EBF MORNING BRIEF Wednesday 15 May 2024 Good morning. Here 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 Bloomberg: Eurozone wage concerns keep ECB cautious on rate cuts Robust early-year wage growth for euro-area workers will do little to calm the nerves of European Central Bank (ECB) officials pondering how much they can lower interest rates. Data from the bloc’s largest economies suggest increases in negotiated pay failed to slow significantly in the first quarter. According to Bloomberg, the danger is that companies pass rising costs on to consumers, keeping inflation above 2% for longer. Read more Finextra: ECB conducts first DLT trials for wholesale central bank money settlement The Eurosystem has begun the first of a series of trials to test the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for the settlement of wholesale transactions in central bank money. The first experiment, carried out by Oesterreichische Nationalbank, covered the tokenization and simulated delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlement of government bonds in a secondary market transaction against central bank money. Read more Reuters: EU approves faster tax refunds for cross-border investors The European Union approved rule changes to speed up how tax is paid on cross-border investments, helping to deepen the bloc's capital market. As reported by Reuters, the Council of EU states said it has reached a deal on offering relief from "withholding" or double taxation. This refers to a cross-border investor paying tax on dividends and interest on bonds in the EU state where the instruments are listed, and again back home. Read more |
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MAIN EVENTS Council Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues |
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FROM EBF MEMBERS Febelfin: The financial sector supports better access to alternative forms of financing for entrepreneurs The financial sector organized, in collaboration with the Minister of Middle Classes, the Self-Employed and SMEs, an event dedicated to alternative forms of financing for entrepreneurs. On this occasion, Febelfin and several alternative financing players signed a Charter in order to reaffirm their commitment to Belgian entrepreneurship. Read more (FR) Finance Denmark: Banks are financing climate-friendly activities Finance Denmark is taking stock of the financial sector's contribution to supporting the sustainable transition of society. The results show that the financial sector has already met its own expectations for financing climate-friendly activities by 2030 and set greenhouse gas reduction targets for large parts of its investments and lending. Read more (DK) BdB: Simplify financial market regulation at last "Mark Branson's call to simplify financial market regulation and remove overlaps is an important and correct impulse,’ says Heiner Herkenhoff, Managing Director of the Association of German Banks (BdB). ‘To ensure that Germany and Europe remain competitive in the future, it is high time for efficient, smart regulation. Existing contradictions must be resolved and the entire framework must become more consistent. This must be one of the key tasks not only for the German government, but above all for the next EU Commission". Read more |
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Launch of the C-ESG Risk Roundtable Climate Scenario Analysis Workstream Tuesday, 28 May 2024 - 2.00 pm |
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| Bank, as well as supervisors, do recognize that environmental factors could be a source of financial risk. While banks are making tangible progress, they are facing numerous operational and implementation challenges, many of which are neither originated, nor inherent to the banking industry. Some will need to be addressed at the level of individual organizations, others will benefit from collaborative approaches. To further strengthen the dialogue within the banking sector and to facilitate the discussion with the European Central Bank (ECB), a high-level Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Roundtable (C-ESG Risk RT) was set up by the European Banking Federation (EBF) with the participation of 13 European banks. On 28 May 2024, we will be launching the third report resulting from the discussions and deliberations of the C-ESG Risk Roundtable Climate Scenario Analysis Workstream. The report will be available on the EBF website on 28 May, after the launch event |
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FROM THE INSTITUTIONS ECB: Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem Geopolitical risk can have a negative impact on financial stability, and the latest developments call for heightened vigilance. The European Central Bank's Financial Stability Review looks at what this means for financial institutions and policymakers. Read more ESMA: Final report containing Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms Following the public statement of 14 December 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), has published the final report containing Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms. The objective of the Guidelines is to ensure that investors are protected against unsubstantiated or exaggerated sustainability claims in fund names, and to provide asset managers with clear and measurable criteria to assess their ability to use ESG or sustainability-related terms in fund names. Read more EBA: Consultation on RTS on equivalent mechanism for unfinished property under the standardised approach of credit risk The European Banking Authority (EBA) today launched a public consultation on its draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR3) regarding the equivalent mechanism for unfinished property. These technical standards specify the conditions that a legal mechanism should meet in order to recognise a property under construction in the own fund requirements calculation under the standardised approach of credit risk. Read more |
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FROM THE EBF New EBF Vacancies! Work with us! Visit our Vacancies page to learn more about the opening positions at the EBF. Read more European Social Partners for the Banking Sector Sign New Joint Declaration on Employment Aspects of Artificial Intelligence 90 social partners from the European and national sectoral level gathered today to witness the European Social Partners for the banking sector sign a Joint Declaration on Employment Aspects of Artificial Intelligence. This declaration is the beginning of an ongoing process on AI, and also the culmination of extensive collaboration and dialogue among the stakeholders, taking into account the sector’s dynamic challenges and opportunities in introducing processes and systems which use AI. Read more |
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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 from across Europe. The federation 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. Website: www.ebf.eu |
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This newsletter is published by the EBF Mediacentre. For questions or suggestions contact r.hrelja@ebf.eu European Banking Federation Avenue des Arts 56, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium |
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