The Commission launched the first auction under the European Hydrogen Bank to support the production of renewable hydrogen in Europe, with an initial €800 million of emissions trading revenues, channelled through the Innovation Fund. Producers of renewable hydrogen can bid for support in the form of a fixed premium per kilogram of hydrogen produced. The premium is intended to bridge the gap between the price of production and the price consumers are currently willing to pay, in a market where non-renewable hydrogen is still cheaper to produce. The Hydrogen Bank complements other policy tools to build a market for renewable hydrogen, stimulate investments in the production capacity, and bring production to scale. Renewable hydrogen has a critical role to play in Europe’s future energy mix, in particular for the decarbonisation of heavy industry and some transport sectors, replacing fossil fuels. By enabling a faster rollout of innovative hydrogen technologies the pilot auction will contribute to the REPowerEU Plan goal to produce 10 million tonnes of hydrogen domestically by 2030.
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This article provides information on the Basel Committee’s assessment of the adoption of the Principles for Operational Resilience and the revised Principles for the Sound Management of Operational Risk. The Committee believes the information provided may be useful for both supervisors and banks in their day-to-day activities. This document is for informational purposes only and does not constitute new supervisory guidance or expectations. The Committee assessed the adoption of the Principles for Operational Resilience (POR) and the revised Principles for the Sound Management of Operational Risk (PSMOR, or collectively, “the Principles”) published in March 2021. The assessment is meant to promote the adequate and timely adoption of the Principles. The assessment found that the effectiveness and maturity of POR and PSMOR adoption vary across banks and jurisdictions. Continue reading…

The Colleges of the European Commission and the European Court of Auditors met on November 13th in Brussels for the annual meeting between the two EU institutions. Both institutions reaffirmed their commitment to continuing their constructive cooperation as the EU’s executive and audit powers, while at the same time exploring ways to deepen their cooperation in full respect of their respective roles. The members of the Commission and the Court of Auditors discussed how the EU budget contributes to the achievement of the EU’s ambitious priorities.
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by Ajay Katara

Basel III end game is the latest update to the US Capital requirements which will bring about sweeping changes to the existing capital requirements in place for the US banks. Under the existing provisions there are two approaches which apply to US banks. The standardised approach applies to all banking organisations (other than community banks) and advanced approaches apply to category 1 and category 2 US banks, and they must also compute Risk Weighted Assets (RWA) under the standardised too. The US regulators have proposed July 2025 for compliance with new requirements with a three-year transition period ending in Jun 2028. The new regulation will bring about a lot of changes and will fundamentally apply to banks with asset sizes greater than USD 100 Mn with specific changes applying to banks designated between category 1 to category IV. Continue reading…

The Commission welcomes the provisional agreement between the European Parliament and Council on a new EU Regulation to reduce energy sector methane emissions in Europe and in our global supply chains. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas – the second biggest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide (CO2) – and is also a potent air pollutant. Today’s agreement is therefore crucial to delivering the European Green Deal and reducing our net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. It will oblige the fossil gas, oil and coal industry to properly measure, monitor, report and verify their methane emissions according to the highest monitoring standards, and take action to reduce them. The agreement comes just a few weeks ahead of COP28, where the EU will continue its engagement with international partners on reducing methane emissions. Continue reading…

Eurojust and the Attorney General of Nigeria, Mr Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, signed on 9 November a Working Arrangement to enable structured and closer cooperation in the fight against organised crime groups (OCGs). This paves the way for the establishment of a Contact Point for Eurojust in Nigeria and closer communication for the swifter execution of requests for judicial cooperation on both sides. Nigeria is the first sub-Saharan African country to sign a Working Arrangement with the Agency.
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The Commission welcomes the final agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU at the final trilogue on the Regulation introducing European Digital Identity Wallets. This concludes the co-legislators’ work implementing the results of the provisional political agreement reached on 29 June 2023 on a legal framework for an EU Digital Identity, the first trusted and secure digital identity framework for all Europeans. This marks an important step towards the Digital Decade 2030 targets on the digitalisation of public services. All EU citizens will be offered the possibility to have an EU Digital Identity Wallet to access public and private online services in full security and protection of personal data all over Europe. Continue reading…