Finance & Trade

MEP Seeks Single EU Deposit Guarantee

March 23, 2016

As legislators in Brussels continue to push for EU "banking union," Member of the European Parliament ("MEP") and chairman of its economic affairs committee Roberto Gualtieri has issued a report calling for the creation of a single deposit guarantee scheme to protect bank deposits in the EU.
CPS Warns of EU Regulation of British Ports

March 04, 2016

The Centre for Policy Studies ("CPS") has published a report warning of the potential effects of a proposed EU Ports Services Regulation that would establish a new regulator that could impose "price proportionality" and other controls on UK ports, which, unlike those in Continental Europe, are for the most part privately run.
Head of EU Banking Body Backs Sovereign Debt Limits

March 03, 2016

The head of the EU Single Resolution Board Elke Koenig has voiced support for limitations on the exposure of European banks to public debt, a proposal that could raise the costs of borrowing money for EU governments.
Lyons: London's Success Is "Immune" to Brexit Decision

March 02, 2016

In a new report, economic adviser to the Mayor of London Gerard Lyons writes that, with "no real competitor in Europe," London is on track to continue its sustained economic growth whether or not the UK decides to leave the EU.
UK Declines to Apply EU Bonus Cap to Smaller Lenders

March 02, 2016

Reuters reports that UK regulators have explained to the EU that they will not apply European legislation placing caps on the bonuses granted to employees to smaller lenders because these institutions pose a less significant risk to the British banking system.
Former BoE Governor Calls for Dissolution of Eurozone

March 02, 2016

Warning that the alternative would be "economic and political crisis" throughout the EU due to the continuous obligation to subsidize poorer countries in the bloc, former Governor of the Bank of England ("BOE") Mervyn King has called for eurozone countries to call "a halt to the monetary union project."
UK Minister: Brexit Does Not Entail Ireland Border Checks

February 26, 2016

Arguing that a "common travel area" between the UK and Ireland had existed long before the UK's EU membership, UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers has said that the reintroduction of border controls between the UK and Ireland is not "inevitable" if Britain votes to leave the EU.
CoR Officials Push for Social Indicators in EU Spending

February 22, 2016

Officials from the EU Committee of the Regions ("CoR") have called on the EU to expand the development indicators it uses to decide where certain funds are spent to go beyond the economic performance of the member states and regions by including "environmental quality" and "social inclusion."
Italian Minister Calls for Eurozone Finance Ministry

February 12, 2016

Echoing recent calls from other national finance ministers in the EU, Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has called for the EU to respond to the current market turmoil by creating a eurozone finance ministry that would coordinate economic and fiscal policy throughout the monetary bloc.
National Bank Officials Call for Euro Finance Ministry

February 10, 2016

Reuters reports that Jens Weidmann of the German Central Bank and Francois Villeroy de Galhau of the French Central Bank recently co-wrote an article proposing a eurozone finance ministry that would formulate fiscal policy within the bloc.