The European Central Bank (ECB) has published the results of its second economy-wide climate stress test. The results show that the best way to achieve a net-zero economy for firms, households and banks in the euro area is to accelerate the green transition to a rate that is faster than under current policies. “We need more decisive policies to ensure a speedier transition towards a net-zero economy in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Moving at the current pace will push up risks and costs for the economy and financial system. There is a clear need for speed on the road to Paris,” says ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos. Continue reading…

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, has recently published the second Trends, Risks and Vulnerabilities (TRV) Report of 2023. ESMA sees that financial markets are adapting to the new economic environment of durably higher inflation and interest rates, however risks remain high in ESMA’s remit. Markets are set to remain very sensitive to potential deteriorations in economic fundamentals or risks in the financial sector. Continue reading…

Yesterday, the European Commission adopted a key package of initiatives to reduce tax compliance costs for large, cross-border businesses in the European Union. The proposal, called “Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation” (BEFIT), will make life easier for both businesses and tax authorities by introducing a new, single set of rules to determine the tax base of groups of companies. This will reduce compliance costs for large businesses who operate in more than one Member State and make it easier for national tax authorities to determine which taxes are rightly due. The new, simpler rules could reduce tax compliance costs for businesses operating in the EU by up to 65%. Continue reading…

The European Commission welcomed the recent adoption by the Council of further targeted restrictive measures arising from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and in response to Belarus’s involvement in the aggression. In particular, the new measures create a closer alignment of EU sanctions targeting Russia and Belarus and will help to ensure that Russian sanctions cannot be circumvented through Belarus. Continue reading…

The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) has recently published their Progress Reports on Greenwashing in the financial sector. See EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA reports. In these reports, the ESAs put forward a common high-level understanding of greenwashing applicable to market participants across their respective remits – banking, insurance and pensions and financial markets. Continue reading…

The Commission welcomes the agreement made on 7 July at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to revise its 2018 strategy on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships. The agreement is a milestone to cut the carbon footprint of international maritime transport and ensure that the shipping sector makes a fair contribution to achieving the Paris Agreement targets, commensurate to its 3% share of global emissions. Now that the agreement is reached, it is important to start implementation as soon as possible. Continue reading…

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Microsoft may have breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Microsoft is a global technology company offering productivity and business software, cloud computing and personal computing. Teams is a cloud-based communication and collaboration tool. It offers functionalities such as messaging, calling, video meetings, file sharing and brings together Microsoft’s and third-party workplace tools and other applications. The coronavirus outbreak accelerated a shift to remote working as well as businesses’ transition to the cloud and the adoption of cloud-based software for communication and collaboration. The transition to the cloud has enabled the emergence of new market players and business models offering customers the ability to use multiple types of software from different providers, without the need to maintain an in-house data centre. Cloud-based software, including the products under investigation, are typically distributed on a subscription basis. Microsoft includes Teams in its well-entrenched cloud-based productivity suites for business customers Office 365 and Microsoft 365. The Commission is concerned that Microsoft may be abusing and defending its market position in productivity software by restricting competition in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’) for communication and collaboration products.
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Dr Sabine Mauderer, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, delivered a keynote speech at the Keynote Oxford Sustainable Finance Summit 2023, Oxford. Walking down Oxford High Street, I was reminded of a picture by the great English painter William Turner. I am sure you are familiar with the painting. It is entitled High Street, Oxford. It depicts University College on the left, All Souls College on the right, and Carfax Tower in the distance. On my morning walk, I was startled by how little has changed since the early 19th century, when the painting was first exhibited. The buildings are still in place and they appear very well kept. Yet, at the same time, so much has changed. There are buses, cabs, modern amenities and so forth. It is precisely this sort of progress, which has been fuelling another type of change: Climate change. Continue reading…

The Commission is adopting a package of infringement decisions due to the absence of communication by Member States of measures taken to transpose EU directives into national law (referred to as ‘non-communication infringements’). The Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to those Member States who have failed to notify national measures transposing directives, whose transposition deadline expired recently. In this case, there are 25 Member States who have not yet notified full transposition measures for eight EU directives in the fields of health, environment, transport, defence and financial stability, financial services and capital markets union. Member States concerned now have two months to reply to the letters of formal notice and complete their transposition, or the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion. Continue reading…

by Daniel Vaknine

Whistleblowing can be a complex subject with many layers and parts. For those of you not working directly with whistleblowing, here’s everything you need to know about whistleblowing in one place. First of all, what exactly is whistleblowing? Whistleblowing is when someone, for example an employee, reports wrongdoing that they believe is in the public interest. Whistleblowing can, for example, concern illegal activities, such as embezzlement or corruption, or unethical/unfair behaviour at work, such as racism, sexism, or homophobia. Depending on the policy, these problems may be brought to the attention of an authorised person or group either inside or outside the workplace, although the latter is usually not “whistleblowing” in the sense of the law. Continue reading…