EBF WEEKLY + FINANCIAL REGULATION AGENDA
for the week starting Monday 28 September 2020 An overview of the main banking stories this week and a look ahead to key events in European banking and financial regulation for the upcoming week, brought to you by the European Banking Federation.
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EU Special Council postponed to the 1-2 October |
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European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday unexpectedly postponed this week's EU leaders' summit, saying a close encounter with coronavirus had forced him to self-quarantine. EU council spokesman Barend Leyts tweeted that Michel learned on Tuesday that a security officer, with whom he was in close contact early last week, tested positive for Covid-19. The summit, now scheduled for October 1-2, will focus on a variety of issues ranging from single market, industrial policy, digital transition, to the tensions between Greece and Turkey over energy rights on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Final approval for sanctions against Belarus regarding the crackdown following the country's contested election last month is also set to be a focus. Leaders will also discuss the current state of play on Brexit and assess where the EU currently stand on the most important issues. Agenda |
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Agenda for next week
Monday 28 September:
ECON: Monetary Dialogue with ECB President Lagarde. Agenda Tuesday 29 September: Wednesday 30 September: European Commission hearing on Anti-Money Laundering: Closing the Door on Dirty Money EPFSF webinar: Capital Markets Union -Boosting funding for Europe's Economic Recovery EBF Associates virtual meeting Thursday 1 October: Special European Council, two-day event. Agenda ECB closes consultation on its supervisory approach to consolidation EBF Banking Supervision Committee virtual meeting EBF ERPB Working Group on transparency for retail payment virtual meeting Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime virtual meeting Friday 2 October: EBF Executive Committtee virtual meeting EBF Primary and Market Financing Working Group virtual meeting International Federarion of Finance Museums extended executive meeting For more events check the EBF planning calendar HERE
*All events take place in Brussels unless stated otherwise |
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FROM THE MEDIA this week
Coingeek: EU set for digital currency asset law by 2024 The European Union is set to introduce a new legal framework for governing digital currency assets by 2024, in a bid to provide greater comfort for financial institutions in embracing distributed ledger technology.The European Commission on Thursday put forward plans to regulate crypto-assets in what will be its first ever attempt to oversee the nascent technology, CNBC reported. The executive arm of the EU has said that “the future of finance is digital” but that it’s important to mitigate “any potential risks.” Read more CNBC
Reuters: EU banks in Britain must have 'boots on ground,' says FCA
European banks and investment funds that want a base in Britain after Brexit must have sufficient senior staff on the ground so they can be properly supervised, the Financial Conduct Authority said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Read more
CNBC: Blame the system for FinCen files, not the banks, experts urge
The leaked FinCen files which sent banking stocks tumbling on Monday should be viewed as exposing flaws in the regulatory system, not wrongdoing by banks, several financial crime experts have told CNBC. “To claim that the very regulatory reports the banks are required to make is proof that the banks have been violating the regulation reveals a basic lack of understanding of anti-money laundering rules,” said Octavio Marenzi, CEO of capital markets consultancy Opimas, Read more
Eesti Päevaleht: Crypto creates opportunities for money laundering
Today, there is no need for criminals or terrorists to transact through banks, writes Estonian daily Eesti Päevaleht. It is much easier to use virtual currencies because this makes it impossible to identify who is behind the transactions. Estonia's supervisor RAB has reported a tenfold increase in crypto license applications for 2018 and another increase for 2019. Most license applications in Estonia are made by companies with no substantive activities in the country. This makes monitoring difficult, if not impossible. Read more (EE)
AltFi: Illimity buys 50% of Banca Sella's open banking platform Fabrick, part of the Banca Sella Group and current owner of 100 per cent of open banking platform HYPE, has sold a 50 per cent stake of the platform to Italian digital bank Illimity, reports AltFi. The deal, which is worth around €140 million, is the first of its kind in Italy and will see the two banks build the largest open banking platform in the country. Read more |
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EBF High-Level Public Dialogue
EUROPEAN BANKING BEYOND THE PANDEMIC
Thursday 1 October, 15:00 CET / ONLINE |
As the pandemic hit the economy, businesses and households across the EU benefited from a resilient European banking ecosystem. A ‘new normal’ in European banking is taking shape, this time with banks as part of the solution. Yet, the industry is encumbered with many of the pre-existing challenges: low returns, high cost of capital, negative interest rates, the prospect of even tighter capital requirements and a fragmented EU financial services market keep Europe’s banking sector from being an attractive place for global investors and from competing globally with big-tech challengers.
The EBF High-Level Public Dialogue seeks to outline how European banking will look like beyond the pandemic by bringing together leading industry representatives with top supervisors and regulators. For more information and registration click HERE
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FROM THE MEMBERS this week
Febelfin: What is the impact of the Women in Finance charter?
One year later: what is the impact of the Women in Finance charter? Thanks to Women in Finance, almost 60% of the signatories have worked more actively on a gender equality action plan."The signing of the Women in Finance charter came at the right time for the National Bank of Belgium: we had just defined our diversity and inclusion policy, and membership of Women in Finance stimulated our action plan, thanks to the sharing of experiences, but also and above all thanks to the positive emulation generated by this network" says Pierre Wunsch, Governor of the National Bank of Belgium in an interview with Febelfin. Read more (FR)
Finance Denmark: Schools must teach more about personal finance
In order to spread the knowledge of personal finance, the Ministry of Children and Education now puts it on the school timetable all year round with material prepared by Finance Denmark and the Danish Mathematics Teachers' Association. Too many Danes end up as bad payers or make the choice to take out expensive loans that they cannot repay. Read more (DK)
Swiss Banking: Effectively combating money laundering The "FinCEN-Files" criticise the international efforts in the fight against money laundering as insufficient. For the Swiss banks, it is clear: a clean financial centre is a key factor in competitiveness. The Swiss Bankers Association (Swiss Banking) supports an effective and continuously improved anti-money laundering system and thus also the ongoing revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Read more (DE) Dutch banking association statement (NL) Febelfin statement (FR)
BPFI: Young people being used as money mules by criminals The national police of the Republic of Ireland (Gardaí) and banks are warning of an increase in the incidence of so-called money muling. Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) says 98% of people who are targeted and used as money mules are aged between 18 and 24 years of age. The organisation says the criminal gangs behind money muling are targeting people in schools, colleges and on social media, often presenting it as a job or even as a favour to a friend. Read more
NVB: Using algorithms in an ethically responsible way
Banks also use algorithms: a set of instructions that is 'released' on a quantity of data to answer a question. Or to solve a particular problem. The result is new information that can be used for many purposes, including (partly) automated decision-making. Algorithms have advantages, but also ethical risks, for instance on 'bias' and too complex decision-making, say Joris Krijger and Bart Roelofs from Volksbank in an interview published by the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) in the online magazine Bank|Wereld. Read more (NL) |
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Join and register for free
EBF INNOVATION & CYBER THURSDAYS ONLINE, each Thursday between 22 October - 19 November Join us and interact with European and international experts, policymakers and stakeholders: How can European banks remain competitive in the EU and globally? What can regulators, supervisors and industry do together to foster innovation, security and resilience in financial services? What lies in the way from agile and cybersecure banks to an innovative and resilient financial ecosystem?
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FROM THE INSTITUTIONS this week
Commission presents CMU Action Plan & Digital Finance Package
Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis has presented the Capital Markets Union Action Plan and the Digital Finance Package. The Capital Markets Union Action Plan aims at ensuring Europe’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as future access to market financing. It contains sixteen targeted measures which rest on three action pillars: SMEs, Retail, and the Single Market. The Digital Finance Package which consist of four elements: 1) A Digital Finance Strategy including new ways of channelling funding to SMEs towards a European financial data space and better financial products for consumers; 2) A Retail Payments Strategy leading to modern and cost-effective payments; 3) Legislative proposals on crypto-assets including passporting rights; 4) Legislative proposals on digital operational resilience to prevent cyber attacks and enhance the oversight of outsourced services. Capital Markets Union Action Plan Digital Finance Strategy
ECB: Public loan guarantees and bank lending in the Covid-19 period
Public loan guarantees and bank lending in the Covid-19 period. It finds that the use of public loan guarantees has been heterogeneous across countries, with higher take-ups being reported in Spain and France, while lower amounts have been taken up in Italy and Germany. Read more SRB: EU's General Court annulled three decisions by the SRB The Single Resolution Board (SRB) issued a statement on the judgements of the General Court of the European Union annulling the SRB’s decisions on the 2017 ex-ante contributions of Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Hypo Vorarlberg Bank and Portigon to the Single Resolution Fund and declaring that Delegated Regulation 2015/63 is unlawful in part. Read more EBA guidelines on legislative & non-legislative loan repayments The European Banking Authority (EBA) has been closely monitoring the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic and, considering the progress made so far, will phase out its Guidelines on legislative and non-legislative payment moratoria in accordance with its end of September deadline. These Guidelines, which were published in the early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, have provided the necessary flexibility as well as certainty on the regulatory framework, in light of a significant number of actions taken by banks to support their customers as exceptional lock-down measures were put in place. Read more ESAs issued joint risk assessment report The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA - ESAs) have issued their first joint risk assessment Report of the financial sector since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Report highlights how the pandemic has led to further amplified profitability concerns across the board and heightened liquidity challenges in segments of the investment fund sector. It particularly points to economic and market uncertainty as a key challenge going forward. Read more |
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FROM THE EBF this week
EU digital finance package is major step forward
The EBF shares the Commission’s ambition that Europe should drive digital finance with strong European market players in the lead. The EU financial sector should embrace all the opportunities brought by digitalisation. The benefits of digital finance should be available to European consumers and businesses and Europe should promote digital finance based on European values and a sound regulation of risks. Read more
CMU: EBF salutes the EU Commission’s ambitious CMU Action plan The EBF strongly supports the need for a truly functioning European Capital Markets Union to help people and businesses recover from the dire effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Efficient capital markets will offer investment opportunities for investors and contribute to funding their long term needs, such as effective retirement plans for workers and households. Liquid capital markets are a prerequisite to ensure high level of funding to corporates, in particular to SMEs. Read more
EDPB’s consultation on the interplay of PSD2 & GDPR: EBF response
The European Banking Federation (EBF) has submitted its response to the European Data Protection Board’s (EDPB) consultation on the draft guidelines on the interplay of the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Read more |
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The European Banking Federation and fTLD Registry Services (fTLD) are partnering to educate the European banking sector about the cybersecurity role .BANK plays in protecting banks against Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, phishing and spoofing attacks that lead to breaches, identity theft and financial fraud. fTLD administers the .BANK domain and the EBF has served on its Advisory Council since 2013. To learn more about the security benefits of .BANK, visit https://www.register.bank/ebf/ or contact fTLD at EBF@fTLD.com. |
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ABOUT THE EUROPEAN BANKING FEDERATION
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe, with active members in 32 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. |
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This newsletter is published by the EBF Mediacentre.
For questions or suggestions contact mediacentre@ebf.eu
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