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The assessment of a potential borrower’s reimbursing capacity is a key element of the credit allowance process among financial institutions. Many countries took steps to implement a central register of all loans granted to individuals, a so-called positive credit file. |
But the establishment of such a file raises privacy protection’s questions. In Europe, Belgium is the only country with centrally-managed positive and negative credit files, which could be a base for a future European central file.
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16 May 2012
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Stuck in the debt crisis, the Eurosystem is bounded to find quick and solid solutions to cope with, moreover in a global context where the sustainability and soundness of the Euro area has been put under severe pressure. The cornerstone of the system, the European Central Bank (ECB) and its future role are more than ever in the spotlight, thereby regularly hitting the headlines. |
But what about the National Central Banks (NCBs)? How is their role connected with economic and political powers? Are there still other solutions than strengthening the prerogatives of the ECB to overcome the crisis, as discussed at present? And what should be the role of the NCBs within the Euro area?
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3 May 2012
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In a context of record low level of interest rate, cash back products and banking bonuses offer customers additional revenue for the use of their account. |
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20 April 2012
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September 2011, the Vickers report in Britain reopens the debate on the separation of activities of retail banks and corporate & investment banks.
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6 April 2012
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Everlasting promises of operational efficiency plans announced by banks: to be able to realize lasting cost savings with sensible effects from the first year and that will reach their full potential within 2 or 3 years.
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27 March 2012
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Operational efficiency plans always remain an up-to-date topic in banks. Each time a bank strategy is reformulated, these plans are introduced as a cornerstone of the new target organization.
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Whereas it’s time for « strategic refocusing» and for « selective development », these plans must be focused on the activities constituting the heart of tomorrow’s business (and so being the main sources of costs).
Financing activities in CIB will be particularly concerned as they are often in the target while more risky expertises – whose cost of capital will significantly increase in the future – are generally less targeted.
For years, these activities have already been subject to numerous performance improvement projects, in particular at the level of Operations (i.e. Back Office functions and all activities traditionally known as « support »).
In this context, what sources of operational efficiency gains can banks still look for?
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12 March 2012
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The end of each quarter is a significant moment for financing and investment banks as it shows the evolution of revenues of each business line on the elapsed quarter. Evolutions are generally compiled in league tables which rank the performance of actors by banking activity: Initial Public Offerings, syndicated financing, restructuring, merger and acquisitions and so on.
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These league tables are particularly important for advisory activities like merger and acquisitions, as Micheal Cohrs, co-head of investment banking at Deutsche Bank underlined: “[Merger and acquisition advisory] is perhaps neither the larger nor the most profitable activity of the bank but it is clearly the heart and soul of an investment bank because it points out the strength of our relationships” [1]. Appearing in league tables is hence for a bank the guarantee of an important visibility in specialized press and toward clients and business prospects.
Every year numerous league tables are compiled by different actors according to compilation methods that can widely differ. Simply put, how reliable are league tables for one confronted with so much information often brought forward by banks themselves?
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22 February 2012
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Courted by car insurance companies, female drivers have traditionally benefited from more interesting policy rates compared to their male counterparts. Yet, in one of its recent decisions, the European Court of Justice has estimated that this represents a case of discrimination against men.
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At first sight, this judgement will not only entail an increase in tariffs but it will equally affect one of the insurer’s main activities, i.e. segmentation. In fact, being deprived of the information “Who are you”, insurance companies might instead seek to know the answer to the question “What is your lifestyle?”.
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6 February 2012
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The bank card is the most frequently used instrument of non-cash payment in Europe covering close to 40% of all transactions. Its growing success comes from its high degree of simplicity and its speed of use. This simplicity for the consumer masks, however, complex circuits of payments that are poorly interoperable between different national schemes.
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By introducing the SEPA Cards Framework, Europe intends to open this uncompetitive market and encourage the emergence of new pan-European players. In this context, Sia Partners has estimated that the rise of a new European bank card player is a feasible perspective and that at least 7% of market share can be captured by 2018.
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2 January 2012
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