On 23 July, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) published the results of stress-tests involving 91 banks. The stress test results confirm the overall resilience of the EU banking system, even in the event of severe macro-economic and financial shocks. The outcome of the stress-test exercise on EU banks was assessed by finance ministers on 7 September. Details of the results for all banks involved were published on 23 July and can be found on the CEBS website.

• Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS)

Published in September 2010, The payment system – payments, securities and derivatives, and the role of the Eurosystem is a comprehensive 370-page book that provides insight into the handling of financial transactions, the functioning of financial market infrastructure, and the role of the Eurosystem. Part I examines key concepts and processes in the market infrastructure services of modern economies and underlying economic, business, legal, institutional and policy issues. Part II reviews the market infrastructure for the handling of euro-based financial transactions and key legislation. Part III explains the roles and policies of the Eurosystem in this field, the legal basis and cooperation arrangements.

• European Central Bank

The ECB has announced that it will extend support measures for the banking sector until at least the start of next year. The measures include providing unlimited loans to the banking sector at fixed interest rates, and providing loans with a longer duration than normally available.

• European Central Bank

Meeting on 2 September, the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively.

• European Central Bank

The Belgian Minister for Finance, Mr. Didier Reynders, will present before the European Parliament’s ECON Committee the priorities of the Belgian presidency in the area of economic and monetary affairs. Mr. Reynders met a delegation of ECON members in June to discuss these priorities ahead of the Belgian presidency. During the upcoming meeting, Minister Reynders will present his priorities and then participate in a question and answer session with the committee members.

• Live EP Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

The Council adopted its position on the EU draft budget for the financial year 2011, approving the targeted cuts in the Commission’s proposal while ensuring appropriate funding for EU priorities, in particular economic recovery. The Council position amounts to €141,777 billion in commitment appropriations and €126,527 billion in payment appropriations, corresponding to 1.02% of the Gross National Income (GNI) of the EU.

• Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

The 27 Member States of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission have reached agreement on the principles relating to the creation of a new architecture for European financial regulation. The architecture agreed is for a new European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs). The ESRB will be concerned with macroprudential risks to the stability of the financial system as a whole, while ESAs will be concerned with risks to the stability of the banking, insurance and securities markets.

• Agreement on financial supervision in the EU

At their meeting on 7 September, EU finance ministers exchanged of views on the coordination of levies on banks and other financial institutions as part of a new crisis management framework at EU level for the financial industry. In the wake of the financial crisis, a number of countries have introduced levies on banks or are in the process of doing so, though the nature of those levies differs from one country to another. The Commission recommends that the EU adopt a coordinated approach so as to avoid competitive distortions between national markets, overlaps and the multiple imposition of levies on banks that have cross-border activities. Ministers also discussed the possible introduction in the EU of a tax on financial transactions.

• Conclusions of the special ECOFIN Council

Traders who sell complex financial products, like credit default swaps, will face increased transparency standards if European regulators investigating high-frequency trading get their way. In a paper released on 29 July, the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) made a set of recommendations aiming to expose trades that are based on momentary differences in prices.

• Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS)