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Photo: Klaas Knot

The recent financial tumult: lessons and responses

07 December 2023
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by Klaas Knot

As many of you know, I am a General Board member of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). In that capacity, I contribute to, and follow the work of the ESRB closely. But today, I will be speaking as chair of the Financial Stability Board. And so, I wanted to begin by highlighting a few similarities between these two important international bodies. Both the ESRB and the FSB were created after the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC). The former under the EU, the latter under the G20. Those of you who have been involved in one of our committees such as the ESRB’s ATC [*1] or the FSB’s SRC [*2] will know that we share a love for acronyms. But, of course, we have something far more fundamental in common. We both monitor vulnerabilities in the financial system. We make policy recommendations to address them and we look at how these recommendations are implemented.
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Ed Fenne and Marion Weitering: What does the House for Whistleblowers do?

06 December 2023
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by Michel Klompmaker

On 7 November 2023, the Serious Whistleblowing Annual Conference took take place at the Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Hague, Netherlands. The EU Whistleblower Directive has been implemented in the Whistleblowers Protection Act. Employers have set up their internal procedures or are busy doing so. What is of great importance for the professionals in the field is the following: (I) receiving notifications securely, (ii) protecting the reporter, (iii) investigations into reported abuses, (iv) handling and measures, and (v) legal proceedings. This is part one in a series of four articles on the event.  Continue reading…

Photo: Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank

Policy-making under uncertainty : The importance of maintaining a medium-term orientation

05 December 2023
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Thomas Jordan

I would especially like to thank our colleagues at the Bank for International Settlements and the Federal Reserve Board for working together with us in organising this event. The topic of this year’s conference – policy-making under uncertainty – is highly relevant. There is, for instance, substantial uncertainty regarding the impact of accumulated monetary tightening on future inflation. There is also high uncertainty about how the current geopolitical tensions will affect the global economy. Continue reading…

One in three nations now on the Open Banking journey, Konsentus study shows

03 November 2023
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A new study from the Open Finance technology and advisory services provider Konsentus has found that there are now more than 65 national open banking programs globally. Konsentus has updated its Global Open Banking and Open Finance Map to include richer data on the evolution of open banking across the world. It reveals that open banking, the new wave of financial data access, has reached a significant milestone, with 68 countries (representing 35% of the world) either live or in development. The Konsentus study showed there is a clear regulatory push towards open banking, with 64% of open banking initiatives being mandatory via legislation. Continue reading…

Christine Lagarde in Athens, Greece

31 October 2023
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by Christine Lagarde

I would like to thank the Bank of Greece for hosting our dinner tonight (October 25th). And thank you for the tremendous effort you have put into organising this external Governing Council meeting at your impressive headquarters here in Athens. Standing in this hall, I am struck by the overwhelming sense of continuity with the past. So much of what we consider to be European civilisation has emerged from these surroundings. This is the home of Pericles and the cradle of democracy. It gave us Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the foundations of our philosophy. The ancient Greeks taught us mathematics via Euclid, science via Archimedes and poetry through Homer. And this is not to mention the timeless contributions to theatre, art and architecture that Greek civilisation has bequeathed to us. Continue reading…

Photo: Agustin Carstens

Some lessons for crisis management from recent bank failures

27 October 2023

Agustín Carstens

I would like to thank the organisers of the 2023 High-Level Meeting on banking supervision for the Americas for inviting me to speak today. It is a pleasure to join you to discuss lessons from the bank failures that occurred in March this year. Recent bank failures in the United States and Switzerland have prompted a debate about the adequacy of the current prudential framework for preserving financial stability. In particular, these episodes have shed light on how bank resolution frameworks are functioning. As you know, resolution frameworks are one of the key innovations that followed the Great Financial Crisis (GFC). Authorities adopted several measures to make bank failure management frameworks less dependent on public support. Continue reading…

Towards a modern and effective public administration

26 October 2023
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The Commission has adopted a new Communication on Enhancing the European Administrative Space[*1] (ComPAct), which proposes concrete actions to help public administrations meet the needs of people and businesses across Europe. ComPAct is the Commission’s first ever comprehensive set of actions to support the modernisation of national administrations and to strengthen their cross-country collaboration so that they can address common challenges together. Efficient national, regional and local public administrations are critical to deliver EU and national priorities on the ground, to implement policies and reforms that benefit people and businesses alike, and to channel strategic investments towards the green and digital transitions. They are an important enabler for greater competitiveness across the EU. Better implementation of EU and national policies and more effective administrative performance will address the expectations of Europeans for less bureaucracy and more transparency, and could save EU people and businesses billions of euros per year. Continue reading…

ESMA Work Programme 2024 to focus on digital change and the green transition

18 October 2023
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial market regulator and supervisor, has on 28 September published its work programme for 2024. In an economic context marked by high inflation, heightened geopolitical tensions and rapid technological changes, ESMA will ensure close market and risk monitoring and support the effective implementation of the European regulatory framework related to the digital and sustainability transitions. By fostering effective regulation and supervision of the European capital markets, ESMA contributes to addressing the challenges faced by the EU and its citizens. Continue reading…

Crypto-Assets Regulation: from Patchwork to Framework

13 October 2023
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by Steven Maijoor

It is a pleasure to be back in London. Back at the Bank of England. Back at the ‘Old Lady of Threadneedle Street’. The Old Lady that battles inflation, safeguards financial stability and firmly protects… the gold in her vaults. Gold that lies right here, under our feet. 400 000 bars of gold, to be precise. Today, I was invited to talk about a new type of gold – or, at least, to some it is. I am referring to crypto-assets. Something the Financial Stability Board has consistently been monitoring since 2018. For a long time, crypto-assets were an experiment on the fringes of the financial system. No shop owner would accept bits and bytes instead of cash or card. But soon, certain illicit online marketplaces got wind of this new digital asset: selling illegal services or products online had never been this easy. So, regulators and law enforcement agencies sprang into action and took coordinated action to combat money laundering. Nonetheless, in those early days, chances were very slim that someone had heard of bitcoin or ether, let alone owned them. For a long time, crypto assets were an experiment on the fringes of the financial system. But they have gone through rapid and turbulent developments since then and now even pose a potential risk to financial stability. That is why all over the world, new regulation has been introduced at a national level to better supervise crypto markets and activities. To promote consistency in those regulations and supervisory practices, the Financial Stability Board has developed a global framework of recommendations. While reducing the likelihood of regulatory arbitrage, this framework offers national regulators sufficient flexibility to take more incisive action, for example if warranted by emerging risks to monetary stability. Continue reading…

ESAs warn of risks resulting from a fragile economic outlook

05 October 2023

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) have issued their Autumn 2023 Joint Committee Report on risks and vulnerabilities in the EU financial system. The Report underlines the continued high economic uncertainty. The ESAs warn national supervisors of the financial stability risks stemming from the heightened uncertainty, and call for vigilance from all financial market participants. Continue reading…