A novel experiment to settle French treasury bonds on a blockchain using a CBDC has market players excited about its potential to transform staid bond markets. Nevertheless, legal, political and technological challenges remain. 

The European Commission wants to spring-clean the bloc’s bank crisis management and deposit insurance framework, but without the final pillar of the banking union in place — the pan-EU deposit insurance scheme — it is stuck in limbo. Can Germany’s new coalition government get things moving?

Digitisation of the EU’s financial sector is accelerating – and the banking regulator is starting to pay attention. The EBA is advising supervisors to get up to speed with the potential risks, but its suspicions about digital platforms has left fintechs fuming. 

China’s regulators have turned sour on the nation’s most high-profile — and the world’s most indebted — property developer, Evergrande. Experts predict its demise is unlikely to batter the banking sector, but are sceptical as to whether China can steer an orderly deflation of its property bubble. 

Despite widespread opposition, the EU’s securities markets regulator has pushed ahead with recommendations to pull more traded bonds into the pre- and post-trade transparency net. Sceptics say it is too soon to impose greater reporting requirements and will hit market makers unfairly. 

Global standard-setters are brainstorming international standards to oversee the use of artificial intelligence in finance, a growing disruptive trend that poses serious ethical dilemmas like algorithmic bias which disadvantages minorities. Some AI experts say guidance is long overdue. 

The European Banking Authority is consulting on what constitutes a shadow bank for the purpose of reporting large exposures, as the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has global regulators assessing the degree to which they should regulate shadow banks. 

South Africa’s prudential regulator is bringing the fundamental review of the trading book back to life after Covid-19-related delays, with a firm go-live date for banks of January 1, 2024. Despite concerns that this could hammer local markets, banks remain upbeat. 

A Covid-19-related delay to rolling out Basel III has clearing houses worried about horrendous capital charges for their foreign clearing clients. They are urging banking regulators to provide a reprieve. 

A landmark 66-page report on the securitisation market published ahead of a pivotal European Commission (EC) consultation has been branded a “Titanic-like” disappointment by many in the industry