Agnès Le Thiec, CFA, is a former director of capital markets policy at CFA Institute in Brussels.
The worsening of the sovereign debt makes it necessary for EU leaders to take bolder steps to tame it. Agnes Le Thiec, CFA, examines possible options from an investor’s perspective.
The European Commission has published key legislation aimed at enhancing the protection of retail investors, including the Packaged Retail Investment Products (PRIPs) regulation. Agnes Le Thiec, CFA, examines how the PRIPs regulation would benefit investors.
As the debt crisis worsens in Spain and Italy, increasing the likelihood of a partial breakup of the eurozone with disastrous consequences, a draft report discussed in European Parliament urges Member States to seriously consider two tools: the issuance of common short-term debt in the form of eurobills and the set-up of a European Redemption Fund (ERF). Agnes Le Thiec, CFA, examines the proposal.
CFA Institute member feedback cited in European Commission report on eurobonds.
While EU policy makers have taken steps on a number of fronts to strengthen financial and institutional frameworks, it has failed to reverse the current trend of “financial disintegration” of EU markets.
Since the European Commission published in September a draft directive to impose a financial transaction tax (FTT) on EU member states, debate over the controversial proposal has been raging. It still seems very unlikely that an FTT would be implemented at the EU level, but the probability that it could be introduced in a limited number of member states is clearly growing.
The debate over eurobonds — sovereign bonds commonly issued by member states of the eurozone — has intensified over the last couple of months. Agnès Le Thiec, CFA, outlines the work CFA Institute is doing to ensure that investor voices are heard.
While repeated high-level summits of European leaders have failed to solve the sovereign debt crisis, EU public servants continue to explore possible ways to foster financial stability. The most daring proposal is the common issuance of sovereign bonds among Member States.
William De Vijlder of BNP Paribas Investment Partners argues that a dynamic tactical asset allocation may be the best way to deal with the challenges posed by uncertainty.
For people working in financial markets, the year 2011 could qualify as “the year of formidable public deficits on both side of the Atlantic”. Or “the year of the Eurozone crisis”. Or, on a related note, the “year of Greece”… READ MORE ›