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“To end all crises?” download Finance Watch’s position paper on CRD IV / CRR

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 [...]

A proposal for reforming credit ratings agencies (ECON)

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 [...]

Finance Watch responds to MiFID questionnaire

16 January 2012: The deadline for responses to European Parliament rapporteur Markus Ferber’s questionnaire on MiFID passed on 13 January 2012. A copy of Finance Watch’s response to the questionnaire can be found at the link below. Finance Watch plans to publish a more detailed position paper on the legislation in the next weeks. For [...]

ECON evidence on High Frequency Trading and MiFID

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 [...]

EESC hearing on civil society and financial regulation

28 November 2011: Finance Watch SecretaryGeneral Thierry Philipponnat today gave evidence at a public hearing of the European Economic and Social Committee entitled “The role of civil society in financial regulation”. The hearing was organised by the Committee’s ECO section (Economic & Monetary Union & Economic and Social Cohesion) following an EESC decision in January to [...]

Open letter to EU leaders – supervise bank deleveraging

19 October 2011: Finance Watch today asked EU leaders to take measures to protect the real economy in case new bank rules cut off the supply of credit. When EU leaders meet in Brussels on Sunday they will discuss a five-point plan for stability and growth put forward last week by President Barroso. The plan [...]

ECON Committee – Finance Watch evidence on CRD4

12 October 2011: Finance Watch Secretary General, Thierry Philipponnat, yesterday gave evidence on the effects of CRD4 to the European Parliament’s ECON Committee for Economic and Monetary affairs. A copy of his speech is available for download. To see a video of the hearing, click here. Scroll forward to 15.56 to see Thierry speak.

Position paper on sovereign CDS

Finance Watch has published the first in a series of short position papers where it highlights situations where a private interest is disguised as a public interest argument. Private interests have a legitimate and useful role to play in society as long as they are pursued openly and honestly. Finance Watch believes that when a [...]