More than $500 million has been recouped by tax authorities worldwide after the Panama Papers revelations, first published in April 2016.Spain alone collected $122 million after an investigation into the affairs of tax residents who had stockpiled money offshore. Among the countries represented in the Panama Papers data, a total of 15 – on three continents – have publicly commented on the amount of taxes recovered by tax authorities.
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The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to develop a daily euro unsecured overnight interest rate based on data already available to the Eurosystem. The rate, which will be finalised before 2020, will complement existing benchmark rates produced by the private sector and will serve as a backstop reference rate. It will be based entirely on transactions in euro that are reported by banks in accordance with the ECB’s money market statistical reporting (MMSR).
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Rabobank, National Association (“RNA”), a California-based subsidiary of Coöperatieve Rabobank, U.A. (“Rabobank”), has taken a Q4 2017 provision of approximately EUR 310 million in anticipation of a settlement connected to previously disclosed investigations. RNA has been under investigation since 2013 by the U.S. Department of Justice and other U.S. authorities for possible violations of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act and other regulations and statutes in relation to its historical AML compliance program, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (“OCC”) examination of that program in the past.  Continue reading…

Ad the very end of 2017 Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, gave an interview on the economical position of Europe, and what the tax reforms in the US means for Europe, on the interaction of Centrale banks’ interaction with markets and about the relationship with China, how it will be strenghtened in .
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Growth in the number of credit card payments rose sharply from 2015 to 2016–eclipsing growth for other card types, according to new payments data collected by the Federal Reserve. A notable increase was also seen last year in the number of card payments made remotely versus in person. The number of credit card payments grew 10.2 percent in 2016 to 37.3 billion with a total value of $3.27 trillion. The increase in the number of payments compares with an 8.1 percent annual rate from 2012 to 2015 and was boosted by continued strong growth in the number of payments made remotely.
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The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today its final guidance for the use of cloud service providers by financial institutions. The EBA Recommendations clarify the EU-wide supervisory expectations if institutions intend to adopt cloud computing, so as to allow them to leverage the benefits of using cloud services, while ensuring that any related risks are adequately identified and managed.
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Europe’s capital markets will be more efficient and better supervised thanks to a revamp of rules for investment firms. The European Commission is proposing a two-track overhaul to make life simpler for smaller investment firms, while bringing the largest, systemic ones under the same regime as European banks. Investment firms and the services they provide are vital to a well-functioning Capital Markets Union (CMU). Continue reading…

The European Commission has proposed, exceptionally, to push back  the application date of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) by seven months to 1 October 2018. The European Parliament and 16 Member States have requested such a postponement. Despite the transposition period foreseen and the fact that the date of entry into application was well known to stakeholders, it appears that some insurance distributors, especially smaller ones, are not yet fully ready for the new rules. Continue reading…

During the 53rd SEACEN Governors’ Conference/ High-Level Seminar and the 37th Meeting of the SEACEN Board of Governors in Bangkok, Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB gave a speech, in which he explains why political risks cannot be addressed in the same way as economic risks. That central banks should not prejudge political outcomes through their actions. Rather, they should address their effects if and when they become visible in the economic and financial data that are relevant for their price stability mandates. Continue reading…