EU financial services chief warns of long road ahead for UK-EU equivalence deal February 12, 2021 The EU’s financial services chief has warned the UK that “there cannot be equivalence and wide divergence” in financial regulation as the battle over the City’s future relationship with the bloc heats up. Mairead McGuinness also confirmed fears held by many in the City that the EU would demand to know the UK’s future regulatory [...]
EU faces surge in bankruptcies as states start to withdraw pandemic support February 11, 2021 A leaked document from the European Union has revealed that a spike in bankruptcies and bad loans awaits the European Commission during the bloc’s post-pandemic economic recovery, as states begin to withdraw public support schemes. The note, seen by Reuters, said that it has taken nearly €2.3 trillion in national liquidity support to prevent a [...]
Exclusive: Brexit hit to London may top £9.5bn a year without EU financial services deal February 10, 2021 As the heart of the UK's service sector economy, London is in line to lose up to £9.9bn a year if a post-Brexit deal on financial services doesn't protect the City, new research out this morning finds.
Brexit: Restoration of common law principles gives financial services the tools to be innovative February 10, 2021 Now that the UK has left the EU, it is time that we re-set the legal framework of our financial services. This is not the emotional reaction of a Brexit optimist – although I do believe that there are many advantages to our leaving the European Union – but rather a pragmatic assessment based on [...]
Von Der Leyen’s vaccine strategy violates the EU’s founding principles February 9, 2021 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has conceded that individual countries could have vaccinated their populations quicker had they acted alone rather than relying on the EU’s collective vaccine purchase and distribution program. She has effectively acknowledged that her vaccine procurement programme violated a fundamental principle of the European Union’s founding treaties. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has published an op-ed in the leading German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: “I ask myself the same questions every day: Could we have been much [...]
UK urges EU to extend grace period to 2023 in bid to soften Brexit impact February 3, 2021 Britain has asked the EU for a grace period extension until 2023 on checks made on trade moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has written to the European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic to ask for urgent political solutions on a number of issues at the [...]
After Brexit border backdown, the EU in new push with Astrazeneca to get more vaccine deliveries February 1, 2021 Talks between Astrazeneca and the European Commission will continue, despite strains, so that the bloc can recieve more of the pharmaceutical's Covid-19 vaccine before the end of March.
EU watchdog wants Apple to pay €13bn in back taxes after all February 1, 2021 EU competition enforcers are filing to overturn a verdict which they claim was a legal mistake when it abandoned an order for Apple to pay €13bn (£11.46bn) in Irish back taxes. The decision forms part of the European Commission’s clampdown on ‘aggressive’ tax planning by multinationals. The Commission said in 2016 that two Irish tax [...]
EU securities watchdog calls for stricter regulation on greenwashing January 29, 2021 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said today EU rules are needed to regulate ratings on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects of companies to avoid investors being deceived by “greenwashing”. Asset managers use ESG ratings to make “green” environmentally conscious investment decisions. Greenwashing refers to inaccurate claims that investments are sustainable and [...]
EU chief Von der Leyen calls for ‘democratic limits’ to Big Tech power January 20, 2021 European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen has called for a crackdown on the “untrammelled” power of tech giants following violent riots at the Capitol earlier this month. In a speech marking the inauguration of Joe Biden, Von der Leyen welcomed the new US president, adding: “After four long years, Europe has a friend in [...]