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Eurozone government debt will peak next year
September 12, 2011--Public debt across the 17-nation eurozone will rise even as growth returns, hitting a peak of 88.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2012, the EU said on Monday.
The bailed-out trio of Greece, Ireland and Portugal -- facing deeper recession than others -- will already have to wait much longer to see their debt burdens ease, according to the annual European Commission report on public finances.
But so too will Spain and non-euro Britain, where heavy banking bailouts and burst housing bubbles will make it even harder to deal with the impact of ageing populations on government finances over coming decades, it said.
Reform plans to hit UK banks
September 12, 2011--Britain's banks should shield retail operations from riskier investment banking units and boost capital levels to protect taxpayers from future crises, in far-reaching proposals that could cost the industry £7bn a year.
The Independent Commission on Banking also said on Monday banks must hold core capital of at least 10% in their British retail banking operations and have primary loss-absorbing capital of 17% - 20%.
Euro area securities issues statistics-July 2011
September 12, 2011--The annual growth rate of the outstanding amount of debt securities issued by euro area residents was 3.8% in July 2011, compared with 3.9% in June. For the outstanding amount of quoted shares issued by euro area residents, the annual growth rate was 1.8% in July 2011, compared with 1.6% in June.
New issuance of debt securities by euro area residents totalled EUR 903 billion in July 2011 (see Table 1
and Chart 1). Redemptions stood at EUR 912 billion and net redemptions amounted to EUR 2 billion
(see Table 1).1 The annual growth rate of outstanding debt securities issued by euro area residents was
3.8% in July 2011, compared with 3.9% in June.
As regards the sectoral breakdown, the annual growth rate of outstanding debt securities issued by nonfinancial corporations increased from 4.1% in June 2011 to 4.7% in July (see Table 2 and Chart 4). For the monetary financial institutions (MFIs) sector, this growth rate was 1.8% in July 2011, compared with 1.7% in June. The annual growth rate of outstanding debt securities issued by financial corporations other than MFIs was 0.9% in July 2011, compared with 0.7% in June. For the general government, this growth rate decreased from 7.3% in June 2011 to 6.8% in July.
The Independent Commission on Banking released its Final Report
September 12, 2011--The Independent Commission on Banking released its Final Report on 12 September 2011.
Introduction
On 16 June 2010, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the creation of the Independent Commission on Banking, chaired by Sir John Vickers.
The Commission has been asked to consider structural and related non-structural reforms to the UK banking sector to promote financial stability and competition, and to make recommendations to the Government by the end of September 2011.
view the ICB Final Report
Recommendations September 2011
German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) approves merger of Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext
September 12, 2011--Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has approved the merger of Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext. With BaFin’s decision, the merger has reached an important regulatory milestone in Germany.
The BaFin examination is comparable to the shareholder control procedure by the stock exchange regulators. It concerns a significant acquisition of shares in the banks and financial services institutions of the Deutsche Börse Group by the parent company of the new group (Holdco) headquartered in the Netherlands, and the permissibility of this acquisition. This particularly includes Clearstream Banking AG as the central settlement institution for securities transactions, and Eurex Clearing AG as the central counterparty for the derivatives exchange Eurex.
Among other things, BaFin’s examination involved assessing the reliability of the Dutch Holdco and its financial solidity. BaFin’s overall conclusion was that there are no grounds against the merger in Germany in terms of banking supervisory regulations.
The transaction remains subject to further conditions being met, such as approval by the responsible EU competition authorities and by responsible exchange supervisory authorities.
The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) approves the merger of the MICEX and the RTS
September 12, 2011--The merger of the MICEX and the RTS has been approved by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation.
Welcoming the decision of the FAS, the MICEX President Ruben Aganbegyan said: "The merger has been approved by all parties: shareholders in the two exchanges and the FAS.
The merger of Russia’s two major exchanges has entered its final stage. I believe in success, I believe in synergy between our companies, which are destined to become one. We will be a united, strong, customer-oriented trading floor that is able to meet the current challenges of the globalized world."
Roman Goryunov, CEO at OJSC RTS believes that the FAS’ approval opens the way for the final implementation of the merger. "This means that by the end of the year we will be a single company. In fact, we have already begun to work as a unified team. We have done a lot of work together, including the analysis and the joint assessment of markets, products and services. Before long, the results of our work will be submitted to market participants for consideration and discussion. Our plan is to build an exchange that will be sought-for and convenient for clients", said Roman Goryunov.
Investors could use ETFs to trade longevity, Deutsche Börse predicts
September 12, 2011--Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could be used for trading longevity once the market becomes sufficiently liquid, Deutsche Börse has suggested.
Addressing delegates at the Longevity Seven conference in Frankfurt last week, Hendrik Rogge, responsible for the company's Xpect longevity indices, also said trading would be limited to such funds and future contracts, as regular trading would be impractical due to the monthly release of new
data.
Independent Commission on Banking released its Final Report
September 12, 2011--Introduction
On 16 June 2010, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the creation of the Independent Commission on Banking, chaired by Sir John Vickers. The Commission has been asked to consider structural and related non-structural reforms to the UK banking sector to promote financial stability and competition, and to make recommendations to the Government by the end of September 2011.
view the Independent Commission on Banking-Final Report
SNB acts decisively to halt rise of franc
September 9, 2011--The Swiss currency tumbled after the central bank announced it would stop the franc from strengthening above SFr1.20 against the euro
The SNB moved on Tuesday to prevent the strength of the franc from pushing Switzerland into recession by announcing that it would stop the franc from strengthening above SFr1.20 against the euro.
Britain 'sceptical' on transaction tax: official
September 9, 2011--Britain is still "sceptical" about a Franco-German proposal for imposing a European Union-wide financial transaction tax, a British finance ministry official said at a G7 meeting in Marseille
"The UK is sceptical about au EU-wide tax," he said during the Group of Seven industrialised nations meeting in the southern French port.
Detractors say such a tax would inevitably weaken the EU by diverting financial activity elsewhere, quite apart from the difficulty of applying it in the first place.
