European Parliament Plenary; ECON Committee meeting; EBI Global Annual Conference 2021
EBF WEEKLY + FINANCIAL REGULATION AGENDA for the week starting Monday 8 February 2021
An overview of the main financial regulation and banking stories this week and a look ahead to key events for the upcoming week, brought to you by the European Banking Federation.
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European Parliament hears ECB chief Lagarde Monday
Next week members of the European Parliament will gather under their remote participation regime for a four-day 'Brussels Session'. On Monday at 17:15 CET European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will exchange views with MEPs on the ECB's Annual Report 2020. The ECON committee already urged the ECB to explore ways of strengthening the international role of the euro, as this would increase the EU’s ability to frame its policy stance independently of other global powers and would be a key element in safeguarding European economic sovereignty. The parliament's vote on the ECB report is scheduled for Tuesday. On Wednesday the European Council and the Commission will appear in the plenary session for a discussion on the COVID-19 vaccination strategy. Wednesday afternoon will see a debate on the Capital Markets Recovery Package: MiFID and the EU Recovery Prospectus. Weekly agenda
FINANCIAL REGULATION AGENDA for next week
Monday 8 February:
European Parliament plenary debate with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. Agenda
EBF Single Resolution Mechanism Expert Group virtual meeting
EBF Banking and Taxonomy Working Group virtual meeting
For a full-year overview of key financial regulation events: click here
FROM THE MEDIA this week
Bloomberg: Italy turns to its central bankers when politicians fail
Every time Italy is about to go off the rails, there’s always been the same solution: call in the technocrat. Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is the latest in a long list of fixers, Bloomberg reports. Read more
Reuters: Santander bets on rapid recovery after first ever loss
Spain’s Santander is betting on a vaccine-driven economic recovery in 2021 after the euro zone’s second-biggest bank plunged to its first ever annual loss last year, Reuters reports. Read moreDeutsche Bank earnings
Politico: Europe’s economy fell again at year-end
The EU economy turned down again in the fourth quarter, declining 0.5 percent in an official estimate that keeps up pressure for government spending, writes Politico. For the euro countries, the quarterly drop was 0.7 percent compared to gross domestic product over the previous three-month period, according to Eurostat's flash estimate. Read more
Bloomberg: ESG risks top the list of near-term concerns
Risks related to climate change and social issues will intensify the most in the next two years, finance executives predicted in a survey, and firms will have to find ways to cope, writes Bloomberg. Read more
FT: Post-Brexit penalty reveals the power of the credit card duopoly
Financial regulation would be different and better after Brexit, promised UK chancellor Rishi Sunak. Sam Woods, who heads the Prudential Regulation Authority, talked of being freed from the “shackles” of Brussels’ rules. But UK policymakers, and most other supporters of post-Brexit deregulation, probably did not have in mind the quintupling of certain credit card fees when Britons buy goods from the EU, writes the FT. Read more (€)
FROM EBF MEMBERS this week
UK Finance: A culture of support in the financial services industry
On the UK Finance blog, Lauren Jones, Senior Associate, Pinsent Masons, looks at the link between financial and mental health, consumer perspectives on the role of banks and current industry initiatives to support consumers. Read more
NVB: Banks continue to support businesses during the pandemic
Dutch banks continue to support businesses during the corona crisis. Since the publication of our last Corona Monitor mid-December, the total amount of financing has increased with 5.5 billion euros. Read more
FFI: National strategy to promote financial literacy makes headway
Finance Finland (FFI) reports that the Bank of Finland has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Justice for Finland's first national financial literacy strategy. The objective of the strategy is for Finns to have the world’s best financial literacy by 2030. The Finnish financial sector has had its sights set on a national strategy for several years and cheers this progress. Read more (FI)
Febelfin: CEO Karel Baert opinion on the consequences of the pandemic
Karel Baert, Febelfin CEO, wrote an opinion on the consequences of the pandemic on the Belgian economy and SMEs titled "Tailor-made solutions are absolutely necessary, each company is different." Karel Baert also encouraged business owners who benefit from support measures to contact their banker as soon as possible, before the expiration of the measures in a few months. Read more (FR)
BPFI: Eamonn Crowley takes office as new BPFI CEO
Eamonn Crowley, CEO of Permanent TSB, has been appointed President of Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). His Presidency of the industry representative body is effective immediately. Read more
FROM THE INSTITUTIONS this week
ECON Publish Opinion on EU-UK Agreement
The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published its opinion to the Committee on International Trade (INTA) in regard to the EU-UK Cooperation Trade Agreement. Read more
ECB: Euro area countries fiscal policy responses to the Covid-19 crisis
ECB published an article titled Euro area countries fiscal policy responses to the Covid-19 crisis. Strong fiscal responses early in the pandemic were crucial in limiting economic damage in the euro area, ECB’s researchers write. The recovery needs support from targeted fiscal measures that consider the pandemic’s path and effectiveness of policy instruments. Read more
EBA launched 2021 EU-wide stress test exercise
EBA launched the 2021 EU-wide stress test and released the macroeconomic scenarios. Following the postponement of the 2020 exercise, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s EU-wide stress test will provide valuable input for assessing the resilience of the European banking sector. Accordingly, the adverse scenario is based on a narrative of a prolonged COVID-19 scenario in a ‘lower for longer’ interest rate environment, in which negative confidence shocks would prolong the economic contraction. Read more
BIS: Fintech regulation: how to achieve a level playing field
BIS published an occasional paper titled Fintech regulation: how to achieve a level playing field. The study explains how regulation should evolve to encourage fair competition between traditional banks and new fintech and big tech. Some advocate moving from an entity-based to an activity-based regulatory approach under the principle "same activity, same regulation", writes Fernando Restoy, Chairman of Financial Stability Institute. Read more
ILF: Green Banking and Green Central Banking: (Online Conference)
On 25 January Goethe University's Institute for Law and Finance, ILF, together with its knowledge partner Oliver Wyman, hosted an all-day on-line event on the topic of green banking and green central banking, at which Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank delivered a major address on the subject of climate change and central banking and Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank delivered remarks on the role central bankers should play in combating climate change. Read more
FROM THE EBF this week
ESG risks for credit institutions and investment firms: EBF response
EBF has responded to the EBA’s consultation on incorporating ESG risks into the governance, risk management and supervision of credit institutions and investment firms. Read more
Commission’s consultation on the Data Governance Act: EBF Response
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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