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Liechtenstein: IMF Staff Completes Membership Mission

“The Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein and staff agreed that IMF membership would support investor confidence and strengthen the Principality’s position as a financial center. Membership would also allow the Principality to access IMF resources, if needed, and to benefit from policy advice and support to strengthen statistical capacity. Membership would also contribute to further cement the strong global economic footprint of the Principality” – IMF

09/12/2023

ECOFIN Press conference: Remarks by EU Executive VP Dombrovskis

The European Commission and EIB have a long history of excellent cooperation. I have every confidence that with you at the helm of the Bank, we will continue to strengthen this cooperation, working together to tackle the challenges that the EU is facing. On today’s Ecofin agenda, let me begin with the economic governance review. We made considerable progress last night and a deal is definitely within reach.

08/12/2023

Eurogroup press conference: Remarks by Commissioner Gentiloni

Yes, indeed we had a couple of pieces of good news coming from Eurostat. Inflation in the euro area fell further to 2.4% in November, and unemployment has held stable at 6.5%. But the context remains highly uncertain, and so as the President of the Eurogroup just said, strong coordination of national fiscal policies and a consistent policy mix are essential. This is of course reflected in the process assessing the

08/12/2023

Main results of the Eurogroup, 7 December 2023

The Eurogroup discussed the overall budgetary situation and prospects in the euro area and reviewed the economic and fiscal situation of the euro area member states.

08/12/2023

Moldova: IMF Executive Board approves resilience and sustainability facility request

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the fourth review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements [1] for the Republic of Moldova.

08/12/2023

Daisy Chains: EU Council and Parliament reach agreement

The Council and the European Parliament today reached a provisional political agreement on the Daisy Chains proposal. The proposal is a targeted amendment of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive or (BRRD) and the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation or (SRMR) to include targeted proportionality requirements to the treatment of ‘internal MREL’ in bank resolution groups.

06/12/2023

Capital Markets Union: EU Council reaches agreement on improvements to EU clearing services

The Council adopted today a mandate to start negotiations with the European Parliament on a review of the European market infrastructure regulation and directive. The review aims to make the EU clearing landscape more attractive and resilient, to support the EU’s open strategic autonomy and to preserve the EU’s financial stability.

06/12/2023

Carbon pricing and carbon markets: IMF MD Georgieva at EU Pavilion discussion

“Let’s look at where we are today. We have close to 25% of emissions covered. When we look at this coverage, the carbon average price for these covered emissions is $20 per ton, compared to somewhere around $85 per ton by 2030 to keep ‘1.5 degrees alive’? Since we know that we have 75 percent of emissions yet to be covered, what is our average price overall today? $5 a

02/12/2023

EU Council eases investor access to corporate information

The EU is about to create a single point of access to public financial and non-financial information about EU companies and EU investment products. Today, the Council adopted a regulation creating the European Single Access Point (ESAP) – a platform that will make this information easier for investors to consult.

28/11/2023

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Money laundering and terror financing: EBA consults on new guidelines preventing abuse of funds and crypto-assets

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched a consultation on new Guidelines on preventing the abuse of funds and certain crypto-assets transfers for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. These “travel rule” Guidelines specify the steps that Payment Service Providers (PSPs), Intermediary PSPs (IPSPs), crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) and Intermediary CASPs (ICASPs) should take to detect missing or incomplete information that accompanies a transfer of funds or crypto-assets. The consultation runs

24/11/2023

BEUC: Speech by EU Commissioner McGuinness on digital finance

“How do we deal with digitalisation and finance? Huge promise, maybe big perils as well, and how we manage all of that? Of course, we want to harness innovation and we want a financial system, digital or otherwise, that’s open to all and new ways will emerge of doing business, that’s already happening. So, there are new opportunities for us as consumers from all of this change.
And then on

24/11/2023

Malta: IMF Staff Concluding Statement of the 2023 Article IV Mission

Malta has marked an impressive recovery from the pandemic and demonstrated substantial resilience to shocks resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With weaker external demand and waning post-pandemic pent-up demand, growth is normalizing but is still expected to be among the highest in Europe. Persistent inflationary pressures are expected, while concern has risen about capacity constraints.

24/11/2023

EU Council approves 2022 international climate finance figures

The Council approved the figures today, in preparation for the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28), which will take place from 30 November to 12 December in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The figures are based on the EU climate finance reporting rules laid down in the governance regulation.

24/11/2023

Czech Republic: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2023 Article IV Mission

The Czech Republic’s economic growth slowed considerably following Russia’s war in Ukraine, reflecting disruptions in global value chains, significant increases in energy and other commodity prices, an erosion in real wages, and a necessary tightening in monetary policy. Growth is expected to pick up in 2024—led by consumption and fixed investment, as inflation fades and real income starts rising again, supported by net exports. Risks are tilted to the downside

23/11/2023

EBA publishes final standards on new market risk internal models

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the assessment methodology under which competent authorities verify institutions’ compliance with the requirements applicable to their internal models under the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) rules.

22/11/2023

EU Council gives go-ahead to EU annual budget for 2024

Today, the Council approved the joint text on the EU’s general budget for 2024. The joint text has been agreed in negotiations with the European Parliament on 11 November. Total commitments are set at €189 385,4 million and total payments at €142 630,3 million. €360 million have been kept available under the expenditure ceilings of the current multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027, allowing the EU to react to unforeseeable needs.

20/11/2023

Banking Union: EU Council agrees common position on Daisy Chains

The Council adopted today a mandate to start negotiations with the European Parliament on the Daisy Chains proposal. Daisy chain is a term for a financial scam conducted by a group of investors in the public equities markets or in real estate.

18/11/2023

New rules for consumer credits in the EU enter into force

As of this Sunday, 19 November, new EU rules on consumer credit to safeguard consumers, enter into force. From now on, consumers who are financing their projects and goods through credits shall be better aware of the costs they face and better protected against the risks of new forms of credits offered online, such as Buy Now Pay Later schemes. No matter whether consumers are leasing a car, financing their

18/11/2023

Banking Union: EU Council agrees common position on Daisy Chains

The Council adopted today a mandate to start negotiations with the European Parliament on the Daisy Chains proposal. The proposal is a targeted amendment of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive or (BRRD) and the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation or (SRMR) to address certain issues in relation to the treatment of ‘internal MREL’ in bank resolution groups.

17/11/2023

South Korea: IMF Executive Board concludes 2023 Article IV consultation

Korea has faced challenges from inflation and a growth slowdown. Growth declined from mid-2022, as global demand for electronics waned and domestic demand weakened, but has started to recover in recent quarters. Headline inflation has declined significantly after peaking in mid-2022, though core inflation has remained stickier. Pockets of financial sector vulnerability have emerged amid higher interest rates and declining housing prices. Swift policy measures have helped to stabilize financial

16/11/2023

Measuring Money in the Digital Age – IMF MD Georgieva at the IMF Statistical Forum

“Measuring Money in the Digital Age. Now is the right time to do this—accelerated by the pandemic, mobile payments are nearly everywhere in many advanced and emerging economies. A large and growing number of countries are steaming ahead with development and deployment of Central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. And while crypto assets, including stablecoins, have had their ups and downs, they aren’t going away” – IMF Managing Direcotor

15/11/2023