The EU needs its own anti-money laundering authority. This is acknowledged by the six finance ministers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Latvia in a joint position paper. Olaf Scholz and his five counterparts want a European money laundering supervisory authority to coordinate and supervise national authorities in the financial sector and, if […]
EBA Executive Director becomes bank lobbyist: Weak conditions do not resolve conflict of interest
The Board of Supervisors of the European Banking Authority (EBA) today issued conditions for the change of its acting Executive Director Adam Farkas to the Lobbying Association of Major European Banks (AFME). According to the agreement, Farkas will not be allowed to participate in AFME’s lobbying of the EBA for the first two years. Farkas […]
EBA executive director shall become bank lobbyist: massive damage to banking supervision’s reputation
The Executive Director of the European Banking Authority (EBA), Adam Farkas, will join the Lobbying Association of Major European Banks (AFME) and become its CEO. Farkas had previously tried in vain to become head of the EBA. Most EBA staff learned of the imminent change through a media report (https://news.sky.com/story/top-eu-regulator-farkas-to-head-banking-lobbying-group-afme-11793826). MEP Sven Giegold, financial and […]
Eurozone budget: Small step instead of great success
At their meeting yesterday, the finance ministers of the euro area countries wanted to agree on three key reforms to deepen the economic and monetary union: a separate budgetary instrument for the euro area, the fiscal backstop for the Single Resolution Fund (SRF) provided by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and progress towards a European […]
G20 Finance Ministers Meeting: Progress is a bad excuse for the blockade of EU proposals
Commenting on the outcome of the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Fukuoka, Japan, Sven Giegold, spokesperson for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in the European Parliament, said: “The progress against tax dumping by digital companies is encouraging. But, there is still a long way to go to reach an agreement. There are significant differences of opinion […]
European Parliament/Commission Presidency: Leaders of four main political groups agree on political process
As leaders of four political groups of the European Parliament – EPP, S&D, ALDE and Greens/EFA – we met today for the second time since the European Parliament elections. We agreed on a political process aimed at defining a common ambition for the next legislative period. This will provide the basis on which we expect […]