Staff from the European Commission, in liaison with staff from the European Central Bank, visited Dublin from 28 November to 1 December to conduct the eighth post-programme surveillance (PPS) review for Ireland. This was coordinated with an International Monetary Fund’s Staff visit. Staff from the European Stability Mechanism also participated in the meetings on aspects related to its Early Warning System. The main objective of PPS is to assess the country’s capacity to repay loans granted under the former EU-IMF financial assistance programme and, if necessary, to recommend corrective actions.
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Risk professionals must make risk “accessible and relevant” to drive value, according to Amanda Mellor, group secretary and head of corporate governance, Marks & Spencer. Risk management still lacks relevance in many boardrooms across the UK, according to Amanda Mellor. She warned that, although risk management is an “increasingly critical topic”, it is still often perceived as “compliance” and “divorced from business”.
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published the results of its Peer Review on the Guidelines on certain aspects of the compliance function under MiFID (Guidelines). The Guidelines cover national competent authorities (NCAs) supervision of investment firms’ compliance functions, particularly how those functions carry out risk assessments, monitor compliance obligations, report to senior management and fulfil their advisory role.
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In January 2016, the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) passed by the European Union came into legal force, altering existing legislation with the aim of creating safer and more innovative European payments. With the expiration of the two-year implementation period in January 2018, the banking industry will be facing a post-PSD2 world. This is something that Comtrade Digital Services believes will give those in the finance industry two options: go all in and get on board the digital train, or back away, potentially forever.
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All central banks in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) are strongly committed to supporting and promoting adherence to the Foreign Exchange Global Code of Conduct (the “Code”). 15 of the ESCB central banks, including the European Central Bank, simultaneously issued Statements of Commitment to the Code. The remaining ESCB central banks will do so in 2018. Continue reading…

The year 2016 – with the UK referendum, the change of power in Washington, geopolitical tensions, terrorist attacks, and the rise of populist parties – will perhaps be seen as a time of awakening. 2016 could become the moment when the EU realised that it had to stand up for itself. And that nobody would do for us what we don’t do for ourselves. In 2012, the UK Prime Minister published a table to show his strong support of the Single Market and incidentally his support for the Commissioner in charge of the Single Market. It shows that, in 2050, there will be no European countries left in the G8. But by remaining together, the 27 will stay, in the long term, in the top 5.
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It is said that the Viennese writer and journalist Karl Kraus once asked a budding academic what he was planning to study, upon which the young man said, “Business ethics.” To which Kraus replied, “One or the other, you can’t have both.” This brief exchange rather neatly reflects a view held across much of our society – that business and ethics are irreconcilable rivals at opposite ends of the spectrum. It is widely thought that the banking sector, more than anywhere else, bears testament to this idea of business being an ethics-free zone. And who could blame them for thinking that way? After all, financial crises and scandals – like the one in which banks colluded for years to rig benchmark rates – don’t exactly put the picture straight. In some instances, these scandals were rooted in unethical behaviour. Court rulings, fines and an exodus of customers are a stiff price to pay for this conduct, not least for the banks themselves.
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The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its tenth report on risks and vulnerabilities in the EU banking sector. The report is accompanied by the 2017 EU-wide transparency exercise, which provides key data in a comparable and accessible format for 132 banks across the EU. The data shows further resilience in the EU banking sector amid a benign macroeconomic and financial environment, with an additional strengthening of the capital position, an improvement of asset quality and a slight increase of profitability. However, further progress on NPLs is needed whilst the long-term sustainability of prevailing business models remains a challenge. The importance of robust data management and IT and operational resilience is also a priority.
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In his speech Klaas Knot, President of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), talks about the importance of investing in the European economy: investing is the keydriver of future economic growth. He also points out the challenges like climate change. He will do so by addressing three main questions: first, is euro area investment currently too low? Secondly, focus on business investment, and examine what its drivers are. Lastly, he will give his view on how public investment can be tailored to contribute to sustainable economic growth. Continue reading…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has imposed on Paul Walter, a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited (BAML) bond trader, a financial penalty of £60,090 for engaging in market abuse. Following an investigation, the FCA found that Mr Walter, an experienced trader, engaged in market abuse by creating a false and misleading impression as to supply and demand in the market for Dutch State Loans (DSL) on 12 occasions in July and August 2014.  
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