Average Wall Street bonuses dropped 9 percent in 2015, according to the New York State Comptroller. More than half a million banking jobs have been eliminated around the world since the 2008 crisis. But it’s not just about people losing their jobs or making less money; the contraction should be troubling for anyone concerned with
European parliamentarians have been urged not to back any draft of the revised IORP Directive requiring full funding of pension fund liabilities; ahead of a crucial vote to decide the chamber’s final negotiating position. The call comes ahead of a vote by the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON), which is set to
A new EU directive setting out the framework for regulating the sale of insurance products was approved by the European Parliament on 24 November 2015 and should make it easier for firms to trade cross-border. The Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) will now have to be implemented by Member States within the next two years. The
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