The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2020 Supervision Work Programme, detailing the areas of focus for its supervision of Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs), Trade Repositories (TRs) and the monitoring of third-country Central Clearing Counterparties (TC-CCPs) and Central Securities Depositories (TC-CSDs). ESMA is also preparing for its new supervisory responsibilities under the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR), the Securitisation Regulation (SECR), the Benchmarks Regulation and MiFIR. Continue reading…

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a decision temporarily requiring the holders of net short positions in shares traded on a European Union (EU) regulated market to notify the relevant national competent authority (NCA) if the position reaches or exceeds 0.1% of the issued share capital after the entry into force of the decision. Continue reading…

Yesterday’s meeting at the European Central Bank (ECB) had everything to do with the explosive situation revolving around the spread of the coronavirus, very sharp declines in the stock market and about Donald Trump’s recent announcement regarding the travel restrictions across Europe. In the meeting, the Governing Council decided on a comprehensive package of monetary policy measures: additional longer-term refinancing operations (LTROs) will be conducted, temporarily, to provide immediate liquidity support to the euro area financial system. Although the Governing Council does not see material signs of strains in money markets or liquidity shortages in the banking system, these operations will provide an effective backstop in case of need. They will be carried out through a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with an interest rate that is equal to the average rate on the deposit facility. The LTROs will provide liquidity at favourable terms to bridge the period until the TLTRO III operation in June 2020.  Continue reading…

On January 31, the UK officially left the European Union. During the time following the 2016 referendum, the departments within the UK had to brace themselves and prepare for the uncertain outcomes that could potentially result from the UK’s eventual departure. The National Audit Office (NAO) ended up reviewing around 27 reports on the departments’ work, which illustrates the intensity and scale of the task that lay ahead. As such a task can be complex, these departments were not able to think of and plan in advance for every conceivable scenario and outcome. Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, HM Treasury made about £6.3 billion of added funding available, which would help cover the cost of the UK government’s preparations for their exit from the EU. Continue reading…

by Geert Vermeulen

Often ethics & compliance officers only end up in the news when things have gone wrong. Many people don’t realise that ethics & compliance officers also prevent numerous crimes and unethical practices, sometimes at the risk of being fired or by risking our health or even our lives. Usually you don’t hear about these cases. Therefore, I decided to share a couple WOW moments in compliance. The first article in this series of ‘WOW Moments in Compliance’ was about a case study regarding due diligence in the aviation industry while the second article was on due diligence in the energy industry. The third part, which was published last week was on change of strategy and now this fourth article is on ‘these wonderful Greeks’. Continue reading…

Michel Klompmaker

It is Tuesday morning 3 March 2020 and it has been a while ago, the great financial crisis of 2008/2009. We can still remember it, just like yesterday, because we were in Vienna at the SIBOS Event in mid-September 2008, where bankers from all over the world were present and heard the news about Lehman Brothers in major panic. How long ago was that? Have we forgotten the causes? Can it happen again today or in the foreseeable future? The measures taken by supervisors and global committees of experts should protect us against such a crisis? But is that really so? We believe that a much greater economic catastrophe is coming, caused by a new global player and by the country with the most inhabitants in the world but with only one party. The new crisis can only be prevented if the Western Financial Services Industry does not fall for it with open eyes. Continue reading…

by Geert Vermeulen

Often ethics & compliance officers only end up in the news when things have gone wrong. Many people don’t realise that ethics & compliance officers also prevent numerous crimes and unethical practices, sometimes at the risk of being fired or by risking our health or even our lives. Usually you don’t hear about these cases. Therefore, I decided to share a couple WOW moments in compliance.  The first part of this series of articles was about due diligence in the aviation industry and the second part that was published last week discussed due diligence in the energy industry. The third section will seek to discuss change of strategy.  Continue reading…

by Geert Vermeulen

Often ethics & compliance officers only end up in the news when things have gone wrong. Many people don’t realise that ethics & compliance officers also prevent numerous crimes and unethical practices, sometimes at the risk of being fired or by risking our health or even our lives. Usually you don’t hear about these cases. Therefore, I decided to share a couple WOW moments in compliance.The first part of the article that has been published last week discussed the case study of due diligence in the aviation industry. Now, in this second part, another example will be discussed, which is that of due diligence in the energy industry. Continue reading…

ING CEO Ralph Hamers will step down from his position and leave ING as of 30 June. After 29 years at ING he will join UBS on 1 September and will become the new Group Chief Executive Officer of UBS as of 1 November 2020. Ralph, who has been ING’s CEO over the past six years, has transformed ING into a leading digital bank, and has put ING on the path to becoming the go-to financial platform for customers. The UBS Board made the decision to appoint Ralph Hamers as successor of Group CEO Sergio P. Ermotti following a thorough and rigorous selection process, reflecting the firm’s commitment to strong corporate governance. Continue reading…

Although residential and commercial real estate prices are increasingly moving in sync and the role of international investors is growing, this does not mean that there is a global real estate market, a report by the Committee on the Global Financial System finds. Property price dynamics: domestic and international drivers documents recent trends in residential and commercial property prices in over 20 countries, gives an overview of key drivers of price developments and describes policy initiatives used to manage associated risks to the economy and financial stability.

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