Finance & Trade

OECD Sees No Bar to EU-UK Free Financial Trade

August 03, 2017

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found no bar within its global Code of Liberalisation to free trade in financial services between the EU and UK after Brexit and has urged the continuance of such trade to avoid "starving the EU of the capital vital to its economy and breaking up the valuable City of London."
German Officials Reject EU Common Debt Proposals

August 02, 2017

Reuters reports that, responding to a proposal from the European Commission floating the idea of an instrument that would pool the debt of eurozone member states, a spokeswoman for the German finance ministry stated that her government's position rejecting such common eurozone debt had not changed.
EU Paper Imagines New Powers for Euro Managers

August 02, 2017

Politico reports that, in May, the European Commission released a "reflection paper" calling for ambitious reforms to the eurozone, including the creation of an EU finance minister and a euro area treasury and the transformation of the now-informal Eurogroup into an institutionalized body accountable to the European Parliament.
ECB Official Calls for Completion of Banking Union

August 02, 2017

Reuters reports that, according to the European Central Bank's (ECB) Governing Board member Francois Villeroy de Galhau, the EU must simplify its eurozone banking rules to complete the project of bringing all banks in the bloc under a single, supranational supervisor.
German Official: EU Must Retain "Major Part" of Euro Clearing

August 02, 2017

City A.M. reports that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has called for the EU to retain the "major part" of the clearing of euro-denominated currency, much of which is currently located in London, within its territory after Brexit.
EU Revamps Finance Integration Plans in Light of Brexit

July 31, 2017

Reuters reports that a draft document from the European Commission calls for a restructuring of the EU's plans for a scaled-up "Capital Markets Union" to take into account Britain's departure from the bloc, including proposed legislation boosting the authority of the EU's European Securities and Markets Authority to advance the integration of finance policy.
Court Recognizes Broad Bank Supervision Authority of ECB

July 27, 2017

In a May judgment, the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) held that the European Central Bank (ECB) had broad authority to determine that it was better positioned to supervise the state-owned investment and development bank of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, than the German government.
ECJ Raises Obstacles to Quick EU Trade Deals

July 26, 2017

Bloomberg reports that a Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) ruling in May requiring EU institutions to seek approval of parts of a trade deal with Singapore by the bloc's member states could place significant obstacles in the path of the speedy negotiation of a free trade deal between Britain and the EU after Brexit.
Bundesbank Rejects Push to Lure UK Bank Business

July 24, 2017

Politico reports that a board member of Germany's central bank, Andreas Dombret, has announced that the Bundesbank will not pursue a strategy of luring British banks to Germany following Brexit using campaigning or perks because the bank's top priority is maintaining stability in the European banking system.
EEA Study Calls for Major Increase in "Climate Finance"

July 14, 2017

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released a study analyzing the climate finance plans of all 33 member states and arguing that most national governments are failing to plan for the transition to a “low-carbon, climate-resilient economy” by directing sufficient investments toward environmentally friendly development.