Want to read the articles that underly these brief comments? Subscribe at GrahamBishop.com Highlights of the summer holidays: “#UvL” spent her holidays cajoling Member States to propose more female Commissioners and

balancing the competing claims of States/political factions with the available jobs. #Draghi’s initial briefing on his `competitiveness’ report was describes as `underwhelming' but #Bruegel, #ECIPE and #EPC think-tanks put forward suggestions for the new mandate.

Plenty of `old problems’ remain: #FSB’s #Knott was clear that not enough has been done to mitigate the vulnerability of the financial system to #NBFIs; #ESRB laid out the policy options for dealing with the risks of bank runs and #SSM’s #Elderson spoke strongly about

the need for operational resilience of banks. The mechanics of the forthcoming `consolidated tape’ attracted attention from the major capital markets associations and #ESMA’s review of eligible assets for #UCITS caused #BETTERFINANCE to say `keep it simple’.

The #Commission clarified its rules for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (#CSRD) and the insurance world is now grappling with the findings of the #ClimateResilienceDialogue about protection gaps for catastrophes.

The #IMF published the remarkable statistic that #AI and crypto mining jointly consume 2% of the world’s electricity and cause 1% of global emissions! As the new #UKgovernment settles into its stride, the think tanks are grappling with the reality of achieving a reset

in relations with the #EU. However, if the EPC’s #Duff is right about the scale of the federal impulse that #Putin has unleashed in the #EU, the #UK may have to think about getting on board that train more quickly than anyone in the UK thinks.

Want to read the stories that underly these brief comments? Subscribe at GrahamBishop.com Highlights of my week: The #Draghi Report took centre stage this week as it is intended to be the foundation of the #CommissionPresident #UvL’s second term.

However, many such illustrious papers have just “gathered dust on the shelves” in the past…will this be different, even though industry and finance gave it a warm welcome. #ICMA helpfully summarised the key messages for financial markets in four pages,

while #PCS went straight to the positive messages on securitisation on pages 60-61! A key suggestion was more #EU debt even if it was just rolling over the #NextGeneration debt in due course.

#POLITICO concluded it was politically impossible. Indeed, probable next Chancellor of Germany – #FriedrichMerz – ruled it out in familiar #Merkel-era terms. #SUERF pointed out that non-bank finance has resumed growth and the #BIS published a case study on why this is happening

Beyond Draghi, capital markets union produced comments on many topics while #Finextra highlighted a #Capgemini paper that suggesting account-to account (A2A) payments using European banks’ new #Wero wallet will take over a third of the card payments market in the next few years.

#Brexit has taken a lower profile since the #UK election as observers wait for the new #LabourGovernment’s substantive moves but #Bloomberg’s editors think #Starmer has to make a bolder move if he is to galvanise a reluctant union.

Want to read the article that underly these brief comments? Subscribe at GrahamBishop.com Highlights of my week: Finally, the list of new Commissioners was unveiled by #CommissionPresident von der Leyen (#UvL) but now begins the great guessing game

of how many will be voted down at their #EuropeanParliament hearings. Indeed, will the new Commission start on schedule on 1 November? #Draghi Report has triggered competitiveness - but only between the think tanks, academics and professional associations at this early stage!

However, the sheer volume of analysis will make it much more difficult for the #EU’s political leaders to shelve the main thrust of the report without engendering massive disillusion with the “European project”.

Moreover, the defence issues uncovered by the #Ukraine war cannot be ducked and are already surfacing innovative ideas to finance the air defence of “Europe” – all highlighting the need for a proper Capital Markets Union (#CMU) to provide the finance.

#InsuranceEurope pointed to the opportunity for the #SolvencyII Review to open the way for the massive life insurance funds to invest in more risk-bearing assets, though the #BIS Quarterly Review highlighted the shift of insures to riskier, less liquid assets.

The role of #AI continues to generate much comment - whether from bank regulators like the #SSM’s #McCaul or the #OECD. The Commission consultation on Artificial Intelligence in the financial sector drew responses from #AFME, #ICMA and #ALFI.

#AstonUniversity caused a stir by detailing the 27% drop in UK exports since #Brexit in 2021.