Finance Watch

Download position paper 2 February 2012: Finance Watch has published its position paper on CRD IV, the European legislation implementing Basel III bank capital reforms. Key recommendations include: - higher capital requirements to accommodate maximum harmonisation - a flexible leverage ratio that measures gross derivatives exposure - more capital against securitisations - measures to encourage lending to businesses without [...]

Brussels, 24 January 2012: “Rating agencies are both judge and jury. We need a system that is altogether more technical and less emotional”. Finance Watch today gave evidence at a European Parliament public hearing on the European Commission’s proposed reforms of credit ratings agencies. Finance Watch Secretary General Thierry Philipponnat told the hearing that reforms [...]

5 December 2011: Finance Watch today gave evidence at a European Parliament hearing on the planned update to MiFID, the EU’s rules governing markets for financial instruments, and on high frequency trading. The net price of transactions to investors has not fallen, because the fragmentation of equity trading venues has led to higher transaction prices [...]

“The latest lobby tactic is to convince pundits, public and politicians that encouraging prudence too soon will hit the economy too hard. This is no longer amusing. This strategy is intellectually dishonest and potentially damaging,” said Robert Jenkins, member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee, in a speech in London on 22 November [...]