ECMI Policy Briefs, ECMI Research Reports, ECMI Commentaries, ECMI Books

Rethinking Asset Management: From Financial Stability to Investor Protection and Economic Growth

ECMI-CEPS Task Force Report, April 2012: The final report of the task force 'Rethinking Asset Management' examines the asset management industry and its links with financial stability, product integrity, investor protection and the real economy. The report evaluates the many legislative proposals on the table – including the implementation of the AIFMD, MiFID II and PRIPS – as well as the discussions on product integrity in UCITS and ‘shadow banking’. The report was written by Mirzha de Manuel, CEPS-ECMI Researcher.

Setting the Institutional and Regulatory Framework for Trading Platforms: Does the MiFID definition of OTF make sense?

As discussions around the revision of MiFID are heating up, this paper tries to set a new regulatory and institutional framework for multilateral and bilateral execution mechanisms of complex financial instruments, such as OTC derivatives and fixed income products. The author argues that the current MiFID framework is equipped to capture a great deal of multilateral derivatives and fixed income trading, but the Directive fails to provide a complete definition of bilateral execution mechanisms and has narrowed it to mainly own account trading (ex: SI). 

The Euro Prisoner’s Dilemma

ECMI Commentary 32, February 2012: The last intergovernmental agreement among 25 countries and the ESM Treaty will set the ground for greater institutional coordination on fiscal policies among euro area member states. None of these decisions, however, will be able to pull the euro area out of this crisis. The eurozone is trapped in a classic prisoner’s dilemma. The break-up of the euro remains unlikely but the exit strategy will continue to be led by a sequence of rational (but sub-optimal) decisions, which will make the process long and painful.

The Gloomy Scenario of Italy’s Default

ECMI Commentary 31, December 2011:  This Commentary explores what will happen if Italy is not able to implement structural reforms and if international institutions, such as the EFSF and the IMF, do not intervene with sufficient resources to prevent Europe’s second-largest economy from defaulting on its debt. It warns that the Italian economic system would certainly embark on a perverse path that would follow three phases: liquidity crisis and insolvency; deflationary pressures; and finally inflationary pressures and economic and political instability.

MiFID 2.0 Unveiled

ECMI Commentary 30, November 2011: Although the drafts of MiFID 2.0, published on October 20th, follow largely what had been proposed by the CESR (Committee of European Securities Regulators) and the European Commission, the documents took observers by surprise in both their approach and length. This CEPS Commentary explains how the original legislation has been amended with the principal aim of levelling the playing field and examines its novel features.

Economic foundation and impact assessment of the Takeover Bids Directive

Research Report, October 2011: ECMI conducted a research project on the market for corporate control commissioned by the European Institutions. The study was carried out for the European Commission together with the law firm Marccus Partners, part of the international audit and professional services firm Mazars. The object of this research was to study the application of Directive 2004/25/EC on takeover bids. It covered both an analysis of its implementation in the EU Member States and its application in the market for corporate control.

MiFID 2.0: Casting New Light on Europe´s Capital Markets

ECMI Task Force Report, April 2011: An outstanding conclusion to the work of the task force set by ECMI and CEPS on the review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), this report provides a generous set of findings drawn from current legislative proposals, academic literature, and market views. It identifies potential market failures and offers valid alternatives, while focusing on three core areas: transparency, market structure, and provision of investment services. 

The Eurozone Debt Crisis

CEPS Policy Brief 251, August 2011: As the Eurozone debt crisis reaches a turning point, ECMI Research Fellow Diego Valiante argues for a more organised intervention by the ECB to stop contagion through the creation of a quantitative easing programme, coupled with a political agreement among member states on a more federalist budget for the Eurozone. The roots of this crisis and how institutions have repeated some of the mistakes of the Argentine crisis, both in 1998 and 2010, are considered in this paper.

Commodity Prices in Boom-and-Bust Cycles

ECMI Commentary 29, June 2011: The sharp and widespread increase in most commodity prices has alarmed the world and raised questions around the sustainability of our economies. As shown in this ECMI Commentary, the reasons for this dramatic rise are multiple, and engaging in a witch-hunt benefits neither the market as a whole nor our economies. Solutions need to be more differentiated and oriented towards two factors: preventing price manipulation (through controls on net positions and on anti-competitive market structures) and fostering sustainability.

An Investigation into Stewardship

June 2011. 'Engagement between investors and public companies: Impediments and their resolution' addresses the question of stewardship (thoughtful ownership) in the UK and the European Union, after the financial crisis. Sponsored by the CFA Institute and the FGRE and written in cooperation with ECMI, this report considers the potential inadequacy of stewardship by the investment industry and the degree of integration of corporate governance analysis in the investment process.

 

 

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