Uncertainty continues to grow as the reality of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union begins to set in. Mergers such as the one proposed from Germany’s Deutsche Börse and the London Stock Exchange are showing signs of a potential collapse. The FT article LSE-Deutsche Börse dealmakers were wrong to ignore Brexit risk, discusses the
Goldman Sachs wants people’s saving and checking account business just like local community banks. The main reason is that former Goldman Sachs taxpayer subsidized business model can’t generate big revenues and bonuses like in the old days. Post-crash financial rules designed to prevent too-big-to-fail banks like Goldman from crashing the financial system and causing another
An EU-wide market for initial public offerings, or IPOs, and other issuances is vital to allow a Capital Markets Union to emerge. That’s why the latest draft prospectus Regulation, published on 30 November 2015, goes somewhat further than the European Commission has previously entertained, but it still does not create a European market. The Commission
The Bank Resolution Recovery Directive (BRRD) and Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) aim to end taxpayer-financed bank bailouts, by bailing in bank equity and bondholders, relying on creditors for at least 8% of a lender’s liabilities alongside a bank-financed resolution scheme and a harmonised deposit guarantee programme which came into force on January 1. But events
The interim head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Tracey McDermott, has been criticised by financial reform campaigners for envisaging a return to the days of commission-driven sales of financial products. A set of regulatory changes known as the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) was introduced in 2014 obliging financial advisers to charge upfront fees for
MiFID II, the law which is said to transform markets, was delayed. As one of the most wide-ranging pieces of European financial legislation, MiFID II has proved challenging to implement. The law aims to reduce systemic risk, ensure transparency in the markets and bolster levels of investor protection. The delay of the directive, which tackles
BdV responded to the EIOPA consultation paper on the Pan-European Personal Pension plan (PEPP). The plan is an attempt by the European pension regulator to develop a pension system across Europe. BdV fully supports the action and published its position here. The role of PEPP is to improve upon the state of European pensions that
The change in EU privacy rules, which would make it harder for lenders to collect and keep personal data, prompted a lobbying campaign against this move by banks. These maintain that the law would make it more difficult for them to detect fraud or automatically grant loans and would hurt online services. However, BEUC, the
With the Federal Reserve about to bring a period of unpreceded monetary intervention to an end, investors fear that a period of high volatility may be upon us. Up for debate is the role banks will play in providing sufficient liquidity to weather the period of volatility. Reforms that came after the 2008 crisis will
Various articles report on the trial of Tom Hayes, the UBS and Citi trader who allegedly rigged Libor rates. The former trader, nicknamed Rainman and Tommy Chocolate, said that everything he did was with complete transparency and that the CEO knew about his actions. The jury was advised that the 35-year old former Citi employee