Finance & Trade

Banks Warn of FTT's Effect on Economic Stability in EU

January 28, 2015

Following moves by the governments of France and Austria to advance a proposal for a financial transaction tax ("FTT") in many countries across the EU, a group of banking organizations published a letter warning that the FTT could have a sizable negative impact on markets across the bloc.
Evans-Pritchard: ECJ Declares "Legal Supremacy" over States

January 21, 2015

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes that the recent finding by an EU Court of Justice ("ECJ") Advocate General that the European Central Bank's bond-buying program is lawful, with limits, constitutes "a vaulting assertion of EU primacy" to which member states did not agree in EU treaties.
Observers Warn of "Crisis" in ECJ Bond-Buying Decision

January 21, 2015

The Irish Times reports that some German observers predict a "constitutional crisis" in Germany that could result in the country leaving the euro if the Court of Justice of the EU upholds its Advocate General's opinion that the European Central Bank's bond-buying program, with limitations, is lawful.
British MP Describes EU Threats to U.K. Finance

January 21, 2015

U.K. Member of Parliament ("MP") Sir Bill Cash writes that EU financial laws and the growth of the eurozone are threatening the future of the British financial industry.
Bulgaria Seeks to Join Euro

January 16, 2015

Despite the country's poor credit rating, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov has announced that Bulgaria has begun talks to join the euro currency.
EU Commission: Luxembourg Tax Deal May Be "State Aid"

January 16, 2015

The European Commission has released a preliminary finding that a tax deal between Luxembourg and Amazon, made while current Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was the country's Prime Minister, was "state aid" and therefore contrary to EU law.
ECJ Attorney Finds EU Monetary Program Lawful

January 14, 2015

Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU Pedro Cruz Villalon has found, in a nonbinding opinion, that a program under which the European Central Bank buys eurozone government debt is lawful so long as it abides by safeguards intended to prevent direct state aid to EU member states.
Hollande Calls for Use of FTT to Fight Climate Change

January 14, 2015

French President François Hollande has announced his support of the EU-proposed financial transaction tax ("FTT") and his intention to use all or part of the proceeds to counter global warming.
Study: EU Legislation Pervades U.K. Financial Regulation

January 14, 2015

Countering arguments that the U.K. would still comply with EU financial legislation if outside the EU, a new study finds that if the U.K. were not an EU member state, it would not have introduced 50% of its financial legislation.
EU: Joining Euro Is "Irrevocable"

January 07, 2015

In response to reports that Greece may leave the euro currency due to the country's economic problems, a spokesperson for the EU has warned that eurozone rules prohibit the exit of any country from the currency bloc.