by Benoît Cœuré

I would like to make some comments on a topic which has been steadily going up the central clearing agenda, namely the need to increase the loss-absorbing capacity of central counterparties (CCPs) beyond their current levels. Because of their growing systemic importance, CCPs need to be exceptionally robust, and that means being able to cope with even extreme losses. And to achieve this, it may well be necessary to increase their existing loss-absorbing capacity. Continue reading…

by Jos Feyaert

The battle against Tax erosion and the black economy can be fought by repression and heavy administrative control mechanisms and technologies as the white registers in restaurants and pubs. In Belgian we know what efforts have to be brought before it can be implemented. But why we don’t fight (at least partially) against it by using modern digital gamification technics, based on encouraging users (the crowd of clients) for asking for getting official invoices and bills from their suppliers. To be sure that the documents are not only issued, but also be registered and declared to the tax-authorities, one could organize a national lottery based upon the registered invoices.

Continue reading…

The EBA launched a public consultation on its guidelines proposing criteria to set limits on EU institutions’ exposures to shadow banking entities. The document lays out a qualitative approach for institutions to develop their internal policies for monitoring and setting appropriate limits, both at individual and aggregate levels. These guidelines will also help inform the Commission’s work in relation to its report on the appropriateness and impact of imposing limits on exposures to shadow banking entities under Article 395(2) of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). The consultation runs until 19 June 2015. Continue reading…

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) launched yesterday a consultation on draft guidelines on complex debt instruments and structured deposits. These guidelines are intended to enhance investor protection by offering further clarification on which types of financial instruments and structured deposits can be provided, that all the relevant legal conditions are fulfilled, without the firm assessing a client’s knowledge and experience (i.e. to carry out an appropriateness test).

Continue reading…

A lot happened when Dragi spoke to the European Parliament in November last year. With Lithuania, the euro welcomed its 19th member.  The ECB started the asset purchase programme on March 9. The ECB also moved to a new building which has been officially inaugurated last week. The ECB unveiled a new 20 euro banknote; and in a milestone towards even greater transparency of  decision-making procedures, the ECB published on 19 February for the first time the accounts of a monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council of the ECB. The following speech of Mr. Draghi was held on March 23 in Brussels. Continue reading…

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation recently issued a new research report, Non-Traditional Costs of Financial Fraud, which found that nearly two thirds of self-reported financial fraud victims experienced at least one non-financial cost of fraud to a serious degree—including severe stress, anxiety, difficulty sleeping and depression.
Continue reading…

The European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday inaugurated its new premises on the site of the Grossmarkthalle – Frankfurt’s former wholesale market hall – alongside regular meetings of the Governing Council and General Council. “This building is a symbol of the best of what Europe can achieve together,” said ECB President Mario Draghi.  Some activists in the streets of Frankfurt clearly did not agree with Draghi. Continue reading…

The Kaspersky Lab study ‘Financial Cyberthreats in 2014’ reports that the number of financial malware attacks against Android users grew by 3.25 times in 2014. Following an initial decrease in March 2014, Kaspersky Lab researchers registered a significant increase in the number of attacks by Trojan-SMS malware during the second half of the year. Continue reading…

The Council of the European Union approved an agreement with the European Parliament on strengthened rules to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.The directive and regulation will strengthen EU rules against money laundering and ensure consistency with the approach followed at international level. The draft regulation deals more specifically with information accompanying transfers of funds.

Continue reading…