Financial services in the euro-mediterranean partnership : banking

Towards the goal to gather a better understanding of the banking structure and the regulatory practices in place, the Working Group on Financial Services in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership developed a survey. This survey is based on a questionnaire which was addressed to the States of the MEDA region. The questionnaire tackled various topics related to the banking regulation, supervisory institutions in charge and the prevalent market conditions such as current market data. Furthermore the jurisdictions were asked to assess the compliance with the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision (BIS 25) in their countries. Essential Banking laws and regulations are now in place in most countries of the region and Central Banks are upgrading their oversight capacity. Management systems are becoming more and more sophisticated and often include enhanced risk-based supervision functions procedures, with related manuals for supervision and training of staff. Bank Corporate governance as well as regulatory compliance with capital adequacy ratios have signifi cantly improved as a result of staff better prepared to carry out their newly introduced or strengthened obligations. Despite progress and a number of successful reforms, several challenges remain and need to be addressed to prepare the banking industry. Some of the necessary reforms would also facilitate fi nancial integration in the region accommodating the envisaged free trade: - Strengthen the soundness of the banking systems in all countries. In particular it is important to reduce the high level of non performing loans, to restructure state-owned banks, and to secure compliance with prudential rules ; - Increase competition in the banking system. Notably, extensive state ownership and restrictions on foreign bank entry stifl e competition and fi nancial deepening in the region; opening up the banking sector for commercial banks both for domestic credit institutions and those abroad is a solution ; - Deepen the fi nancial markets where they are bankdominated. Financial markets (money, interbank, foreign exchange, equity, and securities markets) are nascent or shallow in most countries, and nonbank fi nancial institutions are generally underdeveloped ; - Upgrade financial sector infrastructure. In particular, accounting and auditing practices, transparency and corporate governance, the legal and judicial framework, and the payment systems need to be strengthened.Euromed MEDA; Banking; Convergence; Mediterranean countries; European Union

Injected Power Fluctuations in 1D dissipative systems : role of ballistic transport

This paper is a generalization of the models considered in [J. Stat. Phys. 128,1365 (2007)]. Using an analogy with free fermions, we compute exactly the large deviation function (ldf) of the energy injected up to time $t$ in a one-dimensional dissipative system of classical spins, where a drift is allowed. The dynamics are T=0 asymmetric Glauber dynamics driven out of rest by an injection mechanism, namely a Poissonian flipping of one spin. The drift induces anisotropy in the system, making the model more comparable to experimental systems with dissipative structures. We discuss the physical content of the results, specifically the influence of the rate of the Poisson injection process and the magnitude of the drift on the properties of the ldf. We also compare the results of this spin model to simple phenomenological models of energy injection (Poisson or Bernoulli processes of domain wall injection). We show that many qualitative results of the spin model can be understood within this simplified framework.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

10 years and going strong? Coastal flood risk management in the wake of a major coastal event (the 2010 Xynthia storm, Charente Maritime, France)

2020 marked the 10th anniversary of the Xynthia storm that hit Western Europe at the end of February 2010. In France it triggered an unprecedented coastal flooding event, with most human and material damage concentrated on the Atlantic coast in the Vendée and Charente Maritime region. A range of reforms and measures followed to manage the risk of coastal flooding at the local and national levels. What conclusions can be drawn from these actions 10 years later? Did Xynthia mark a turning point in the doctrine of coastal flood risk management in France, in a similar way the 1953 storm and associated floods did for the Netherlands? To answer these questions we carried out a two-step analysis. First we compiled, classified and analysed all the recommendations and other “lessons learned” that were made public following the Xynthia storm. Second we looked into local risk management plans and strategies and conducted a series of semi-structured interviews in Charente Maritime to identify current flood risk mitigation practices. We analysed these in light of the identified recommendations. These analyses allow us both to take stock of the past ten years and to identify the acceleration effects attributable to storm Xynthia as well as the effects of lock-in and other elements hindering a more in-depth reform of coastal flood risk management in France. More importantly these analyses allow us to reflect on the process of stocktaking itself, its potential pitfalls and the need for the development of an analytical corpus. Learning to take stock of events that are considered “extraordinary” today is a necessary step to manage climate risks on the coast that are likely to become “ordinary” in the future.publishedVersio