All posts tagged: Financial Services

EU’s public debt could become ‘explosive’ without action, IMF warns – POLITICO

EU’s public debt could become ‘explosive’ without action, IMF warns – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“The ‘muddling-through’ approach that many countries have adopted so far is reaching its limits, and a more strategic response seems essential to respond to rising spending pressures,” it added. The European Court of Auditors also told the finance ministers that doing nothing is not an option, highlighting the need for fiscal consolidation measures. The IMF paper calls EU countries to incentivize work and hiring across the ​27-country bloc, simplify citizens’ savings flow across the bloc into investments, energy markets integration and implementation of climate-resilient projects. Pension reforms and a higher retirement age would also help. EU should agree ‌that ⁠innovation, energy and defense are public goods and should be financed through joint borrowing, it adds. The bloc has remained deadlocked on the idea of sharing the debt to unlock additional funds, with some countries like Spain, Italy, Greece or France strongly in favor and others, like Germany, strongly opposing. “We are faced with a new and permanent spending needs,” EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a press conference after the meeting of finance ministers. …

The winners and losers from the UK’s trade deal with the Gulf – POLITICO

The winners and losers from the UK’s trade deal with the Gulf – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Meanwhile, the UAE opted out of environmental commitments in the FTA altogether, leaving those discussions to separate bilateral talks. Human and labor rights campaigners Campaigners have long raised concerns about the Gulf states’ human rights record, with organizations including the Trade Justice Movement, Amnesty International UK, Human Rights Watch urging the prime minister in a joint letter last year to incorporate “strong human rights conditions” before the deal is signed.  Reacting to the details of the deal released on Wednesday, the Trade Justice Movement said it  “looks to be silent” on human and labor rights “in return for minimal economic benefit.”  “By failing to negotiate any enforceable human rights protections within the deal, the U.K. has taken a moral step backwards and undermined the government’s own commitments on democracy, women’s rights and workers’ rights,” said Trade Justice Movement Director Tom Wills. The government has contested that trade agreements are not the forum to directly address human rights issues, while arguing that the deal contains provisions that can contribute to the protection and promotion of human …

How to watch the king’s speech like a pro

How to watch the king’s speech like a pro

Published by Sam Flores

LONDON — The opening of a new U.K. parliamentary session is steeped in decades of pageantry and tradition. But few have taken place in these circumstances. On Wednesday morning, King Charles III will enter parliament to deliver a speech setting out Keir Starmer’s legislative agenda for the second parliamentary session of his premiership. Over 35 bills will be listed, according to the government. But after last week’s disastrous local and devolved elections for Starmer’s Labour Party, the question on Westminster’s mind is how much of it will actually be delivered — and by whom. “The British people expect the Government to get on with the job of changing our country for the better,” a defiant Starmer said on Tuesday. He said the laws will “deliver on the promise of change for the British people” that ushered Labour into power less than two years ago — and cautioned colleagues weighing up a challenge to his leadership that they face a choice over whether to “press ahead with a plan to build a stronger, fairer country or …

The Parliament’s misspent €1.5 million – POLITICO

The Parliament’s misspent €1.5 million – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

European political parties are misspending their cash, while the public is left in the dark about what’s going on. The European Parliament’s department of finance found political parties and foundations had misspent €1.5 million during the 2024 EU election campaign. Zoya and Ian discuss which parties are the biggest offenders. They also explain how the European Parliament — with the help of complex bureaucratic processes — helps these parties avoid broader scrutiny. Also on the pod, EU finance ministers are meeting today to discuss getting financial support for Ukraine from countries outside the bloc. While we’re on the topic of geopolitics, Zoya and Ian have some breaking news about a major personnel change at the EU’s foreign policy arm, the European External Action Service. Finally, a Spanish MEP was outraged when an inauthentic Galician octopus dish was served at the Parliament’s canteen. We take a look at some other institutional food fights. Do you have insider info on any big job moves happening in Brussels — or elsewhere? We’d love to hear them! Send a message to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29. Source link

Senior Tory MP provided legal services to company of sanctioned Russian oligarchs  – POLITICO

Senior Tory MP provided legal services to company of sanctioned Russian oligarchs  – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The billionaire Mikhail Fridman and Russia’s former Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Petr Aven are listed as shareholders of the banking and financial services holding firm.  Both men were placed on the UK Sanctions List in March 2022 in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with their roles at ABH Holding cited among the reasons given for their inclusion.   The company was deemed to be an “entity carrying on business in a sector of strategic significance to the Government of Russia, namely the Russian financial services sector,” the U.K. government said at the time. Fridman and Aven’s involvement in Russian banking giant Alfa Group was also referenced in the official reasoning for imposing sanctions on the pair. The pair also remain under the European Union’s sanctions regime, despite a successful legal challenge in the EU’s general court in April 2024. The court ruled that the bloc was not justified in imposing restrictive measures on them, but the ruling only applies between February 2022 and mid-March 2023, meaning they remain sanctioned.  Fridman has launched multiple legal challenges against European governments over the sanction decisions via the Investor State Dispute Settlements (ISDS), which allow foreign investors to sue host countries over regulations that affect their businesses.  Previously listed among Russia’s richest citizens, he brought an ISDS case against the government of Luxembourg for €16 billion, in response to the sanctions against his business interests. …

Keir Starmer’s stack of unfinished business – POLITICO

Keir Starmer’s stack of unfinished business – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

What happens next will hinge on two reviews: one by ex-minister Alan Milburn into the rise of under-25s not in employment, education or training, and a separate review by Disability Minister Stephen Timms into Personal Independent Payments (PIP) for sick and disabled people regardless of whether they work. Government officials insist they are still committed to reforming both systems before the next general election due in 2029. Milburn’s review is due to report back at the end of this summer and Timms’ is due in the fall. That means welfare reform is unlikely to be given a fixed bill in the May 13 king’s speech, but will be on the agenda all the same. Tension will be felt between the Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions and Starmer’s MPs, who all have ideas about the best way to balance spending cuts against reform.  People protest ahead of the budget in Downing Street, London, on Nov. 25, 2025. | Kymberley Apiro/Getty Images Chancellor Rachel Reeves initially hoped for nearly £10 billion of savings from the welfare …

Blame Berlin and Paris for red tape, not us  – POLITICO

Blame Berlin and Paris for red tape, not us  – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Since the start of Ursula von der Leyen’s second mandate as Commission president, the EU executive has put forward 10 so-called omnibus proposals that reopen existing laws to get rid of anything deemed overly burdensome.   “We are determined to bring about change so that in Europe and in the member states we can more quickly and effectively create an environment where companies can grow and develop the global competitiveness they need,” von der Leyen said during a meeting with leading conservative politicians in Berlin on Monday. So far, EU decision-makers have agreed to reduce environmental disclosure obligations for companies, make it easier for small-scale farms to access EU money, and delay new requirements forcing companies to track and disclose where they source their raw materials. More omnibus proposals are expected later this year, including on energy and taxation. But the Commission also wants to rethink the lawmaking process itself, including by reducing the length of impact assessments and public consultation periods.   The plan to speed up lawmaking has alarmed civil society groups, trade unions, academics, …

Trump’s Iran showdown is becoming Europe’s political nightmare – POLITICO

Trump’s Iran showdown is becoming Europe’s political nightmare – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“Energy costs are cascading into food, transport and housing, hitting lower- and middle-income households hardest,” Seamus Boland, president of the European Economic and Social Committee, which brings together trade unions from across Europe and advises the European Commission on economic and labor policy, told POLITICO. “Politically, that creates space for distrust — not just of national governments, but of European institutions’ ability to shield citizens from external shocks. It risks accelerating support for more protectionist or inward-looking approaches.” France is the biggest prize. But it is not the signal in Europe that the center is crumbling. In Bulgaria, the April 20 victory of Kremlin-friendly ex-president Rumen Radev has set incumbents around Europe on edge. In Romania, a coalition crisis could soon sweep pro-EU Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan from power. In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany is eyeing gains in September’s Saxony-Anhalt state election, having already broken into parts of western Germany far from its traditional eastern power base. The Iran war will be in focus on Monday as deputy finance ministers from the EU’s …

Europeans tried to win over the US this week in DC. Their efforts were lost in translation. – POLITICO

Europeans tried to win over the US this week in DC. Their efforts were lost in translation. – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Growing pains At finance industry gatherings in D.C.’s office buildings and historic hotels, the EU’s efforts to boost growth and stimulate investment by removing fragmentation in European capital markets was seen by industry and regulators alike with either curiosity, because they don’t understand the project, or skepticism because they doubt the EU can get over its internal rivalries and integrate. This week Bessent reiterated the U.S. mantra that “the biggest risk to financial stability is a lack of growth,” accusing the EU of being “unable to follow the Draghi Report … on how it would increase growth.” The existence of the bloc should “facilitate trade among the members, make it more seamless, create more prosperity, and it turns out it has probably been a hindrance,” he said. The Europeans struck a more conciliatory tone. U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said Britain’s trade deal with the U.S. is “in both of our countries’ interests,” and said technical work with U.S. counterparts on the future of capital markets and financial services is moving forward. “That relationship and …

One Europe. One market. Time to complete the EU single market – POLITICO

One Europe. One market. Time to complete the EU single market – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

For decades, it has been Europe’s strongest asset, the backbone of our prosperity, and increasingly the cornerstone of our sovereignty. And yet, in the areas that matter most, we still do not have one market. We have the sum of 27 national markets. This fragmentation is not a technical flaw. It is a political and strategic weakness. We pay for it in higher costs, weaker investment, slower innovation, and reduced capacity to act in the world. Europe’s problem is not diagnosis. The problem is speed, ownership and political commitment. This is why we need a bold political commitment to strengthen and complete the single market. We need an agreement that creates a fast track for the steps required to complete it, endorsed by the presidents of the EU institutions. It should have a name that matches its ambition: the One Market Act. In 1992, Europe moved from a common market to a single market. Now we need the next step: one market. This is not about treaty change. The actions we need are already possible …