Internationalisation of banking and banking supervision

The divergence between increasingly supranational financial markets on the one hand and still largely national supervisory structures on the other gives rise to tensions which reduce the effectiveness of the supervision. It lies in the interests of both the public and the private sector that the supervisory structures are commensurate with the risks in a global capital market. An extension of the framework of common minimum standards (at a high level!) and joint definitions and data standards are just as essential as an intensification of cooperation among the supervisory authorities. Self-regulation, market discipline and the inclusion of the financial industry in the shaping of the rules should be obvious elements of a modern supervisory regime. Banks which operate internationally see themselves caught between national regulation and cross-border activity every day. The combination of different sets of rules and supervisory authorities is a major cost factor and hinders the integration of the markets. The co-existence of national authorities operating in parallel risks violates the principle of competitive neutrality of supervision in a single market. This certainly applies in the EU, where not only internationalisation, but supranationalisation of supervision is called for. --

Role of the Chemokine Receptors CCR1, CCR2 and CCR4 in the Pathogenesis of Experimental Dengue Infection in Mice

Dengue virus (DENV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus, is a public health problem in many tropical countries. Recent clinical data have shown an association between levels of different chemokines in plasma and severity of dengue. We evaluated the role of CC chemokine receptors CCR1, CCR2 and CCR4 in an experimental model of DENV-2 infection in mice. Infection of mice induced evident clinical disease and tissue damage, including thrombocytopenia, hemoconcentration, lymphopenia, increased levels of transaminases and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and lethality in WT mice. Importantly, infected WT mice presented increased levels of chemokines CCL2/JE, CCL3/MIP-1α and CCL5/RANTES in spleen and liver. CCR1-/- mice had a mild phenotype with disease presentation and lethality similar to those of WT mice. In CCR2-/- mice, lethality, liver damage, levels of IL-6 and IFN-γ, and leukocyte activation were attenuated. However, thrombocytopenia, hemoconcentration and systemic TNF-α levels were similar to infected WT mice. Infection enhanced levels of CCL17/TARC, a CCR4 ligand. In CCR4-/- mice, lethality, tissue injury and systemic inflammation were markedly decreased. Despite differences in disease presentation in CCR-deficient mice, there was no significant difference in viral load. In conclusion, activation of chemokine receptors has discrete roles in the pathogenesis of dengue infection. These studies suggest that the chemokine storm that follows severe primary dengue infection associates mostly to development of disease rather than protection

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

TLAC : Systemic Risk Issues and the Impact on Strategies of Cross-Border Banks

The FSB's proposal on Total Loss Absorbing Capacity (TLAC) constitutes the last major building block of the post-crisis regulatory reform agenda for global financial markets. The proposal aims at creating the preconditions for an orderly liquidation of complex banking institutions that would ensure the continuation of critical financial services without the need to use taxpayers' money in the resolution. The FSB's proposals are fundamentally conducive to achieving these aims. However, the TLAC proposal will have considerable side-effects on the organisational structure and competitiveness of cross-border banking groups; specifically, it is likely to disadvantage banking groups with material foreign subsidiaries. Moreover, while the TLAC proposal provides a comprehensive framework concerning capital requirements for too-big-to-fail institutions, the treatment of other aspects which influence systemic stability, e.g. liquidity and rollover risk, are underdeveloped

Dérivés de crédit : la transformation d’un métier traditionnel de la banque

Credit derivatives - transforming traditional banking business Credit derivatives are becoming increasingly important for banks and other financial institutions as well as - in an indirect way - for borrowers. The dynamic market growth is both responsible as well as indicative for the wide distribution of credit derivatives. Obviously, the advantages of the new financial instrument are convincing for many banks and other financial institutions. After a short overview of the structure of and the markets for credit derivatives, this article focuses in the first part on the importance of these new financial instruments. Risks that credit derivatives pose to financial stability and the way in which they may affect incentive structures are the subject of part 2. Part 3 deals with the benefits that arise by credit derivatives at the micro and macro level. JEL classification : G21Les produits dérivés de crédit revêtent une importance grandissante pour les banques et les autres institutions financières et, indirectement, pour les emprunteurs. L’expansion rapide de ce marché est à la fois révélatrice et responsable de la large diffusion des dérivés de crédit. De toute évidence, les avantages procurés par ce nouveau type d’instruments financiers sont jugés convaincants par nombre de banques et institutions financières. Après un bref survol de la structure et du marché des dérivés de crédit, cet article met l’accent, sur l’importance de ces nouveaux instruments financiers. Puis, les auteurs se penchent sur les menaces qu’ils font planer sur la stabilité financière et la façon dont ils pourraient affecter les mécanismes d’incitation. Enfin, la troisième partie traite des avantages apportés par les dérivés de crédit aux niveaux tant micro que macroéconomique. Classification JEL : G21Lahusen Reinhard, Speyer Bernhard. Dérivés de crédit : la transformation d’un métier traditionnel de la banque . In: Revue d'économie financière, n°78, 2005. Les restructurations bancaires européennes. pp. 281-295

Kann die EU die kuenftigen Herausforderungen finanzieren?

Available from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, D-21400 Kiel A 213845 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman