee in Switzerland’s parliament could put forward proposals that would amend the banking secrecy law which makes it a criminal offense to disclose information about a bank’s clients, even if it is in the public interest to do so. Read more

MAIN EVENTS

• Eurogroup

• Council Working Party on Financial Services and the Banking Union (Financial Services)

• Council Working Party of Financial Counsellors

• Council Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues

• ENISA and ETSI Remote identity proofing workshop

• Financial Times 'Leveraging data and tech to build productive finance teams' event

For a full-year overview of key financial regulation events: click here

FROM THE EBF MEMBERS

Finance Denmark: Record number of Danes invested during COVID-19

While the pandemic had major negative consequences for the majority of Danes, 2020 was a record year for investments. Almost 93,000 investors joined the market, bringing the number of investors to the highest in the last 7 years. The amount invested per investor also grew significantly, the analysis from Finance Denmark found. Read more (DK)

AEB: Financial Fraud Action Plan

The Spanish Banking Association (AEB) signed the general protocol of the Action Plan against Financial Fraud to promote and improve the prevention and fight against offers of potentially fraudulent products and services. By virtue of the agreement, the member institutions will cooperate in the detection of irregular activities while carrying out information campaigns for the general public on fraud risks. Read more (ES)

SBA: Sustainability in the financial market

The Swedish Bankers' Association (SBA), together with the Swedish Securities Market, the Swedish Insurance Association, and the Association of Investment Fund Companies, organized a conference on the role of the financial sector in the transition to a sustainable society. Finance Minister Max Elger delivered the keynote speech, and the SBA organized a panel discussion on "How do we move towards a sustainable economy?". Read more (SE)

FROM THE INSTITUTIONS

ESAs recommend changes to make the PRIIPs key information document more consumer-friendly

The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) published their technical advice to the European Commission on the review of the PRIIPs Regulation. The advice will serve as input for developing the Commission’s Retail Investment Strategy. The ESAs recommend significant changes to the PRIIPs Regulation and encourage the Commission to consider a broad review of the PRIIPs framework as well as to undertake appropriate consumer testing before formulating proposals for changes. Read more

EBA: The role of environmental risks in the prudential framework

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published a Discussion Paper on the role of environmental risks in the prudential framework for credit institutions and investment firms. The paper explores whether and how environmental risks are to be incorporated into the Pillar 1 prudential framework and stresses the importance of collecting relevant and reliable information. Read more

ESAs consult on sustainability disclosures for simple, transparent and standardized securitisations

The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA) published a Consultation Paper seeking input on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the content, methodologies, and presentation of information in respect of the sustainability indicators for Simple, Transparent, and Standardised  (STS) securitizations. Read more

FROM THE EBF

EBF Position paper – ESMA Consultation TV perimeter

The European Banking Federation (EBF) welcomes the opportunity to comment on ESMA’s draft “Opinion on Trading Venues’ Perimeter”. In general terms, we understand that ESMA’s intention is to provide more clarity on the concept of “multilateral system”. However, EBF members fear that ESMA will in fact achieve the opposite result. Indeed, several of the examples and figures included in the draft Opinion have left our members with a large number of new questions, worries and a significant level of legal uncertainty. Read more

EBF Vacancies: Work with us!

Visit our Vacancies page to learn more about the opening positions at the EBF. Read more

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European Banking Federation