FROM THE MEDIA

FT: Bank regulator calls for dividends to remain on hold

The secretary-general of the Basel committee of regulators has said it is far too early for banks to take a “victory lap” over their response to coronavirus, arguing that shareholder payouts should remain on hold until the long-term impact of the pandemic is clear.  In an interview with the Financial Times, Carolyn Rogers, who took up the post at the global regulatory body in August last year, indicated that investors would have to wait longer for dividends or share buybacks, despite pressure from bankers to be allowed to restart payouts. Read more (€)

PYMNTS: ECB to launch probe of 10-hour payments system outage

ECB has plans to independently investigate an incident that affected its TARGET2 real-time gross settlement system on Oct. 23 this year, which resulted in a near 10-hour outage, according to a press release, PYMNTS reports. An initial probe determined that a software defect in a specific device was what caused the incident, the release stated. The independent investigation will look into the other incidents affecting TARGET Services in 2020, including anything that directly or indirectly affected TARGET2 Securities, which is operated by the Eurosystem. Read more

CNBC: Full impact of pandemic on EU’s banks won’t be clear until 2021

Elke König, chair of the Single Resolution Board of the Single Resolution Mechanism, which oversees the restructuring of failing banks in the EU, said she expected a rise in the number of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the region, which in turn would hit bank balance sheets, CNBC writes. Read more

FT: BBVA in merger talks with smaller rival Sabadell

Spain’s second-biggest bank BBVA is in merger talks with its smaller domestic rival Sabadell as consolidation in the Spanish banking sector steps up a gear, FT reports. BBVA confirmed the talks with Sabadell, which owns TSB in the UK, on the same day that it announced it was selling its US operations to PNC in an all-cash deal for $11.6bn. Sabadell has a market capitalisation of €2.3bn compared with BBVA’s €24.5bn. Read more (€)

Finextra: Banks should be preventing fraud, not playing catch up

Ville Sointu, head of emerging technologies at Nordea, highlights that the intent of GDPR was “fantastic. It provides better data protection for the citizens of the European Union and beyond and therefore, asking companies to be more diligent with personal data and giving customers more control.” However, despite these intentions, there are downsides, and these have manifested themselves as friction, Finextra writes. Read more

Join and register for free

EU PAYMENTS AT CROSS-ROADS:
WHAT STRATEGY FOR THE FUTURE?

ONLINE/ Thursday, 19 November, 15:00 CET

Join us on Thursday, 19 November at 15:00 CET, and hear from our panel "Retail payments strategy for Europe: What's next for the European payments markets?" as part of the EBF " EU payments at cross-roads: what strategy for the future?" online conference. 

Find out more & register HERE

MAIN EVENTS today

• Governing Council of the ECB: non-monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt

• EUROPOL: Global virtual conference on criminal finances and cryptocurrencies

• CEPOL webinar: New technologies in counter-terrorism

• EDA: Virtual workshop: Cloud Computing Information Security Challenges

• QED: Virtual conference on the MiFID/MiFIR review: Markets structure & Transparency

• EPC Board meeting

FROM THE EBF MEMBERS

FROM THE INSTITUTIONS

ECB: Recovering from the pandemic

Our models suggest it will take a year or 18 months from now before the European economy returns to where it was before the coronavirus crisis, but we can already see the light at the end of the tunnel, says Chief Economist Philip R. Lane. Read more

FSB: Covid-19: Financial stability impact and policy responses

The FSB published a report on the Covid-19 pandemic, discussing the financial stability impact and policy responses. It finds that heightened economic uncertainty and continued elevated risks to financial stability reinforce the case for continued close international cooperation to help maintain global financial stability, keep markets open and functioning, and preserve the financial system’s capacity to finance growth. Read more

ISDA: The Brexit end game

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) published an article on progress of the Brexit process regarding the cross-border derivatives business between the EU and the UK. It finds that both EU and UK authorities have taken action in one important area: recognition of central counterparties (CCPs). Read more

BIS: Bargaining power and the Phillips curve: a micro-macro analysis

The relationship between inflation and economic activity has apparently weakened in recent years. BIS asks how trends in workers' bargaining power may have played a role. Read more

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Banking Essentials Webinar: SME FINANCE IN THE 2020s Powering up the economy engines

ONLINE/ Tuesday, 24 November, 15:30 CET

Small and medium-sized companies, especially those in services, are essential to create the new sustainable and digital jobs required to fuel the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. SMEs are the backbone of Europe’s economy, representing 99% of all businesses in the EU and employing around 100 million people. They account for more than half of Europe’s GDP and play a key role in adding value in every sector of the economy. Encouraging growth in SMEs can deliver the innovation required for a successful twin transition to a sustainable and digital economy. 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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