Listen to the press conference call. The European Council has outlined the creation of a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), complementing the Single Supervisory Mechanism. The thinking on the SRMâ??s legal basis, design and mission is still preliminary and depends on other major initiatives,...

This paper discusses the creation of a European Banking Union. First, we discuss questions of design. We highlight seven fundamental choices that decision makers will need to make: Which EU countries should participate in the banking union? To which categories of banks should it apply? Which...

Credit rating agencies (CRAs) have not consistently met the expectations placed on them by investors and policymakers. It is difficult, however, to improve the quality of ratings through regulatory initiatives. In the short term, changes to the CRAsâ?? regulatory environment, in a context of...

â?¢ Capital Markets Union (CMU) is a welcome initiative. It could augment economic risk sharing, set the right conditions for more dynamic development of risk capital for high-growth firms and improve choices and returns for savers. This offers major potential for benefits in terms of jobs,...

New obstacles to the European banking union have emerged over the last year, but a successful transition remains both necessary and possible. The key next step will be in the second half of 2014, when the European Central Bank (ECB) will gain supervisory authority over most of Europeâ??s...

Yesterday marked the five-years anniversary of the Pittsburgh Summit, the culmination of the initial phase of G-20 activity. Five years ago, the declarations of the G20 in landmark leadersâ?? summits in London and Pittsburgh listed specific commitments on financial regulatory reform. When...

In the wake of recent crisis developments in the US and Europe, non-bank credit channels have often been portrayed as 'shadow banking' and have been considered primarily through the lens of the risks they may pose to financial stability. However, the debate about financial system structures...

Problems in the banking system are at the core of the current crisis. The establishment of a banking union is a necessary (though not sufficient) condition for eventual crisis resolution that respects the integrity of the euro. The European Commissionâ??s proposal for the establishment of a...

Five years after the first tremors in Europeâ??s banking system, what makes the crisis unique is the absence of a democratically accountable decision-making framework; there is an 'executive deficit' that compounds Europeâ??s democratic deficit. The author argues that the only way to resolve...

Twenty months after the first G20 summit in Washington, we assess the implementation of the 47 action items included in that summitâ??s final declaration. We analyse and provide a score for progress made using three measures: implementation of the leadersâ?? agenda; consistency across...