Financial markets largely recovered from March’s acute stress, according to the third BIS Quarterly Review1 of 2020.This was supported by both monetary and fiscal policy, and investor sentiment arising from better than expected economic indicators in the initial aftermath of the lockdown phase of the pandemic. However, the Review indicates that the economy’s upturn has been uneven and corporate balance sheets remain fragile. The associated concern of stretched valuations being disconnected from underlying economic prospects, most notably in some segments of the equity and corporate credit markets, has since been reflected in the recent stock market sell-off.  Continue reading…

Mr. Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, recently gave a speech at the Eurofi Financial Forum, Berlin on 11 September 2020. He reflected on two issues: our role in the extraordinary measures taken to keep economies afloat since the outbreak of the current crisis, and the limits of the ECB’s prudential mandate. The pandemic has dealt an unprecedented peacetime blow to the European economy. In spring, a great number of our businesses went into full lockdown. Crucially, however, banks in the euro area were able to offer vital support. To this end, ECB Banking Supervision provided far-reaching capital and operational relief, making record levels of lending possible during this exceptional time. Continue reading…

The Commission has recently adopted a proposal for a Council Recommendation to ensure that any measures taken by Member States that restrict free movement due to the coronavirus pandemic are coordinated and clearly communicated at the EU level. The Commission’s proposal sets out four key areas where Member States should work closer together:

Common criteria and thresholds for Member States when deciding whether to introduce travel restrictions; Mapping of common criteria using an agreed colour code; A common framework for measures applied to travellers from high-risk areas; Clear and timely information to the public about any restrictions.

Continue reading…

Ms. Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank and Mr. Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the European Central Bank recently gave a speech at an ECB press conference at Frankfurt am Main on 10 September. We will now report on the outcome of today’s meeting of the Governing Council, which was also attended by the Commission Executive Vice-President, Mr Dombrovskis. The incoming data since our last monetary policy meeting in July suggest a strong rebound in activity broadly in line with previous expectations, although the level of activity remains well below the levels prevailing before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Continue reading…

The Banca d’Italia announced today that the ban on onboarding new customers at ING Italy, imposed in March 2019 has been removed. The decision follows the comprehensive steps undertaken by ING Italy to strengthen its processes and management of KYC compliance risks. Following an inspection by the Banca d’Italia, which had identified shortcomings in AML processes, in March 2019 ING Italy was banned from taking on new customers. Existing customers in Italy have continued to be fully served throughout the period.  Continue reading…

by Michel Klompmaker

Last month, the UWV1 published the full list of all companies that have made use of the Temporary Emergency Measure Bridging for Employment in the Netherlands, better known as the NOW scheme. It has become something more than a list, a complete register with more than 2,000 pages! Really for the enthusiasts, because it states exactly which companies have used it, their location and what the advance payment has been. Did you find the hourly rate charged to your company by your law firm and / or notary office to be disproportionately high? Then take a look at the register to see whether they had the guts to have made use of the NOW scheme (perhaps, in your opinion, previously misused). Continue reading…

An alleged criminal network of copyright infringement hackers was recently dismantled by US authorities and their counterparts in 18 countries where they also received a great amount of support from Eurojust and Europol. This criminal network was known for pirating movies and distributing the illegal digital contents around the world. In a great coordinated effort, more than 60 servers were taken out of service in North America, Asia and Europe and several members of the criminal network were apprehended and taken in by the authorities. This crime group’s illegal activities ended up having significant negative effects, costing tens of millions of USD in losses annually to the US movie, television and other entertainment industries. Continue reading…

TikTok, the widely used Chinese video sharing social networking app, does not seem to protect children that use the app. Such findings have been revealed by the Dutch Foundation for Market Information Research (SOMI), which will continue its research into the business model and practices of the TikTok app. Moreover, the app most likely also gathers unauthorised personal information from its users, especially from minors. If these findings were found to be correct, then this would mean that TikTok would be violating the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations. If they decided to follow up on this, SOMI could potentially stand up against the app’s apparent disregard of the European regulations and also introduce increased supervision measures while children use the app to reassure parents that are concerned. Continue reading…

The European Commission has concluded its exploratory talks with Moderna to purchase a potential vaccine against COVID-19. Moderna is the fifth company with which the Commission has concluded talks, following Sanofi-GSK on 31 July, Johnson & Johnson on 13 August, CureVac on 18 August, in addition to the signature of an Advance Purchase Agreement with AstraZeneca on 14 August. The envisaged contract with Moderna would provide for the possibility for all EU Member States to purchase the vaccine, as well as to donate to lower and middle income countries or re-direct to European countries. Continue reading…