Already in 2012 he reminded policy makers of the fact that stock markets exist to provide companies with equity capital and allow savers to participate in economic growth. Now in his new book, and with renewed urgency, he laments the fact that the finance sector is too preoccupied with dealing and trading in existing assets
Richard Thaler, the ‘father of behavioural economics’ was interviewed by Merryn Somerset Webb from the MoneyWeek magazine about pensions and fund management fees. Whereas Richard Thaler holds that teaching people about personal finance is important, he also stresses the importance of “making it simple” and leans towards a “just-in-time” approach to financial education for the
The Capital Markets Union is a European Commission initiative which aims to increase and improve investment channels across the EU. British commissioner Jonathan Hill is shepherding the project which is said to address small– and medium-sized firms in particular, and will reveal its action plan in September. The European economy traditionally relies heavily on bank
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns that pension funds can pose systemic risk to the financial system. This comes after two of the largest asset managers in the world – BlackRock and Vanguard – have spoken against the exclusion of pension funds in a consultation on institutional systemic risk between the Financial Stability Board (FSB)
The Netherlands is the European country where investors enjoy the best mutual fund experience according to research by Morningstar, the Chicago-based investment research firm that compiles and analyses fund, stock and general market data in order to determine the investment quality of a wide range of funds. South Korea and the United States top the
A year and half after VZMD, the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders’ Association and BETTER FINANCE member, filed an official complaint denouncing the expropriation of investors in Slovenian banks as unconstitutional, the District and Higher Courts of Slovenia both finally acknowledged their arguments. Following this acknowledgment, the District Court in Ljubljana filed a request at the Constitutional Court
PanSlovenian Shareholders’ Association (VZMD), Slovenian member organization of BETTER FINANCE, unveiled the evidence against the unlawfulness of Slovenian banks valuations and the exaggerated "bank gap" as a result of unlawful actions of the Bank of Slovenia and its emergency measures decisions. The actions of the Slovenian central bank may cause enormous damage to the state
On 28 February, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published for the first time the discount rates for the new regulatory system Solvency II. The discount rates will be applied by European insurers to determine the regulatory technical provisions for their insurance obligations. Sufficient technical provisions are a key factor for the insurers’
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is seeking to appoint new members to the Consultative Working Group of its Investment Management Standing Committee (IMSC). The IMSC focuses on collective investment management instruments, such as the Directives on Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMD), as well as
Today, December 17, the European Commission adopted its Work Programme 2015 and announced new initiatives, withdrawals or modifications of pending proposals, REFIT actions (fixing EU law) and a list of legislation that becomes applicable law in 2015. When it comes to the withdrawals, only one of those mentioned in a leaked letter from Commissioner