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Consensus achieved on EU financial supervisory framework
September 3, 2010--The Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers reached political consensus to create new financial authorities to oversee the EU’s banking, insurance and investment sectors.
The creation of a financial framework at the EU level is a means of preventing a future economic crisis like the one that erupted in late 2008, explains internal market commissioner Michel Barnier.
“Financial companies and markets operate mostly at a European level, and we'll now have four solid authorities to monitor macroeconomic financial risks and to supervise financial markets, banks, and insurance companies,” he says.
The EU institutions reached consensus on the creation of a new European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and three European Supervision Authorities (ESAs). The ESRB will develop a standard set of indicators to allow uniform ratings of the risk of specific cross-border financial institutions.
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Source: Europa
UK official holdings of international reserves, August 2010
September 3, 2010--This monthly press notice shows details of movements in August in the UK’s official holdings of
international reserves, which consist of gold, foreign currency assets and International Monetary
Fund assets. These reserves are maintained primarily so that the UK Government’s reserves could
be used to intervene to support Sterling, or the Bank of England’s reserves could be used to
support the Bank’s monetary policy objectives. If such interventions were to occur, then they
would be shown and explained in this release. The Background note at the end of this release
explains more about the reserves, and about these statistics.
In summary this month’s release shows that, in August 2010:
No intervention operations were undertaken.
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Source: HM Treasury
EU finance regulation shake-up welcomed
September 3, 2010--European governments gave their approval on Friday to an overhaul of the way banks and markets in the region are supervised, which was agreed in principle on Thursday night. However, they warned that new pan-European Union watchdogs would need to exercise their powers cautiously.
In Germany, Leo Dautzenberg, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democratic Union, and one of its finance policy experts in parliament, hailed Thursday night’s agreement on the EU financial supervision package as “closing an important gap in financial market regulation”.
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Source: FT.com
Swiss franc benefits from haven status as doubts spread
September 3, 2010--The Swiss franc hit a record high against the euro and approached parity against the dollar for the first time in nine months this week as worries about the global economic recovery drove haven demand.
The Swiss franc has risen more than 15 per cent against the euro to date this year, with those gains accentuating after the Swiss National Bank in June halted its policy of intervening to stem gains in its currency, saying that the risk of deflation in the Swiss economy had all but disappeared.
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Source: FT.com
Euro recovery takes divergent paths
September 3, 2010--Continental Europe's main economies took increasingly divergent paths towards recovery in August, with Germany and France indicating growth but Spain's services sector tipping into contraction.
According to the purchasing managers' index (PMI), a survey of 4,500 euro area companies compiled by London-based data and research group Markit, the services sector reported improvement, albeit uneven, but fears over southern Mediterranean performance deepened.
A combined manufacturing and services index for the 16-nation eurozone fell to a slightly upwardly-revised 56.2 points from 56.7 points in July, when it had accelerated for the first time in three months. Any score above 50 indicates a trend towards growth.
The services-only index rose slightly to 55.9 in August, with Ireland -- on tenterhooks over the health of its banking sector -- also reporting growth alongside Italy.
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Source: EUbusiness
Swedish krona hits high against euro
August 2, 2010--The Swedish krona rose to a two-year high against the euro on Thursday after the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, raised interest rates and delivered an upbeat assessment of the country’s economy.
The Riksbank raised rates by 25 basis points to 0.75 per cent, saying it needed to tighten monetary policy gradually towards “more normal levels”. It added that the economy was expected to show strong growth, with inflationary pressures increasing.
The central bank downplayed the risks to the Swedish economy posed by fears over a slowdown in the US and the eurozone, and the increased risk aversion in financial markets.
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Source: AME Info
CESR Updates The List Of Measures Recently Taken By Members Regarding Short-Selling
September 2, 2010--ESR published on 22 September 2008 a statement that facilitates an overview of actions taken by CESR Members in relation to short-selling. The statement paper includes either the statements or links to the statements published by CESR Members explaining the measures taken. This paper is not a comparison of the measures taken.
CESR updates the list of measures recently taken by Members regarding short-selling. The documents will be updated on a continuous basis; the latest update has been provided by the Greek CMC.
Further information can be found in the statement published today.
view Measures adopted by CESR Members on short selling-Updated
Source: CESR
New issuer to list exchange traded fund (ETF) on SIX Swiss Exchange
September 2, 2010--SIX Swiss Exchange is pleased to welcome a new issuer to its Exchange Traded Funds segment: HSBC ETF PLC.
With the HSBC FTSE 100 ETF, a new product has been listed in this segment, which now comprises a total of 475 ETFs (91 of which are also listed in an additional trading currency).
The market maker for this new issue is HSBC Bank plc.
Source: SIX Swiss Exchange
EU reaches deal on cross-border financial supervisors
September 2, 2010--Europe took a big step closer on Thursday to its goal of creating cross-border financial supervisors, reaching a "crucial milestone" in efforts to reform a sector blamed for the global recession.
EU states, the European Commission and European lawmakers reached a deal in principle to establish three agencies that will oversee banks, insurers and the markets, European Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said.
The agreement also creates a European Systemic Risk Board which would look out for threats to the region's economy following months of negotiations.
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Source: EUbusiness
EP adds bite to EU financial watchdog rules
September 2, 2010--EU authorities are to get tough new powers to settle disputes among national financial supervisors and to ban risky financial products and activities, in a revamp of EU financial supervision plans agreed on Thursday. If national supervisors fail to act, then the authorities may also impose decisions directly on financial institutions, such as banks, so as to remedy breaches of EU law.
The deal struck late on Thursday by the European Parliament and Council negotiators means that the new EU supervisory authorities (ESAs) and the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) should be up and running by January 2011.
ESA firefighting powers
The agreement gives the ESAs a strong role within the current setup of colleges of national supervisors. This will enable them to guide national supervisors to ensure tighter supervision of cross-border financial institutions. In the event of disagreements between national supervisors, ESAs will also be able to impose legally-binding mediation and, if no agreement can be reached within the relevant college of supervisors, to impose supervisory decisions on the financial institution concerned. ESAs will also be able to intervene as mediators at their own discretion, rather than at the request of one of the national supervisors.
The ESAs will also be able to monitor how national supervisors implement their obligations under EU law. If these obligations are implemented incorrectly, the ESAs may raise the alarm, issue instructions to the national supervisor concerned and, if these go unheeded, directly instruct the financial institution to remedy any breach of EU law.
A clean financial market: the role of the ESAs
ESAs will have the power to investigate specific types of financial institution, financial product, such as a "toxic" product, or financial activity such as naked short selling, to assess what risks they pose to a financial market. When specific financial legislation regulates these areas of activity, or in emergency situations, ESAs may temporarily prohibit or restrict harmful financial activities or products, and may also ask the Commission to introduce legislative acts to prohibit such activities or products permanently.
Powers that may grow
MEPs secured the inclusion of a strong review clause requiring the Commission to report back every three years on whether it is desirable to integrate the separate supervision of banking, securities, pensions, and insurance, on the benefits of having all the ESAs headquartered in one city, and on whether the ESAs should be entrusted with further supervisory powers, notably over financial institutions with pan-European reach.
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Source; European Parliment
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