flashlight europe Interview | 02.2019, INSTEX: Gateway to EU strategic autonomy?

We talked to Nicolas Véron, senior fellow at Bruegel and at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, about the practical details of the new international transactions platform with Iran INSTEX, and the outlook for this European initiative

Europe’s Banking Challenge: Reregulation without Refragmentation

Bank, EU-Binnenmarkt, Bankenpolitik, Bankenaufsicht, Kapitalmarktliberalisierung, EU-Staaten, Single European market, Banking policy, Banking supervision, Financial liberalization, EU countries

Empower users of financial information as the IASC Foundation's stakeholders

Nicolas Véron comments on the proposal for governance reform (Â?constitution reviewâ??) published in May 2008 by the IASC Foundation, the private-sector body which oversees the setting of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). He emphasizes the unprecedented nature of this global governance experiment and advocates for more direct representation of investors as the primary stakeholders of international accounting standard-setting, as well a more thorough consultation process.

EU adoption of the IFRS 8 standard on operating segments

In this paper, presented to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, Nicolas Véron discusses whether the EU should adopt the controversial IFRS 8 standard, a convergence project on how companies should report the performance of their individual business segments. VéronÂ?s recommendation is for the European Union not to adopt the current version of IFRS 8.

Fair value accounting is the wrong scapegoat for this crisis

The ongoing financial crisis has revived the longstanding debate about fair value accounting. This policy contribution by Nicolas Véron argues that in times of market disruption, no accounting standards could lead to consensual outcomes, and that fair value remains better than proposed alternatives. Rather than reducing its scope, policymakers should focus on capital requirements standards (Basel II), where the negative effects of Â?pro-cyclicalityâ?? are concentrated.

Keeping the promise of global accounting standards

Accounting provides a fundamental underpinning for capital markets, and the worldwide spread of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) marks one of the most advanced attempts to develop globally consistent financial rules. The financial crisis has generated heated debate on the economic role of fair-value accounting and other IFRS principles. Underlying these controversies are differing views about the mission and governance of accounting standard-setters, and how standards interact with other public policy instruments. Choices are made more difficult by the absence of relevant precedents for the unique institutional features of the global standard-setting organisation, the IFRS Foundation.

EU financial regulatory reform: a status report

In this paper, Nicolas Véron argues that the EU regulatory response to the crisis has been generally slower in the EU than in the United States, for four main reasons: swifter financial crisis management and resolution in the US; structural differences in legislative processes; the EUÂ?s front-loading of institutional reform, most notably the creation of European Supervisory Authorities; and the timetable of renewal of the European Commission in 2009-10. The EU has nevertheless initiated or completed significant regulatory initiatives in terms of banking, market structures, private equity and hedge funds, rating agencies and accounting. However, major further challenges loom.

Testimony on the European debt and financial crisis

This Policy Contribution reproduces the written statement prepared by the author for the hearing "The European debt and financial crisis: origins, options and implications for the US and global economy" presented at the Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing,and Urban Affairs, on 22 September 2011. Europeâ??s banking system has been in a state of systemic fragility since 2007-08. The current phase is marked by a sequence of interactions between sovereign problems and banking problems, resulting in gradual contagion to more countriesand more asset classes. The banking and sovereign crises are compounded by a crisis of the European Union institutions. Successful crisis resolution will need to include at least four components at the European level, in addition to steps to be taken by individual countries: fiscal federalism; banking federalism; a profound overhaul of EU/euro-area institutions; and short-term arrangements that chart a path towards the completion of the previous three points. These requirements for crisis resolution cannot be met unless political conditions change sharply in their favour, which leaves the United States and the global economyexposed to the risk of financial contagion. However, only the Europeans themselves can solve their current predicament.