Finance & Trade

Singham: UK Must Avoid Tight Ties to EU Regulation

December 04, 2017

Shanker Singham of the Legatum Institute writes that, following Brexit, the UK must avoid binding itself too closely to an EU model of "anti-competitive regulation that will destroy wealth" across the globe but rather should be a global promoter of free trade at the World Trade Organization and beyond.
EIB Predicts 35-Year Delay in UK Refund

November 30, 2017

The BBC reports that Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Alexander Stubb has stated that, despite Britain's expected departure from the EU 35 years before then, the EIB will not fully repay the UK government its billions of euros of investments in the bank until the year 2054.
EC Seeks Completed Banking Union in 2018

November 20, 2017

EUobserver reports that the European Commission (EC) is seeking to use a recent push for legislation on EU banking rules to complete the EU's planned Banking Union, first proposed in 2012, by the end of the year 2018, as it seeks to eliminate financial ties between banks and the governments of their countries.
EC Proposes Weakened Rules on Bad Loans

November 20, 2017

Reuters reports that the European Commission (EC) has weakened proposals pushing shared responsibility for bad loans across EU member states, seeing to placate Germany by requiring the member state in which the loans are located to take responsibility before authorizing EU involvement.
EC Ramps up Investments in Climate Agenda

November 08, 2017

The European Commission (EC) has approved an investment package of €222 million as part of the EU's LIFE program providing support to a range of environmental, nature, and climate initiatives to accelerate the transition to renewable and "sustainable" energy sources across the bloc.
EC Proposes Further Centralization of Finance Supervision

October 19, 2017

In its move toward a full-fledged Capital Markets Union, the European Commission (EC) has proposed a reform of the EU's financial regulation that will result in more centralized supervisory power in supranational banking authorities and the promotion of "sustainable finance" to further the social and environmental goals of the UN.
European Commission Proposes Further Financial Integration

September 21, 2017

The European Commission has formally proposed several measures to further integrate banking and capital markets throughout the EU by granting new powers to supranational financial regulators, including the ability to expand funding by directly taxing regulated companies.
EU Body Seeks Bank Subsidiary Requirements

September 15, 2017

Reuters reports that, in response to similar legislation in the US, the European Commission has produced a discussion paper pushing for regulations requiring that foreign banks doing business in the EU set up subsidiary structures within the bloc permitting EU institutions to scrutinize their activities.
Merkel Offers Limited Support for EU Finance Integration

August 30, 2017

In a press conference in the lead-up to the country's general election in September, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her support for expanded powers of an EU bailout fund and for the establishment of a eurozone finance minister but stated that she would only agree to a "small budget" for such EU finance centralization.
Finance Companies Support EU Transaction Tax

August 23, 2017

A press release from Oxfam celebrates a letter from 52 finance professionals calling for a group of EU member states to impose a "small" tax - deemed a "Robin Hood Tax" by Oxfam - on financial transactions to raise "substantial revenue" for people "in urgent need" throughout Europe and elsewhere in the world.