Opinion polls support a more European approach to the crisis. CEPS Commentary, 11 August 2011

In his latest Commentary, Karel Lannoo expresses frustration over the inconsistency between the latest Eurobarometer survey indicating is a clear indication of public support for EU institutions to more aggressively take the lead in resolving the economic crisis and the timidity of those institutions, with the possible exception of the ECB, to do so

EU Retail Financial Market Integration: Mirage or Reality? ECRI Policy Briefs No. 3, 3 June 2008

This paper starts with a bird’s eye view of retail financial markets in the EU today and their degree of integration. It reviews the EU measures affecting retail financial markets and how rule-making has evolved over the last 15 years. A third section discusses issues raised by EU rule-making in retail financial markets and concludes with recommendations for policy

Placing EU banks under undue stress. CEPS Commentary, 2 December 2011

This Commentary surveys the latest round of stress tests administered to EU banks by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and finds their exclusive focus on a single measure of capital, the Tier 1 capital ratio of Basel III, short-sighted. While the first two stress tests underestimated the capital needs in the European banking system, the third test risks overestimating the picture in some cases

MiFID 2.0 unveiled. ECMI Commentary No. 30, 4 November 2011

Although the drafts of MiFID 2.0, published on October 20th, follow largely what had been proposed by the CESR (Committee of European Securities Regulators) and the European Commission, the documents took observers by surprise in both their approach and length. This ECMI Commentary explains how the original legislation has been amended with the principal aim of levelling the playing field and examines its novel features. Coming together at the same time as several other pieces of draft financial regulation that have recently been proposed or announced, the author finds that they portend a very heavy workload for the European Parliament and the EU Council in the coming year

European Financial System Governance. CEPS Policy Brief, No. 106, 14 June 2006

[From the Introduction]. The intention of this paper is not to make another assessment of the FSAP [Financial Services Action Plan] and its impact,1 but rather to address two subjects. First, we discuss whether decentralisation is here to stay. This structure has its advantages, but creates some unsound asymmetries. Second, there are concepts which, in the aftermath of the FSAP, are beginning to be widely used, but need clarification. Before discussing these issues, we briefly review some facts and patterns of evolution in the European financial system

Financial Market Data and MiFID. ECMI Policy Briefs No. 6, 30 March 2007

The opening-up of the market for equity market data raises the question of whether data will be sufficiently consolidated and of high enough quality post-MiFID, or whether it will become too fragmented, thereby hindering price transparency and the implementation of best execution policies. This policy brief outlines the market for financial market data, the provisions of MiFID and the implementing measures regarding financial data and data consolidation. It also looks at the approaches taken by CESR, the FSA and the US authorities. It concludes that markets should be capable of adapting and that additional licensing requirements, such as those proposed by the FSA, are in fact premature and act as a barrier to the single market. Nor would a US-style monopoly consolidator be needed in this case

Credit Rating Agencies: Scapegoat or free-riders? CEPS ECMI Commentaries No. 20, 9 October 2008

This Commentary by CEPS Chief Executive Karel Lannoo examines the draft directive issued for consultation by Commissioner Charlie McCreevy in July 2008, which proposes very detailed and prescriptive regulation of the activities of rating agencies in the EU. While acknowledging that policy-makers had no choice but to take action, Lannoo asserts that the draft raises fundamental questions about the form of the regulation and its impact on the industry and the markets. Namely: 1) Confronted with a globally concentrated industry, can the EU act alone? 2) Considering the fragmentation of the EU market, how will the regulation be applied? 3) Is functional regulation, as proposed by the European Commission, appropriate, or is more objective-based regulation needed? 4) What side effects may be caused by statutory regulation of CRAs

Social Capital from an Individual Perspective. An investigation into the influence of urbanization and the tenure of private resources on the social resources of individuals.

Our paper consists out of a theoretical and an empirical part. In the theoretical part we first elaborate on the discussion about the meaning of social capital and defend our own choice to join in with the individual school of thought. Further, we go into the lack of standardization of measurement instruments. We also demonstrate that in the literature on individual social capital, there is a considerable lack of knowledge on the possible association between the possession of human, cultural and financial capital of an individual on the one hand, and social capital on the other. Moreover, empirical investigations into the differences in social capital between rural and urban regions (or the influence of urbanization on social capital) are rare. Nevertheless, these are very interesting questions, both from a theoretical as from a policy perspective. In the empirical part of the paper, we first go into the psychometric properties of our adapted version of the Resource Generator. We also examine the association between individual social capital and indicators of human, cultural and financial capital (income and education). We will measure social capital using an improved version of the Resource Generator (van der Gaag & Snijders 2005) and will also report on the psychometric properties of this measurement instrument. In this paper we present the preliminary results of the research project Social Capital from an individual perspective. An investigation into the influence of urbanization and the tenure of private resources on the social resources of individuals. The project is sponsored by the Special research Foundation of Ghent University. Data for the research are collected in two stages. The first stage of collection is only halfway, and the analyses are carried out on the data momentarily available. Therefore, every result must be interpreted with caution. We would like to ask readers that want to quote from the article to contact the author