On 28 June 2017, the Council prolonged economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy until 31 January 2018. This decision follows an update from President Macron and Chancellor Merkel to the European Council of 22-23 June 2017 on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. This paved the way for the renewal of sanctions for a further six months. 
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It is hard to think of many more important subjects in our world than the future of retail banking – that is, if we heroically put Brexit to one side for a day. There are over 72 million personal current accounts in the UK, with retail deposits of over £1.5 trillion, comprising current accounts, savings products and SME banking. Retail lending is a key driver of economic activity. On the latest evidence, UK households owe £1.3 trillion in mortgages and £198 billion in consumer credit. There are over 5.4 million SMEs in the UK. There are over 61 million credit cards in issue in the UK.

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On 26 June, Nordea issued its first-ever Green Bond. The issuance was very well received by investors, including new groups of sustainability investors, and on the back of solid demand, Nordea managed to issue the EUR 500m 5-year bond at a more attractive price compared to Nordea’s normal senior unsecured bond issuances. In addition to providing cost-efficient funding, the Green Bond issuance is a natural step to manifest Nordea’s increased ambition level in the sustainability area.
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The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have today published for public comment the CPMI-IOSCO consultative report Framework for supervisory stress testing of central counterparties (CCPs) (the framework). The framework is designed to support supervisory stress tests (SST) conducted by one or more authorities that examine the potential macro-level impact of a common stress event affecting multiple CCPs (multi-CCP SSTs).

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Technology-enabled innovation in financial services, or FinTech, is growing rapidly. As a result, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) has been analysing the potential financial stability implications from FinTech with a view toward identifying supervisory and regulatory issues that merit authorities’ attention.
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On 23 June, the European Central Bank (ECB) determined that Veneto Banca S.p.A. and Banca Popolare di Vicenza S.p.A. were failing or likely to fail as the two banks repeatedly breached supervisory capital requirements. The determination was made in accordance with Articles 18(1a) and 18(4a) of the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation. The ECB had given the banks time to present capital plans, but the banks had been unable to offer credible solutions going forward.
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Building resilient growth requires international cooperation

The current economic upswing provides an opportunity to build greater economic resilience, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) writes in its 87th Annual Report, released on Sunday 25 June 2017. This involves shoring up the global economy’s ability to withstand shocks and adapt to new trends, and preventing the emergence of imbalances.

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This is a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world that demands new strategic approaches from organisations, according to James Moncrieff, professor of practice in strategy at Ashridge Executive Education. Continue reading…

British and European Union banks need a new system to let them do business with each other after Brexit to avoid splitting markets, Britain’s finance minister Philip Hammond said on Tuesday. Britain, the EU’s biggest financial market, is leaving the bloc in 2019, raising the prospect of an abrupt cut in cross-border links without a new trade deal. Rival financial centers, including Frankfurt, Paris and Luxembourg, are vying to benefit.

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