FROM THE MEDIA

FT: EU freezes 10 banks out of bond sales over antitrust breaches

The EU has excluded 10 of the heaviest-hitting banks in the debt market from running lucrative bond sales as part of its €800bn recovery fund, over historic breaches of antitrust rules, the Financial Times reports. Banks found to have breached EU competition rules “will not be invited to tender for individual syndicated transactions”, said a spokesman for the European Commission, which handles debt issuance on behalf of the EU. Read more (€)

Reuters: Britain urges EU to expedite financial services talks

Britain's finance ministry called on the European Union to open talks on financial services after the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday urged the bloc to avoid protectionism. Both sides have agreed to start a dialogue via an informal forum for discussing financial rules, but it has yet to go live. The forum, which will not decide on financial market access, but it is viewed as critical to mend bridges, would put Britain's EU relationship on a "reliable, transparent and understandable footing" to give business certainty, Katharine Braddick, director of financial services at Britain's finance ministry said. Read more

WSJ: Big banks required to fill board seats with women under ECB proposal 

The Wall Street Journal reports that the European Central Bank (ECB) wants to include gender diversity as a criterion to approve bank board members and executives, a step that would put further pressure on a sector where the vast majority of senior posts are still held by men. The new criteria will be used when the supervisor reviews new or current board members or executives, a process known as a “fit-and-proper” assessment. “Whenever targets are not met, we will issue recommendations to remedy such imbalances”, Elizabeth McCaul, a member of ECB’s supervisory board said. Read more (€)

MAIN EVENTS

EBF BLUEPRINT
 

EBF presents recommendations for a fairer
and more efficient EU tax framework

           
The existing corporate tax framework adequately captures profits earned by banks, including where such profits are provided via digital mediums. 

The EBF Tax Blueprint advocates for fair European taxation of the digital economy. Read more

FROM THE EBF MEMBERS

FROM THE INSTITUTIONS

ECB: Launch of consultation on the revised 'Guide to fit and proper assessments'

The European Central Bank (ECB) is launching a public consultation on the draft of a revised and more comprehensive version of its Guide to fit and proper assessments and a new Fit and proper questionnaire. The enhancements contained in the documents aim to raise the bar, increase transparency and improve the quality and efficiency of fit and proper assessments and processes. They also introduce supervisory expectations on climate-related and environmental risks and explain the ECB’s approach to diversity. Consultation starts today and runs until 2 August 2021. Read more

ESRB: Measuring the impact of a bank failure on the real economy:
An EU-wide analytical framework

The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) published a paper that provides a contribution to the ongoing discussion on the implementation of the Public Interest Assessment (PIA), by presenting an analytical framework to quantify the potential impact on the real economy stemming from a bank’s failure under normal insolvency proceedings (NIPs) through the interruption of the lending activity. Read more

European Commission: EU Taxonomy Compass

This EU Taxonomy Compass provides a visual representation of the contents of the EU Taxonomy, starting with the Delegated Act on the climate objectives, as adopted on 4 June 2021. Looking forward, it will be updated to include future delegated acts specifying technical screening criteria for additional economic activities substantially contributing to the climate objectives and the other environmental objectives of the Taxonomy Regulation. This online tool will help you navigate through the EU taxonomy, check which activities are included for each objective, and display the according criteria. Read more

FROM THE EUROPEAN BANKING FEDERATION 

European Commission’s proposal of a Digital Markets Act:
EBF Key messages

Europe needs more competition to unlock all the opportunities that digital markets can bring. These opportunities increasingly depend on timely access to relevant digital infrastructure, consumer gateways, data, and markets. The EBF, therefore, welcomes the ex-ante regulatory approach and general principles underpinning the European Commission’s (EC) proposal for a Digital Markets Act (DMA) towards large online platforms acting as gatekeepers. However, more work needed to strengthen the provisions. Read more

EU-U.S. Summit: A critical milestone for the global agenda:
Joint Industry Statement

The European Banking Federation along with other business associations sees the upcoming EU-US summit as a critical milestone for the global agenda. The Summit represents an opportunity for these strategic partners to map out a proactive agenda focused on reducing barriers to trade; ensuring both sides of the Atlantic come out of the pandemic with stronger, more resilient economies; and seeking new areas for convergence and leadership as we transition towards a greener, digitalized international economy. Read more

EBF adopted the Women’s Empowerment Principles

EBF adopted the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) to generate opportunities for women in all the ways in which they interact with our banks. European banks are actively working on gender equality. As one of the first federations ever to adopt the WEPs, we are setting a model for the sector to coordinate these efforts and speed up progress on gender equality. Check out our women's empowerment webpage now available HERE

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European Banking Federation