The European Banking Authority (EBA) published on 28 March, for the first time, a new set of indicators, which aim at identifying detriment to consumers arising from the misconduct of financial institutions offering retail banking products in the EU. The indicators show consumers’ experience with financial services and will complement other sources of information that the EBA already uses to decide on its consumer protection priorities. Continue reading…

Composite cost-of-borrowing indicator for new loans to corporations increased by 22 basis points to 3.85%; indicator for new loans to households for house purchase increased by 14 basis points to 3.24%, both driven by interest rate effect. Composite interest rate for new deposits with agreed maturity from corporations increased by 30 basis points to 2.31%; interest rate for overnight deposits from corporations increased by 8 basis points to 0.31%, both driven by interest rate effect. Composite interest rate for new deposits with agreed maturity from households increased by 28 basis points to 1.92%, driven by interest rate effect. And the interest rate for overnight deposits from households were broadly unchanged, at 0.12%.

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A currency swap line is an agreement between two central banks to exchange currencies. This allows a central bank to obtain foreign currency liquidity from the central bank that issues it – usually because they need to provide this to domestic commercial banks. For example, the swap line with the US Federal Reserve System enables the ECB and all the national central banks in the euro area (Eurosystem) to receive US dollars from the Fed in exchange for an equivalent amount of euro provided to the Federal Reserve. These agreements have been part of central banks’ set of monetary policy instruments for decades.

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The tenth meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee and the second meeting of the EU-UK Partnership Council took place in London last Friday.  Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič represented the European Union, while UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, represented the United Kingdom. The Joint Committee adopted last Friday a decision laying down the arrangements relating to the Windsor Framework. This decision covers, amongst others, the arrangements for the movement of goods not at risk of entering the Single Market, the “Stormont Brake”, and VAT and excise-related solutions, including the establishment of the Enhanced Coordination Mechanism for VAT and excise. A series of Recommendations, Joint Declarations and Unilateral Declarations have also been published, clarifying how different aspects of the Windsor Framework will work in practice, e.g. State aid or market surveillance.
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The seven national authorities participating in the Eurojust supported joint investigation team (JIT) on alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States Department of Justice. This MoU will enhance the coordination between the JIT partner countries and the US authorities in their respective investigations in connection with the war in Ukraine. The MoU was signed on Friday 3 March by high-level representatives of the prosecution services of the seven JIT partner countries and United States Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. Continue reading…

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has reached an important milestone in the comparability assessment project – an initiative that will ascertain whether the Aggregation Method (AM) provides comparable outcomes to the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS). The IAIS has agreed on the criteria that will be used to assess whether the AM provides comparable outcomes to the ICS, following public consultation and the resolution of comments published on 9 March. This marks the finalisation of an important step for the comparability assessment project and equips the IAIS to begin the comparability assessment in Q3 2023.  Continue reading…

Last week, the Commission proposed a comprehensive set of actions to ensure the EU’s access to a secure, diversified, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. Critical raw materials are indispensable for a wide set of strategic sectors including the net zero industry, the digital industry, aerospace, and defence sectors. While demand for critical raw materials is projected to increase drastically, Europe heavily relies on imports, often from quasi-monopolistic third country suppliers. The EU needs to mitigate the risks for supply chains related to such strategic dependencies to enhance its economic resilience, as highlighted by shortages in the aftermath of the Covid-19 and the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This can put at risk the EU’s efforts to meet its climate and digital objectives.
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New research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found that a quarter (25%) of investors who avoided a scam are taking inspiration from Sherlock Holmes to stop scammers in their tracks. It comes as the FCA launches its latest ScamSmart campaign which provides investors with the tools to identify and avoid scams. Analysis of data from the FCA’s consumer helpline has shown a 193% increase in calls to the FCA in the last five years, as investors detect investment scam warning signs. In 2022, over £2m was saved by beady-eyed investors, who called the FCA to report the firm or individual before losing money. Two in five (39%) respondents claim that their investigative or research skills are helping them to spot the clues. A further 32% are relying on pure gut instinct to distinguish between genuine investment opportunities and potential scams. Continue reading…

The European Commission just concluded the second formal meeting of the Steering Board of the EU Energy Platform, composed of high-level representatives from EU Member States. Maroš Šefčovič  wanted to take stock of the EU work so far on joint gas purchasing and inform the Member States of the next steps. Their has  been working on a tight schedule to prepare for next winter and the storage refilling season.  Šefčovič is pleased to say that thanks to our collective effort, we are on schedule, putting all the necessary pieces in place, one by one. So far, 22 EU Member States have expressed their preliminary interest in aggregating gas demand of more than 17 billion cubic meters of gas for the next three years. Maroš Šefčovič encouraged the five remaining Member States to notify their volumes as soon as possible. This will be topped up by close to 4 billion cubic meters of gas demand signalled by Moldova, Ukraine, and Serbia.
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