EBF MORNING BRIEF      Wednesday 13 December 2023

FROM THE MEDIA

Bloomberg: Europe’s banks have $150 billion to support payouts

Europe’s banks are set to enter next year with only slightly diminished capital cushions, suggesting they can keep up the recent payout bonanza despite regulators ordering higher reserves. For the first time, the ECB is also imposing additional demands for another measure of capital, known as leverage ratio, Bloomberg points out. Read more

Reuters: UK banks face smaller impact from Basel rules than rivals

The Bank of England (BoE) said that implementing the final leg of the global Basel bank rules will increase capital requirements at UK banks by 3%, far less than for their European Union and US peers. As reported by Reuters, Britain, the EU, the US, and other countries are now finalizing how they will implement the final leg of the so-called Basel III capital standards, tailoring them to local circumstances. Read more

Cointelegraph: ECB assesses environmental footprint of cash

The European Central Bank (ECB) has taken a look at the environmental impact of using banknotes. It discovered 16 environmental impact categories. According to Cointelegraph, as with cryptocurrency, energy efficiency was a major issue. Read more

MAIN EVENTS

• EIB Board of Directors

• ESMA Management Board meeting

• EIB and Sciences Po Chair for Sustainable Development and Climate Transition ‘Climate Transition in a fractured world’ event

• The Financial Times ‘Increasing investment in women-owned businesses’ webinar

Launch of the C-ESG Risk Roundtable
Collateral Workstream  

Thursday, 11 January 2024  

Banks 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. While 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 11 January 2024, we will be launching the second report resulting from the discussions and deliberations of the C-ESG Roundtable Collateral Workstream. 

FROM EBF MEMBERS

AEB: Digital banking for everyone

Economic activity is one of the areas where digitization has had the greatest impact. According to María Abascal, the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) General Director, this progress facilitates the daily operations of citizens but it can lead to difficulties. Thus many companies, including banks, are taking supporting measures. Read more (ES)

Finance Denmark: Consultation response to the EU Commission on the revision of the disclosure regulation

Finance Denmark has submitted a consultation response to the European Commission (EC) on revising the disclosure regulation. Nearly two years after implementing the EU's requirements for investment products' sustainability information, the EC has launched a major evaluation and open consultation on revising the requirements. Read more (DK)

UK Finance: Best practices in cyber risk exposure management

In an era where the digital landscape expands across the cloud, remote locations, and interconnected digital supply chains, financial services organizations face a growing threat: cyber risk exposure. UK Finance outlines the best practices to tackle this issue. Read more 

FROM THE INSTITUTIONS

ECB: New Director General Horizontal Supervision

The Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) has appointed Thijs van Woerden as Director General of Horizontal Line Supervision. In his new role, he will be responsible for providing the strategic direction of and managing horizontal line supervision. Read more

EBA: The EU banking sector remains resilient despite pockets of risk stemming from the change in interest rates

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its annual risk assessment of the European banking system. The Report is accompanied by the publication of the 2023 EU-wide transparency exercise, which provides detailed information for 123 banks from 26 countries across the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). Read more

ESMA: Annual peer review of EU CCP supervision

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its annual peer review report on the supervision of EU Central Counterparties (CCPs) by National Competent Authorities (NCAs). Read more

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

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

European Banking Federation