Former swimming star Reggie de Jong, after her swimming career, was the victim of an international conspiracy by large industrialists who, together with certain financial institutions, defended themselves against Ms De Jong after she uncovered shady dealings. She clung to this case as a victim, as a close friend of another now deceased victim, also fighting against corruption. Legal proceedings are still ongoing, but Reggie de Jong nevertheless agreed to speak to us briefly, literally at a high level, on the 21st floor of EY in Amsterdam, during the Behavioral Risk Congress 2022. Continue reading…

The Commission has disbursed a first instalment of €3 billion of the up to €18 billion Macro-financial Assistance+ (MFA+) package for Ukraine. This follows the swift adoption and entry into force of the MFA+ Regulation mid-December 2022, less than two months following the request from the European Council meeting on 20-21 October 2022. What is the MFA+ package and how does it work? With the stable, regular and predictable financial support of up to €18 billion for 2023 under this instrument, Ukraine will be able to keep on paying wages and pensions and maintain essential public services running, such as hospitals, schools, and housing for relocated people. It will also allow Ukraine to ensure macroeconomic stability and restore critical infrastructure destroyed by Russia in its war of aggression, such as energy infrastructure, water systems, transport networks, roads and bridges. Continue reading…

Mr. Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, made an introductory statement at the European and American Chamber of Commerce event, New York City. Digitalisation is far from being new in the financial sector, but tokenisation based on DLTs may be a new turn. In my initial remarks I would like to explain why, at the Banque de France and the ACPR, from the standpoint of our financial stability mandate, we have a strong interest in the development of tokenised finance, and how it impacts the policy tools we use to fulfil our mandate. Continue reading…

The Commission decided to identify Cameroon as a non-cooperating country in the fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, giving it a so-called ‘red card’. From now onwards EU Member States shall refuse the importation of fishery products from Cameroon even when accompanied by catch certificates validated by the national authorities. The decision is based on the EU’s ‘IUU Regulation’, which ensures that only legally caught fisheries products can access the EU market. The listing of Cameroon is based on the persistence of serious shortcomings that were outlined in a notification adopted in February 2021 which already warned of the possibility to identify Cameroon as a non-cooperating country. In particular, it is based on the failure of Cameroonian authorities to ensure adequate control over the national fishing fleet and to take necessary corrective measures for the cessation and prevention of IUU fishing activities. Cameroon has continued registering fishing vessels that operate outside its waters, including an IUU fishing vessel, while there is a lack of monitoring of their activities.

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At the UN Biodiversity conference COP15 in Montréal, Canada, the EU joined 195 countries in the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This framework contains global goals and targets aiming to protect and restore nature for current and future generations, ensure its sustainable use as well as spur investments for a green global economy. Together with the Paris Agreement on climate, it paves the way towards a climate-neutral, nature-positive and resilient world by 2050. The agreement is a solid framework with clear, measurable goals and targets, with complete monitoring, reporting, and review arrangements to track progress complemented by a robust resource mobilisation package. Continue reading…

In April, the FCA set out a new three-year strategy designed to improve outcomes for consumers and markets. The strategy focuses on three areas – reducing and preventing serious harm, setting and testing higher standards, and promoting competition and positive change. In response to its new strategy, the FCA has removed or amended over 8,000 potentially misleading adverts in 2022 – 14 times more than 2021. It has also cancelled the authorisation of 201 firms for failing to meet minimum standards. This action reflects the FCA’s increasingly data-led and assertive approach, which enables the regulator to find and deal with problem firms and misleading adverts swiftly. Continue reading…

On 20 December, Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, gave a speech at the end-of-year meeting with journalists, analysts and media representatives at the Governor’s Award ceremony in Tirana, Albania. I feel honoured and privileged to welcome in the historical hall of the Bank of Albania, media representatives and talented students who are brave in competing for “Governor’s Award for the Best Diploma Theses”. In the last year event, I emphasised that we experienced an unusual 3-year period, with the hope that 2022 would be different, more vivid and more optimistic. Nevertheless, the end of 2022 is proving a really challenging one, mainly due to the huge shock on commodity prices of energy, oil and gas, in particular. Continue reading…

The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, met on 16 December to endorse a finalised prudential standard on banks’ cryptoasset exposures and the Committee’s work programme and strategic priorities for 2023–24. Tiff Macklem, Chair of the GHOS and Governor of the Bank of Canada stated: “Today’s endorsement by the GHOS marks an important milestone in developing a global regulatory baseline for mitigating risks to banks from cryptoassets. It is important to continue to monitor bank-related developments in cryptoasset markets. We remain ready to act further if necessary.” Continue reading…

Ursula von der Leyen , quoted 7th December 2022: “Russia continues to bring death and devastation to Ukraine. It is deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, seeking to paralyse the country at the beginning of the winter. We stand by Ukraine and we are making Russia pay for its cruelty. The eight packages of sanctions we introduced so far are already biting hard. And today, we are stepping up the pressure on Russia, with a ninth package of sanctions.” Continue reading…

Recently, the Commission proposed new EU-wide rules on packaging, to tackle this constantly growing source of waste and of consumer frustration. On average, each European generates almost 180 kg of packaging waste per year. Packaging is one of the main users of virgin materials as 40% of plastics and 50% of paper used in the EU is destined for packaging. Without action, the EU would see a further 19% increase in packaging waste by 2030, and for plastic packaging waste even a 46% increase. The new rules aim to stop this trend. For consumers, they will ensure reusable packaging options, get rid of unnecessary packaging, limit overpackaging, and provide clear labels to support correct recycling. For the industry, they will create new business opportunities, especially for smaller companies, decrease the need for virgin materials, boosting Europe’s recycling capacity as well as making Europe less dependent on primary resources and external suppliers. They will put the packaging sector on track for climate neutrality by 2050. Continue reading…