by Vítor Constâncio

The financial and sovereign crises have markedly changed our understanding of financial interactions in the Economic and Monetary Union. We have experienced how quickly apparent integration among Member States can unravel and how it can pose a threat to economic activity, job creation and price stability.

Continue reading…

Today, Deutsche Bank reaffirmed her commitment to being a leading global bank based in Germany and announced the next phase of its strategy, covering the period through to 2020. The Bank’s announcement covers key strategic decisions, division-specific initiatives and financial targets.
Continue reading…

by Andy Scherpenberg

VAT carousels, intentional road collisions to defraud the insurance companies, ‘man in the browser’ technology that intercepts your financial transactions and modifies both amount and account number while you are still seeing the usual transaction screens: fraud has permeated every sector and is taking new forms and shapes. Fraudsters are becoming smarter by the day and they have access to more and more resources. An overview.

Continue reading…

by Benoît Cœuré

I would like to make some comments on a topic which has been steadily going up the central clearing agenda, namely the need to increase the loss-absorbing capacity of central counterparties (CCPs) beyond their current levels. Because of their growing systemic importance, CCPs need to be exceptionally robust, and that means being able to cope with even extreme losses. And to achieve this, it may well be necessary to increase their existing loss-absorbing capacity. Continue reading…

by Jos Feyaert

The battle against Tax erosion and the black economy can be fought by repression and heavy administrative control mechanisms and technologies as the white registers in restaurants and pubs. In Belgian we know what efforts have to be brought before it can be implemented. But why we don’t fight (at least partially) against it by using modern digital gamification technics, based on encouraging users (the crowd of clients) for asking for getting official invoices and bills from their suppliers. To be sure that the documents are not only issued, but also be registered and declared to the tax-authorities, one could organize a national lottery based upon the registered invoices.

Continue reading…

The EBA launched a public consultation on its guidelines proposing criteria to set limits on EU institutions’ exposures to shadow banking entities. The document lays out a qualitative approach for institutions to develop their internal policies for monitoring and setting appropriate limits, both at individual and aggregate levels. These guidelines will also help inform the Commission’s work in relation to its report on the appropriateness and impact of imposing limits on exposures to shadow banking entities under Article 395(2) of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). The consultation runs until 19 June 2015. Continue reading…

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) launched yesterday a consultation on draft guidelines on complex debt instruments and structured deposits. These guidelines are intended to enhance investor protection by offering further clarification on which types of financial instruments and structured deposits can be provided, that all the relevant legal conditions are fulfilled, without the firm assessing a client’s knowledge and experience (i.e. to carry out an appropriateness test).

Continue reading…

A lot happened when Dragi spoke to the European Parliament in November last year. With Lithuania, the euro welcomed its 19th member.  The ECB started the asset purchase programme on March 9. The ECB also moved to a new building which has been officially inaugurated last week. The ECB unveiled a new 20 euro banknote; and in a milestone towards even greater transparency of  decision-making procedures, the ECB published on 19 February for the first time the accounts of a monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council of the ECB. The following speech of Mr. Draghi was held on March 23 in Brussels. Continue reading…

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation recently issued a new research report, Non-Traditional Costs of Financial Fraud, which found that nearly two thirds of self-reported financial fraud victims experienced at least one non-financial cost of fraud to a serious degree—including severe stress, anxiety, difficulty sleeping and depression.
Continue reading…

The European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday inaugurated its new premises on the site of the Grossmarkthalle – Frankfurt’s former wholesale market hall – alongside regular meetings of the Governing Council and General Council. “This building is a symbol of the best of what Europe can achieve together,” said ECB President Mario Draghi.  Some activists in the streets of Frankfurt clearly did not agree with Draghi. Continue reading…