This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found Italy’s plan to enable the transfer of certain State guaranteed loans to a newly created platform managed by AMCO S.p.A. to be free of any State aid. The Commission found that, under the scheme, the Italian State will be […]State aid: Commission approves Italian market conform scheme to manage publicly guaranteed loans
August 29, 2022 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found Italy’s plan to enable the transfer of certain State guaranteed loans to a newly created platform managed by AMCO S.p.A. to be free of any State aid. The Commission found that, under the scheme, the Italian State will be […]MEPs want better protection for consumers applying for loans online
July 13, 2022 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. The new EU rules aim at protecting consumers online from credit card debt, overdrafts and loans that are unsuitable for their financial situation. In a text adopted by the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, with 42 votes in favour, 1 against and 1 […]Non-performing loans: banks need to mitigate the risk of potential losses
March 15, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Parliament has adopted, on Thursday, new EU rules for standard minimum coverage of bad loans. Measures to mitigate the risk of possible, future, non-performing loans (NPLs) accumulating due to the recessions brought about by the 2008 financial crisis were approved by the Parliament, with […]IMF: All you want to know about Argentina
June 20, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the International Monetary Fund Written by IMF staff Frequently asked questions about Argentina, June 7, 2018 How much money will be disbursed to Argentina to support the new economic plan? Argentina and IMF staff have reached an agreement on an economic plan that can be supported by […]Who cares more about taxpayers? The US by being harsh on major banks or the EU still caressing them?
April 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The world economy remains more or less motionless or even recedes six years after the financial meltdown, because the banking industry has not yet decided what’s best for its interests. Continue leveraging itself (borrowing) on central bank liquidity in a stagnating environment, or start deleveraging and send the world to another deep recession, if not […]ECB money bonanza not enough to revive euro area, Germany longs to rule with stagnation
December 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment
During the days ahead of last Thursday’s 3 December meeting of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, financial markets and market oriented media had been pressing for a stronger monetary accommodation (easing), than what President Mario Draghi finally announced in the afternoon of that day. As a result, the euro appreciated markedly with the dollar […]Big world banks to pay $ 4.95bn for cheating customers; Is it a punishment or a gentle caress?
May 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Last week five of the world largest banks, JPMorgan, Barclays, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland and Union de Banques Suisses were fined by the American magistrates a total of $ 4.7 billion for rigging interest rate benchmarks. The banks had been setting those standards by themselves for five years after 2007. In another case the […]The EU Commission by serving the banks offers poor support to European mainstream political parties
May 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The 2008-2012 financial aka banking crisis and its devastating repercussions on the European Union, with deep recession and skyrocketing unemployment, are the main reasons why the EU political and economic establishment shivers ahead of the 22-25 May elections fearing a possible disastrous result. Eurosceptic extremists, nationalists and harlequins may occupy an increased part of the […]Is Eurozone preparing to abandon austerity and stagnation?
April 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Two unrelated at first reading, but in reality very closely connected developments, materialised this week. On the one side it’s the new fall of industrial producer prices in February 2014 (deflation), while on the other, Germany surprised everybody by adopting, for the first time in its economic history, a compulsory minimum wage, expected to be […]Draghi indirectly accuses Germany of using double standards in financial issues
March 5, 2014 by 1 Comment
Last Monday, Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank appeared in his last hearing in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, before the present legislature dissolves in view of the May elections. In his introductory speech he seized the opportunity to underline a few things that some European […]Facilitating the access to finance and risk capital for SMEs and midcaps
January 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
As they say better late than never. The EU Commission decided to relax the rules regulating the granting of state aid to SMEs and midcaps. This initiative relates to easing the terms of high risk equity financing of companies with perceived high-growth potential during their early growth stages. In normal financial circumstances high risk capital […]Predicting two more years of economic stagnation
January 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, as expected, the European Central Bank kept its basic interest rate unchanged at 0.25%. As usually, the decision was taken in the meeting of the bank’s Governing Council, the first of 2014. At this almost zero interest rate cost commercial banks get ample liquidity from the ECB and then lend this money to the […]The financial sector cripples Eurozone growth prospects
January 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
According to a European Central Bank Press release published on 3 January 2014, Eurozone banks further reduced their overall outstanding balance of loans to the private sector during November 2013. Given that industrial multinationals and big services firms do not rely on bank loans for their financing, it’s mainly the SMEs that have been deprived […]SMEs and micro firms sinking together with south Eurozone
December 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Only 0.2% of the non-financial companies are large (more than 249 employees), the rest are either micro firms (up to 10 employees, 92.5%) or small and medium enterprises (10 to 249 employees, 7.3%). Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union, regularly publishes data on enterprises broken down by size classes, which provide information on […]ECB offers cheaper money despite reactions from Germany
November 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, the European Central Bank, in a swift move, reduced its basic interest rate to 0.25% from 0.5%. The decision was taken by the Governing Council of the bank, in its regular meeting which takes place on the first Thursday of every month. This decision has reportedly taken the capital markets by surprise, but this […]The Ecofin deceives the SMEs with the EIB €10bn capital increase
October 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Shakespeare’s comedy play title “Much Ado About Nothing” best describes the 28 Ecofin ministers for Finance discussion on the EU Commission and European Investment Bank initiative, wishfully aimed at facilitating the access to finance for SMEs. The programme extends over the next few years and foresees an increase of EIB’s capital by €10 billion. This […]IMF to teach Germany a Greek lesson
October 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde, in a Press conference held yesterday in Washington, ahead of the 2013 annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF set to take place this weekend, chose to directly confront Germany over the Greek Gordian knot. She repeated three times that the Greece’s Eurozone partners have reiterated on […]OECD: Mind the financial gap that lies ahead
September 10, 2013 by 1 Comment
A rather disappointing picture of the world economy drew OECD Deputy Chief Economist Jorgen Elmeskov last week, when he said that “The gradual pick-up in momentum in the advanced economies is encouraging but a sustainable recovery is not yet firmly established. Major risks remain”. If it was not for China’s predicted growth during the last […]Draghi reserved about Eurozone’s growth prospects
September 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, during the Press conference following the meeting of the Governing Council, in answering a journalist’s question appeared quite reserved about Eurozone’s growth prospects. Despite the fact that ECB’s staff projections for 2013 have been revised upwards, estimates for 2014 growth potential are now downgraded. Not to […]ECB is about to lend trillions to banks
July 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The institutionalisation of the Single Resolution Mechanism to deal with failing banks, a new tool to complement ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), two cornerstones in building the European Banking Union, cannot be accomplished correctly, if member states were allowed directly or indirectly to support with public money their failing or about to fail banks, in […]Why the ECB suddenly decided to flood banks with money?
July 10, 2013 by 1 Comment
It was not a coincidence that the Governing Council of the European Central Bank suddenly decided unanimously last week to further relax its monetary policy promising more and cheaper loans to all banks, exactly at a time when the US central bank, the Fed, is about to start calling back the trillions of dollars it […]Inflation and interest rates indicate urgent need for action
May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Inflation indices are a measure not only of the rate of change of consumer prices. In organised economies like Eurozone inflation is a good indirect measurement of economic activities. A bit more inflation above the benchmark of 2% is a good indication that the economy is growing, the opposite for measurements below that level. Inflation […]
