Banking in 2020: clean, green and less tainted money

Welcome back to the EBF Morning Brief, the first one of this year. 2020 is set to bring us many milestones, perhaps worthy of ending up in the history books. While Croatia takes up EU Presidency this month, the European Union will continue with one member less due to an agreed Brexit on 31 January. A new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen will enter its first operational year and new MEPs are settling in Brussels. European banks are committing to policy discussions critical to society and business and will see Basel III transposition happen in the EU while laying the last stone of the Banking Union. 2020 is also the year of climate responsibilities with a EU Green Deal promising climate neutrality by 2050 and where the financial industry plays a logical and crucial role. Financial crime, both physical and virtual, keeps threatening EU financial infrastructures with new vulnerabilities stemming from crypto markets and increased complexity in digital channels. Banks will keep advocating for unified regulatory reflection in AML, fintech and data.
Lastly, the work on financial education remains instrumental to EBF's work in Brussels and Frankfurt and will major projects on the calendar. We cannot wait to start the year with all our partners. 


Today's edition shows you the key events for the EU and the financial sector in 2020. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this email for the full overview.

FROM THE MEDIA

Banks in the news

Dutch bank ABN Amro has chosen Robert Swaak as its new chief executive, turning to the former chairman of PwC Netherlands to guide it through a criminal investigation into potential money laundering and financing of terrorism, reports the FT. Meanwhile, Santander is preparing to repay a €1.5 billion bond that briefly rattled the €200 billion market for riskier bank debt last year. Swiss bank UBS is preparing to cut 500 jobs in wealth management, the latest move by the division’s new head Iqbal Khan to revive performance at the world’s largest wealth manager. ABN AMRO Santander UBS

WEF: Sustainable finance starts with data

Sustainable investment decisions require data, argues the World Economic Forum in an analysis, and where disclosure and data exist, there tends to be insight that leads to record investment. Nowhere is this more evident than in the first nine months of 2019, where investors allocated a record $89 billion into global green and sustainability-linked loans. Given that 90% of the world's available data was created in the last two years, these sustainable considerations are likely to be at the heart of mainstream investing in the near future. Read more

FROM THE INSTITUTIONS

ESMA announces key priorities for 2020-2022

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has published its Strategic Orientation for 2020-22. Read more

EBA: EU banks’ face a further contraction of profitability

The European Banking Authority published today its Risk Dashboard and notes that the capital position of EU banks remained strong and asset quality improved further, but profitability contracted in Q3 2019, with a negative outlook from both banks and analysts. Read more

European Commission calendar for this week

YEAR AHEAD: Top EU, finance and banking events in 2020

January:

13: ECON committee meeting in Strasbourg
14-16: European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg
15: EBF Financial Crime Strategy Group
16: Data Protection Day 2020, Zagreb, Croatia
20: Ecofin meeting
21: European Parliament Lunch debate Basel III 
22-23: ECON committee meeting
21-24: World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
23: ECB monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt
27: ECON committee meeting
28-29: Paris Fintech Forum, EBF CEO Wim Mijs speaking
29: Brexit: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union

February:

4: ECB: Publication of Euro area bank interest rate statistics
6: ECON committee meeting
10-13: European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg
17: Eurogroup meeting
12: Encouraging and rewarding sustainability - EBF Workshop
17-18: ECON committee meeting in Strasbourg
18: Ecofin meeting
18: Navigating AML Compliance - EBF/S&P Global Market Intelligence Joint Webinar
19: ECB Governing Council of the ECB non-monetary policy meeting
20: EBF Executive Committee meeting in Frankfurt
25: Market4Europe Regional Conference, Luxembourg
 

March:

5: ECON committee meeting
8: International Women's Day
12: ECB monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt
12: EBF Single Supervisory Mechanism Boardroom Dialogue in Frankfurt
16: Eurogroup meeting
18-19: ECON committee meeting in Strasbourg
17: Ecofin meeting
19: Forum Europe's Annual European Financial Services Conference
24: Financial & Digital Literacy in the 2020s - EBF Workshop
26-27: European Council: Informal meeting of EU 27 Heads of State and Government
23-27: 2019 European Money Week. Activities by national banking associations in more than 32 European countries and by EBF in Brussels to promote financial education
 

April:

2: ECB General Council meeting in Frankfurt
16-17: G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Washington DC
17-19: Spring meetings of the World Bank Group and IMF in Washington DC
21: Easter
28-29: European Finals of the European Money Quiz 

May:

1: Labour Day Holiday
2: EBF Spring Economic Outlook to be presented (TBC)
6: European Commission to present its Spring economic forecast (TBC)
7: Markets4Europe Stockholm Conference
14-15: EBF Executive Committee & Board meetings in Zagreb
17-18: EBF Associates meeting in Istanbul, Azerbaijan
18: Eurogroup meeting
19: Ecofin meeting
30: Ascension day 

June:

1: Whit Monday
4: ECB Monetary Policy Meeting
11: Eurogroup meeting
12: Ecofin meeting, Luxembourg
16-18: Money20/20 Europe conference in Amsterdam
18-19: European Council: Informal meeting of EU 27 Heads of State and Government
24: General Council meeting of the ECB in Frankfurt
26: EBF Executive Committee meeting
 

July:

1: Finland takes up the rotating presidency of the EU Council
1-4: European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg
16: ECB Governing Council Meeting
18-19: G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
29: ECB monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt

August:

15: Assumption Day  

September:

10: ECB monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt
24: ECB General Council meeting in Frankfurt

October:

2: EBF Executive Committee meeting
15-16: G20 Finance ministers and central bank governors, Washington DC
16-18: 2019 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF in Washington, D.C.
23: EBF Chief Economists Group to present autumn economic outlook (TBC)
24: ECB monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt
27: EBF Cybersecurity Conference (TBC)
28: EBF Digital Innovation Summit (TBC)
30-31: Basel Committee on Banking Supervision meeting in Basel

November:

1: All-Saints Day
3: SSM CIO/CTO Roundtable, Frankfurt
9: European Commission to present its Autumn 2019 Economic Forecast (TBC)
18: ECB Governing Council Non-Monetary Policy Meeting
19-20: EBF Executive committee & Board meetings
21-22: G20 Summit, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
 

December:

3: ECB General Council meeting in Frankfurt
10: ECB monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt
25-26: Christmas
 

All events take place in Brussels unless stated otherwise.

18 February: Navigating Complexity in AML Compliance

Joint WEBINAR by EBF-S&P Global Market Intelligence

ABOUT THE EUROPEAN BANKING FEDERATION
 

The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from 45 countries. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere.