Klaas Knot has taken office as Financial Stability Board (FSB) Chair, succeeding Randal K. Quarles. Mr. Knot is President of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). Prior to his appointment as Chair, Mr. Knot had been serving as FSB Vice Chair and Chair of the FSB’s Standing Committee on Assessment of Vulnerabilities (SCAV). FSB Plenary members, in their final meeting under Randal Quarles’ leadership on 18 November, expressed their gratitude to Randal Quarles for his leadership and commitment in chairing the FSB during the past three years, and looked forward to working with Klaas Knot. Continue reading…

The composite cost-of-borrowing indicator, which combines interest rates on all loans to corporations, decreased, driven by the interest rate effect in October 2021. Composite cost-of-borrowing indicator for new loans to corporations decreased by 6 basis points to 1.43%, driven by the interest rate effect, with indicator for new loans to households for house purchase broadly unchanged at 1.31%. Composite interest rate for new deposits with agreed maturity from corporations and for overnight deposits from corporations unchanged at -0.34% and -0.03%, respectively. Composite interest rate for new deposits with agreed maturity from households broadly unchanged at 0.23%, with interest rate for overnight deposits from households unchanged at 0.01%.  Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently published the 2021 list of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) using end-2020 data and an assessment methodology designed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The 30 banks on the list remain the same as the 2020 list. Continue reading…

Sunrise Brokers LLP has been fined over £600,000 for deficient anti money laundering systems and controls. This is the second case brought by the FCA in relation to cum-ex trading, dividend arbitrage and withholding tax (WHT) reclaim schemes. The first FCA case relating to cum-ex trading concluded in May 2021. The FCA found that Sunrise had deficient systems and controls to identify and mitigate the risk of facilitating fraudulent trading and money laundering in relation to business introduced by the Solo Group, between 17 February 2015 and 4 November 2015. Continue reading…

The European Commission has proposed to update the rules on coordination of safe and free movement in the EU, which were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the summer, vaccine uptake has increased significantly and the EU Digital COVID Certificate has been rolled out successfully, with more than 650 million certificates issued to date. At the same time, the epidemiological situation in the EU continues to develop with some Member States taking additional public health measures, including administering booster vaccines. Taking into account all those factors, the Commission is proposing a stronger focus on a ‘person-based’ approach to travel measures and a standard acceptance period for vaccination certificates of 9 months since the primary vaccination series. The 9 month period takes into account the guidance of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on the administration of booster doses as of 6 months, and provides for an additional period of 3 months to ensure that national vaccination campaigns can adjust and citizens can have access to boosters.
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Mr. Robert Marinescu-Muster was a speaker during the Risk & Resilience Festival on November 4, 2021. During his lecture, he explained how many problems with data and cyber attacks are based on people. His recommendation was to give people in organization more knowledge on how to spot an attack and what to do with the attack.

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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has recently published a statement to support preparations for LIBOR cessation. Most LIBOR panels will cease at the end of this year, with certain key USD settings continuing until end-June 2023 to support the rundown of legacy contracts, executed before January 1 2022, only. Continued reliance of global financial markets on LIBOR poses risks to global financial stability. With only a few weeks remaining to the end of 2021, it is now critical that market participants act urgently to complete any remaining steps set out in the FSB’s Global Transition Roadmap. Global and national financial regulators will be closely monitoring progress. Continue reading…

On 19 November, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič hosted Lord David Frost in Brussels to discuss the implementation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. This was their fifth meeting following the package of far-reaching solutions that the EU proposed on 13 October to facilitate the implementation and to strengthen stability and predictability for the people and businesses in Northern Ireland. Vice-President Šefčovič reiterated the need to shift into a result-oriented mode and to deliver on the issues raised by Northern Irish stakeholders. It is essential that the recent change in tone now leads to joint tangible solutions in the framework of the Protocol.
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Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, recently gave a speech at the COP26 Finance Day Presidency Event on “A Financial System for Net Zero”, Frankfurt am Main, Glasgow on 3 November 2021. This is his official speech. Our collective journey started in Paris almost four years ago, when eight central banks and supervisors from an already diverse background decided to join forces. Our aim was to rise to the climate challenge and work together to develop the tools we need as central banks and supervisors to foster and accelerate the greening of the global financial system. As a coalition of the willing, we have been working together in the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), which I am proud to chair. Continue reading…