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Save the date! Innovation in mobile and electronic payments
The European Commission has recently published a Green Paper to launch a consultation process with stakeholders to help the Commission in identifying the right way to improve market integration in European card, internet and mobile payments. In the quest for more efficient, secure and transparent payment markets, unhindered technical and business innovation plays a key role.
Bank business models, diversity and the future of regulation
This CEPS - ECRI event will provide a forum to discuss the effects that the Capital Requirements Directive and the respective regulation will have on banks’ business models. The ‘one size fits all’ approach of Basel III poses the same requirements for all banks, regardless of their risk levels and structures. This raises concerns especially from the perspective of cooperative banks with a retail business model, which have an important role as lenders to the economy.
Foreign currency indebtedness: A potential systemic risk in emerging Europe
Foreign currency indebtedness in new EU member states has had serious post-crisis consequences, where a substantial currency mismatch has contributed to an alteration in the macroeconomic and financial risk profile of individual countries. A pivotal challenge ahead for emerging Europe will be to strengthen institutional and monetary credibility and reinforce stable and efficient capital markets that are less dependent on foreign capital inflows. This would ultimately reduce countries’ vulnerability to future shocks to the economy, and facilitate their full-blown recovery.
Review of the Payment Services Directive: The question of surcharges
The Payment Services Directive was intended to provide more price transparency for users and a level playing field for efficient competition among different payment services by decreasing the inhibiting effects of different legislation, cross-subsidisation and non-cost-based pricing. The European Commission, however, intended most of these effects to come about through market-led initiatives.
ECRI News - Autumn 2011
ECRI has published the Autumn edition of its quarterly Newsletter. The issue includes information about our upcoming events and our research, together with the latest news about credit markets and retail financial services.
To download ECRI News, please click here.
Event: The Shadow Economy in Europe
The shadow economy is estimated to be about €2.1 trillion in Europe and it is widely acknowledged to represent a major revenue threat for the global economy. The economic crisis increased the attention for but also the participation in the shadow economy. Since the shadow economy is difficult to observe and consequently to control, and because many countries have already implemented comprehensive improvement strategies, more innovative mitigation strategies to combat shadow economy are called for.
Trends in European Household Credit: Solid or shaky ground for regulatory changes?
In this ECRI Commentary, Elina Pyykkö provides a snapshot of the current state of household credit markets in Europe. She assesses how member states have recovered from the financial crisis by looking at credit markets and other financial indicators. The evidence is used to discuss what grounds the different stages of recovery provide for new EU-wide legislative proposals, in particular the proposed directive on mortgage credit.
ECRI News - Summer 2011
ECRI has published the Summer edition of its quarterly Newsletter. The issue includes information about our upcoming and recent events and our research, together with news about credit markets and retail financial services.
ECRI/CEPS Report - A New Mortgage Credit Regime for Europe
This report aims to contribute to the debate on how the EU could most efficiently respond to the challenges posed and the deficiencies revealed by the financial crisis in the area of retail credit. It is based in part on discussions that took place within the CEPS-ECRI Task Force on A New Retail Credit Regime for Europe – Setting the Right Priorities, which met between May 2010 and January 2011. Given the policy directions, the discussions focused largely on the largest component of retail credit, mortgages.
Publication: Integrating Retail Financial Markets in Europe
CEPS Senior Fellow Rym Ayadi argues in her latest publication that European policy-makers ought to rethink their approach to financial market integration in order to continue the construction of the internal market for retail financial services. Urgent efforts should be taken to ensure financial safety for retail consumers and to enhance consumer protection at the EU level.
