The euro entered into circulation in Croatia on 1 January 2023, bringing the number of European Union (EU) Member States using the single European currency to 20. “I welcome Croatia to the euro family and to the ECB Governing Council table in Frankfurt” said Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank. “Croatia worked hard to become the twentieth member of the euro area, and it succeeded. I congratulate the Croatian people. It shows the euro is an attractive currency which brings stability to its members.” With Croatia joining the euro area, Hrvatska narodna banka, the country’s national central bank, becomes a member of the Eurosystem. The euro area’s central banking system comprises the ECB and the national central banks of those countries whose currency is the euro. Continue reading…

In April, the FCA set out a new three-year strategy designed to improve outcomes for consumers and markets. The strategy focuses on three areas – reducing and preventing serious harm, setting and testing higher standards, and promoting competition and positive change. In response to its new strategy, the FCA has removed or amended over 8,000 potentially misleading adverts in 2022 – 14 times more than 2021. It has also cancelled the authorisation of 201 firms for failing to meet minimum standards. This action reflects the FCA’s increasingly data-led and assertive approach, which enables the regulator to find and deal with problem firms and misleading adverts swiftly. Continue reading…

On 20 December, Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, gave a speech at the end-of-year meeting with journalists, analysts and media representatives at the Governor’s Award ceremony in Tirana, Albania. I feel honoured and privileged to welcome in the historical hall of the Bank of Albania, media representatives and talented students who are brave in competing for “Governor’s Award for the Best Diploma Theses”. In the last year event, I emphasised that we experienced an unusual 3-year period, with the hope that 2022 would be different, more vivid and more optimistic. Nevertheless, the end of 2022 is proving a really challenging one, mainly due to the huge shock on commodity prices of energy, oil and gas, in particular. Continue reading…

The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, met on 16 December to endorse a finalised prudential standard on banks’ cryptoasset exposures and the Committee’s work programme and strategic priorities for 2023–24. Tiff Macklem, Chair of the GHOS and Governor of the Bank of Canada stated: “Today’s endorsement by the GHOS marks an important milestone in developing a global regulatory baseline for mitigating risks to banks from cryptoassets. It is important to continue to monitor bank-related developments in cryptoasset markets. We remain ready to act further if necessary.” Continue reading…

On 13 December, the Commission proposed new rules to strengthen the use of Advance Passenger Information (API) data. This proposal is one of the key actions identified in the EU Security Union Strategy. The EU continues its progress in strengthening its overall security architecture, which aims to enhance EU citizens’ protection, as shown also in the Fifth Security Union Progress Report. The report highlights three years of solid progress in implementing the Security Union Strategy. It shows that significant steps have been made in strengthening the protection of critical infrastructures from physical, cyber and hybrid attacks, in fighting terrorism and radicalisation, as well as in the fight against organised crime. Continue reading…

The European Central Bank (ECB) has on 16 December published an enhanced Code of Conduct for all high-level ECB officials. These new rules, prepared by the ECB’s independent Ethics Committee, impose additional restrictions on the private financial transactions of high-level ECB officials, including Governing Council, Executive Board and Supervisory Board members. “The amendments to our Code of Conduct carry the full support of all high-level ECB officials and are a strong sign of our unwavering commitment to the ECB’s public mission, which is vital to secure the trust of the Europeans we serve,” says ECB President Christine Lagarde. “While the current Code has proven to be solid and effective, the new rules will bring the ECB’s ethics standards to the next level and ensure that we remain among the leading institutions in this area.” Continue reading…

As part of its consumer investment strategy, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out new proposals to improve people’s access to financial advice so they can invest with confidence. The proposals will create a separate, simplified financial advice regime, making it cheaper and easier for firms to advise consumers about certain mainstream investments within stocks and shares ISAs. The watchdog’s recent Financial Lives survey found 4.2 million people in the UK held more than £10,000 in cash and are open to investing some of it. While keeping a cash buffer is a sensible way of dealing with unexpected expenses, consumers who hold significant amounts of excess cash may be damaging their financial position, as inflation reduces the value of their savings.   Continue reading…

The Operational Board of the European Fund for Sustainable Development plus (EFSD+) has today given a positive opinion to €6.05 billion in financial guarantees to support 40 investment programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin American and Asia Pacific. The guarantees are expected to generate more than €50 billion in investments in key sectors of Global Gateway, such as renewable energy, digital infrastructure and climate resilience and health. The package also includes a new green bond programme. The programmes will be implemented by European Financial Institutions, such as the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and national development banks. In total, 20 financial partners participate in the EFSD+ guarantee programme, seven of which for the first time. The EFSD+ is a financing tool of Global Gateway, and the financing arm of the EU’s Neighbourhood Development, International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe. It de-risks investments with budgetary guarantees and thus attracts more private investment to emerging and developing country markets.
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The European Banking Authority (EBA) has on 6 December launched a public consultation on new Guidelines on the effective management of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks when providing access to financial services. Through these Guidelines, the EBA aims to ensure that customers, especially the most vulnerable ones, are not denied access to financial services without valid reason. This consultation runs until 6 February 2023. Access to at least basic financial products and services is a prerequisite for organisations and individuals to participate in modern economic and social life. It can also save the lives of vulnerable customers, such as refugees or homeless people. However, such access is not always ensured. Continue reading…

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to reschedule the launch of the Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS) from 20 November 2023 to 8 April 2024. This decision was taken to mitigate the impact of the rescheduled launch of T2, the Eurosystem’s new real-time gross settlement system and central liquidity management model, which was postponed by four months on 20 October 2022. Continue reading…