Category: Europe/Middle East

EU Lawmakers Seek Region-Wide Caps On Bank Bonuses

The European Union may set new caps on bankers’ bonuses for all its member nations in its upcoming set of bank capital rules, claimed a report by the Financial Times on Thursday.

ECB Holds Benchmark Rate At Record Low 1%

The eurozone has announced it will keep the benchmark lending rate at the current 1 percent, with the ECB chief Mario Draghi saying it is still premature for the Bank to even consider an exit from its monetary easing policies.

For the last few weeks, analysts and policymakers have been discussing steps for a backup plan should the ECB decide to exit the money market after nearly three years, and 1 trillion euros of cheap bailout loans.

Merkel Succumbs To International Pressure As EU Raises Financial Firewall

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed to increase the firepower of the eurozone’s emergency rescue funds, despite a history of strong opposition and resistance to the fund’s expansion plans.

According to German newspaper Der Spiegel, Merkel and German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble have abandoned their resistance to combining the two eurozone rescue funds, despite opposition from German voters that it would increase the country’s liability.

EU Wants Minimum Quota For Women In Corporate Boardrooms

Too few women presently sit on the boards of public companies in the European Union, said a senior EU justice official on Sunday, as the European Commission intends to press ahead with new quotas and timetables for its member states on gender equality in the corporate boardroom.

“I think we’re slowly running out of patience everywhere in Europe,” said the EU’s justice commissioner Viviane Reding in an interview with the Guardian.

Eurozone Unemployment and Inflation Creep to Record Highs

Unemployment in the euro zone has risen to its highest level since the introduction of the common currency even as inflation climbed, underlining the challenges facing European leaders as they gather in Brussels for a summit.

Eurostat, the statistics board of the European union, reported yesterday that unemployment rate rose to 10.7 percent in January across the 17 union states, the highest level since the introduction of the euro in 1999.

Mild Recession Expected For The European Union

The European Commission has said in a report that the region’s divergent economies are staring at a bleak outlook, with a mild recession at the horizon that could turn far worse.

The 17-nation euro economy will contract 0.3 percent, the commission said, abandoning a November forecast of 0.5 percent growth. The downgrade was mainly due to projected contractions of 1.3 percent in Italy and 1 percent in Spain.

Olli Rehn, European Union Economic and Monetary Commissioner said:

ECB Gives Out A Record $640bn In Loans

The European Central Bank yesterday pumped in €489 billion ($640 bn) into the Continent’s banking system, in hope the much-needed liquidity could alleviate the region’s credit squeeze.

The loans which were given to 523 banks revealed the difficulty of borrowing from other banks and money markets in the coming year, and will be lent at the average of its benchmark interest rate which currently stands at 1 percent.

Europe Imposes Short Selling Ban

European regulators will ban short-selling in four countries’ financial stocks from Friday in a co-ordinated effort to restore confidence in a market hit by rumours, higher borrowing costs and a steep rise in emergency financing. In a statement issued close to the end of the day, the European Securities and Markets Authority (EMSA) said Belgium, France, Italy and Spain were set to bring in the ban, which will vary in detail from country to country.