Posts by: Bethan Saunders

EC Summary of Contributions of the Green Paper on Retail Financial Services

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On July 14, 2016 the European Commission published a summary of responses to the public consultation launched on December 10, 2015 relating to the Green Paper on retail financial services prepared by the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.

The summary report sets out the broad content of responses received. Firms highlighted a number of obstacles to offering services cross-border, including local financial regulation, tax laws, access to data and information, local network for insurance claims handling, and divergent national interpretations of the anti-money laundering directive (2015/849/EU).

The report states that work is ongoing in the Commission services on a follow-up initiative, which might take the form of an action plan.

ESMA Consultation on Validation and Review of Credit Rating Agencies’ Methodologies

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On July 13, 2016 the European Securities and Markets Authority published a new consultation paper relating to Credit Rating Agency methodologies. This follows on from a discussion paper published on November 17, 2015 and an open hearing on January 25, 2016.

The consultation and review is based around CRA’s application of Articles 8(3) and 8(5) of the CRA regulation and articles 7 and 8 of the Regulatory Technical Standards. ESMA believes that publication of official guidelines will help to ensure the consistent application of validation and review measures for demonstrating the discriminatory power, predictive power and historical robustness of methodologies.

The consultation will be open for 5 weeks, and ESMA aims to finalize the proposed guidelines and publish a final report in Q1 2017.

ECB Guide on Approach for the Recognition of Institutions Protection Schemes

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On July 12, 2016 the European Central Bank published a guide on the approach for the recognition of institutional protection schemes for prudential purposes. The report aims to ensure coherence, effectiveness and transparency in the processes of assessing IPSs in accordance with Regulation 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the Capital Requirements Regulation).

An IPS is a contractual or statutory liability arrangement which protects its member institutions and ensures that they have the liquidity and solvency needed to avoid bankruptcy where necessary.

The guide sets out how the ECB will assess the compliance of IPSs and their member institutions with the conditions laid down in the CRR.

Council of Europe Enacts Delay to MIFID II

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On June 17, the Council of the EU issued a press release regarding its adoption of a regulation and a directive enacting a one-year delay to the new securities market rules.

Under the new regulation the deadline for member states to transpose MIFID II into national legislation is July 3, 2017 and the date of application of both MIFID II and MIFIR is January 3, 2018.

2015 Annual Reports

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The following bodies have released their 2015 annual reports in the past week:

  • EIOPA (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority)
  • ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority)
  • EBA (European Banking Authority)

Each report contains a review of achievements from 2015 as well as looking forward to the objectives and challenges which will be relevant in the coming year.

EOIPA and China Insurance Regulatory Commission Sign MoU

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On June 15, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EOIPA) and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up joint work programs and pursue joint activities.

The main objectives of the MoU are:

  1. To build a practical framework for exchange of supervisory information.
  2. To update each other on the developments in the regulatory and supervisory frameworks for insurance and private pensions.
  3. To increase mutual understanding on the Chinese (C-ROSS) and European (Solvency II) supervisory regimes for insurance.

EBA Releases Final Draft Regulatory Technical Standards

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On June 13, the European Banking Authority (EBA) released the final draft regulatory technical standards on assigning risk weights to specialized lending exposures under article 153(9) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (Capital Requirements Regulation – CRR).

The Capital Requirements Directive requires the EBA to develop draft regulatory technical standards setting out how institutions should take into account financial strength, political and legal environment, transaction and/or asset characteristics, strength of the sponsor and developer, and security package in assessing risk weights to specialized lending exposures.

Commission Summary of Contributions on EU Regulatory Framework

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The European Commission has published a summary of contributions received to the ‘Call for Evidence’ on an EU regulatory framework for financial services. The consultation closed on January 31, 2016.

The summary reports who responded and gives an overview of the responses. Overall, the Commission claims that stakeholders did not dispute the reforms of recent years and many responses expressed support of the new rules. Many replies also related to unnecessary regulatory constraints on financing, proportionality, excessive compliance costs and complexity, reporting and disclosure obligations, and overlaps, duplications, and inconsistencies.