Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers News

Introducing the IACT Scholarship

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 12:22:20 GMT

Introducing the IACT Scholarship

We are delighted to launch a brand-new initiative designed to support and elevate emerging talent within the Corporate Treasury community.

The IACT Scholarship will offer the winner(s):

A fully funded place on the IOB Professional Diploma in Corporate Treasury course which is accredited by UCD: Professional Diploma in Corporate Treasury
Complimentary attendance at the 2026 Treasury Academy
A full day pass at our 2026 Annual Conference
A seat at our 2026 Gala Dinner

This scholarship is aimed at supporting professional development and opening doors for the next generation of treasury professionals.

Eligibility Criteria

2–4 years’ Corporate Treasury experience
Must be currently working in a Corporate Treasury department
An up-to-date CV
A 500-word statement outlining why you deserve the scholarship
A 250-word reference from your current or former line manager
Open to IACT members only

Please email submissions to info@treasurers.ie by EOD on the 21st December 2025.

Successful applicants will join the February 2026 IOB intake.

We’re excited to support rising talent and help shape future leaders in our profession. Please share with colleagues or contacts who may be eligible.

EU legislative proposal to establish European Business Wallets (EBW)

Michele Fogarty — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 16:48:19 GMT

The EACT has shared an initial overview of the EU legislative proposal to establish European Business Wallets (EBW) published last week. This is a proposal they believe can be very relevant to treasurers as a digital business wallet, if well designed, could simplify interactions with public administration for reporting purposes, but also with the financial services sector to facilitate KYC processes for example.

EU Business Wallet - EC proposal.pdf

A First Principles Guide to Treasury

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 15:07:31 GMT

For those starting off their careers in treasury departments to those in banking who would like to learn more about corporate treasury or transition into corporate treasury role, this is must read. It's packed with practical insights and expert guidance for anyone looking to understand treasury from ground up.

IACT - A first principles guide to Treasury.pdf

IACT President Jason Murphy

Florence Irwin — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:50:08 GMT

The Making of Treasury’s Chief Education Officer

Sean Healy, RIP

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 11:00:00 GMT

It is with great sadness to advise of the passing of Sean Healy.

Sean was an accomplished professional and a pillar of the treasury community in Ireland. He served as Treasurer for the Irish Dairy Board from 1975 to 2005, where he earned the respect and admiration of colleagues for his expertise, integrity, and kindness. He was responsible primarily for FX and to his merit possibly the first treasurer in Ireland to instal a computer in the department!

Among Sean’s many achievements were to single-handedly and very successfully develop and run the IACT conference for many years.

Under his tenure and at the 1993 IACT annual conference, the International Group of Treasury Associations (IGTA) was founded. Sean then went on to represent Ireland on the board of European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT) and IGTA, before handing over to one of IACT ‘s founding members, Jimmy Doyle.

His leadership, vision, and tireless dedication left a lasting legacy for the profession, one that continues to benefit treasurers across the world today.

Sean’s humour and genuine interest in people, touched everyone he encountered. He was a friend to so many and his loss will be deeply felt by all who had the privilege of knowing him.

Our deepest sympathies to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.

Antony Barnes - RIP

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 23:00:00 GMT

It is with great sadness to learn of the passing of Antony Barnes, Director of Corporate Finance at Experian, who passed away late on Friday night after a short illness.

Antony was an IACT member for many years and his knowledge, expertise and remarkable personality will leave an indelible mark on those who he worked with. A source of inspiration, guidance and support, Antony will be particularly missed by all of his colleagues at Experian.

Our deepest sympathies to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.

Pillar 2 and the Impact on Corporate Treasury in Ireland

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 15:30:00 GMT

Pillar 2 and the Impact on Corporate Treasury in Ireland

Since early October 2021, when the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) initially proposed their implementation plan around Pillar 1 and Pillar 2, the EU Member States have been through a rollercoaster journey in an attempt to reach unanimous agreement.

Finally, in December 2022, the EU Council announced progress on the implementation of Pillar 2 with Zbyněk Stanjura, (the Czech presidency of the EU Council) stating that;

"I am very pleased to announce that we agreed to adopt the directive on the Pillar 2 proposal today. Our message is clear: The largest groups of corporations, multinational or domestic, will need to pay a corporate tax that cannot be lower than 15%, globally."

The end result was the adoption of a final EU Council Directive on ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for multinational enterprise groups and large-scale domestic groups in the European Union, which must be transposed into local country legislation no later than 31 December 2023. This is otherwise known as the EU Directive on Pillar 2, which undoubtedly will have a major impact on treasury centres in Ireland.

IACT Treasury Survey

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 09:00:00 GMT

Thanks to those of you who completed the Q3 2022 IACT Survey. Our lucky winner has been notified.

Please see below a summary of results which were also shared at our annual conference. We’ll be using this output to inform the briefings and webinars IACT will host in 2023.

We look forward to gauging what’s top of mind for our members early in 2023.

View Survey Results

Social and Networking Evening

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 18:30:00 GMT

Topic: Movie Night (Glass Onion)

Venue: Cineworld

IACT members and guests enjoyed a night at the movies followed by drinks and refreshments.

IACT2022 Annual Treasury Management Conference

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 08:30:00 GMT

Many thanks to all who attended the IACT's Annual Treasury Management Conference at the CCD, Dublin in November. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to gather together our colleagues from the international treasury community to network and share their insights.

We would like to extend a special thank you to our expert speakers and sponsors, and are very much looking forward to seeing you all again next year! More details to come soon.

EACT monthly regulatory report - March

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 17:06:34 GMT

EACT_Regulatory_Report_10032022_Public.pdf

Annual EACT survey on treasury trends

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 10:14:51 GMT

Every year EACT launches a Treasury Survey on trends and key priorities. The aim of this survey is to define themes and priorities we should address into the JOURNEY-TO-TREASURY (i.e. JTT) document co-produced together with PwC, SAP and BNPP (the coming issue will be the 7th).

The results will be disclosed to all NTA’s and will be published in the EACT newsletter.

We would be grateful if you would complete this short survey.

The survey is open until Friday 4 March 2022.

START SURVEY

EACT Monthly Regulatory Report - December 2021

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 10:21:42 GMT

EACT Monthly Regulatory Report - December 2021

THE TREASURER MAGAZINE

Michele Fogarty — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 11:00:00 GMT

The latest issue of The Treasurer magazine from the Association of Corporate Treasurers is available for view now in the Members area of our website

EACT Monthly Regulatory Report - November 2021

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 15:00:00 GMT

A summary from EACT of entire compliance/ regulatory universe at EU level.

EACT Newsletter - EACT in Action Recap, Treasury in the 'New Normal' + more

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 12:02:29 GMT

In this edition you will find a recording of our recent EACT in Action event, which featured 2021 EACT Award winners Deutsche Bahn. We are also privileged to feature articles covering technological readiness in the Czech Republic, the role of finance teams in the new normal, prioritisation strategies, how blockchain can help control of movement of liquid fuels across the supply chain and more.

EACT NEWSLETTER

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 15:00:27 GMT

In this issue:

1. EACT in Action Event: How to Streamline Customer Reference Data in Treasury Processes Events–EACT in Action: KYC Webinar

2. EACT Award 2021: And the Winner is... EACT Award 2021: And the Winner is...

3. To be or Not to be in? That’s the Question for Cross-Border Payments with the UK To be or Not to be in? That’s the Question for Cross-Border Payments with the UK (eact.eu)

4. Problem of the Cross-Border Local Currency Payment Execution in Some “Exotic” Countries Problem of the Cross-Border Local Currency Payment Execution in Some “Exotic” Countries (eact.eu)

5. Crisis Coping Strategies Crisis Coping Strategies (eact.eu)

6. Beat Deadline Drama by Tackling the LIBOR Transition Today Beat Deadline Drama by Tackling the LIBOR Transition Today (eact.eu)

7. Schuldschein: Helping SITA Rebuild the Airline Sector Schuldschein: Helping SITA Rebuild the Airline Sector (eact.eu)

Libor transition - EU urges discontinuation of Libor use

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 11:44:11 GMT

The European Commission, the European Central Bank, as well as the European Banking Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority have issued a joint statement on Libor transition.

THE STATEMENT CAN BE FOUND HERE

The authorities urge market participants to accelerate their transition efforts and reduce their exposures to all LIBOR settings and currencies to the best extent possible by 31 December 2021 – in particular by not using any Libor settings as references in new contracts anymore.

The authorities also highlight that any synthetic rates or statutory fallback rates should only be used when absolutely necessary for tough to transition contracts, rather than relying on such rates as solutions to Libor transition.

Latest Issue of ACT publication "The Treasurer"

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 08:44:46 GMT

https://issuu.com/thinkpublishing/docs/act_the_treasurer_issue_2_2021

EACT FINANCIAL REGULATION UPDATE

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 12:07:20 GMT

The Commission publishes a list of indicators to monitor progress towards the CMU objectives

The European Commission has published a list of indicators to help track capital markets' developments and measure progress achieved by the EU’s capital markets union (CMU) policy.

EBA publishes final revised Guidelines on major incident reporting under PSD2

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final revised Guidelines on major incident reporting under the Payment Service Directive (PSD2). The revised Guidelines optimise and simplify the reporting process and templates, focus on incidents with significant impact on payment service providers (PSPs), and improve the meaningfulness of the information to be reported.

EACT FINANCIAL REGULATION UPDATE

Michele Fogarty — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 14:05:19 GMT

FSB statement on smooth and timely transition away from LIBOR

This statement encourages authorities to ensure that regulated entities align their use of new LIBOR contracts with the relevant timelines for the respective currency, regardless of where the trades are booked.

Public country-by-country reporting by big multinationals: EU co-legislators reach political agreement

• Representatives of the Portuguese presidency of the Council today reached a provisional political agreement with the European Parliament’s negotiating team on the proposed directive on the disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches, commonly referred to as the public country-by-country reporting (CBCR) directive.

• Such practices are facilitated by the absence of any obligation for big multinational companies to report on where they make their profits and where they pay their tax in the EU on a country-by-country basis.

EACT Update: FSB roadmap and papers on RFRs use of spread adjustments

Michele Fogarty — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 13:54:54 GMT

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has issued a statement on LIBOR transition looking ahead to the 31 December 2021 deadline.

The statement can be found here.

Alongside the statement the FSB has published an updated transition roadmap that provides an overview of useful transition steps.

Likewise, the FSB has published two papers to help firms with their transition efforts. One paper that covers the various overnight RFRs and term rates (here) and one that delves into the use of the ISDA spread adjustments for cash products (here).

Tarek Tranberg
Head of Public Affairs & Policy
European Association of Corporate Treasurers – EACT

E tarek.tranberg@eact.eu L: LinkedIn

Smurfit Kappa wins inaugural IACT Treasury Award

Michele Fogarty — Thu, 27 May 2021 07:18:00 GMT

SMURFIT KAPPA WINS INAUGURAL IACT TREASURY AWARD

IACT is delighted to announce Smurfit Kappa as the winner of the inaugural IACT Treasury Award. The submissions were reviewed based on 6 criteria: innovation, reach, ESG, excellence, economics and inspiration.

The Smurfit Kappa Treasury team which was supported by Matheson on the legal side has been announced as winner for arranging its first sustainability linked loan for €1.35bn, whilst setting new targets to reduce its carbon footprint, water use and establish a more diverse workforce.

Smurfit Kappa has displayed highly responsible industry leadership from many perspectives, including through its core belief in the importance of sustainability achieved through its circular business model. Their forward thinking and innovative RCF amendment demonstrates how Treasurers can fulfil their funding requirements at optimal cost while having a positive impact on the world. For the Smurfit Kappa team, their additional motivation included:

(1) providing clear evidence to customers, investors, employees, affected communities and suppliers of the determination of Smurfit Kappa’s senior management to prioritise stated ESG goals and KPIs;

(2) linking ESG KPIs with a reduced cost of funding would have a powerful effect on achieving maximum ESG “buy-in” across the business; and

(3) setting an example for other Corporates with ambitious ESG goals and clearly defined KPIs to request similar provisions from their banks, thereby magnifying the positive ESG impact of the initiative beyond its immediate context

More information relating to the RCF amendment, such as the relevant syndicate of banks, the new interest rate adjustment provisions agreed in December 2020, Smurfit Kappa’s five ESG related KPIs and the global geographical reach of those KPIs are included in a Global Capital article “Smurfit Kappa seals five green promises with loan”

Smurfit Kappa is a global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of sustainable paper-based packaging. It has 46,000 people working at more than 350 production sites in 35 different countries. It is listed on the UK’s FTSE 100 index and last year its revenue topped €8.5 billion.

The IACT has nominated the Smurfit Kappa deal to represent Ireland at the European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT) Awards to be held in June. The EACT is the representative association for Treasury Associations across Europe.

The formal prize giving of the IACT award will take place later this year.

EACT regulatory report April 2021

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 09:03:05 GMT

To view the latest EACT regulatory report click here HERE

EUROPEAN NEWS UPDATES LIBOR cessation - FCA issues formal announcement | Tax - Public Country by Country Reporting - Member States reach agreement

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 17:30:00 GMT

Please find below updates from the European Association of Corporate Treasurers re LIBOR and Taxation.

LIBOR CESSATION - FCA ISSUES FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has this morning issued the formal announcement for the definitive cessation of LIBOR, effective end of 2021 for most currencies and tenors. The FCA will also be consulting on the possibility of asking the administrator of LIBOR (IBA benchmarks) to continue publishing a synthetic LIBOR rate for sterling (1 month, 3 month, and six month) for a period of one year after 31 December 2021 and for USD for a period of 1 year after 30 June 2023.

The FCA announcement can be found here.

The statement clarifies that all LIBOR in all currencies and tenors except for the 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, and 12 month USD LIBOR settings will cease effective 31 December 2021. For the mentioned USD LIBOR settings the end date is 30 June 2023.

In parallel to the FCA’s announcement, ISDA has issued a statement – here – indicating that the fallback spreads under the ISDA protocol will be fixed for all LIBOR settings on the basis of the Bloomberg spread adjustment published for today.

This announcement will also constitute the cessation trigger on the EU side for the European Commission to begin the process of designating the statutory fallback rates for LIBOR under the new mechanism that was signed into law earlier in February with the review of the EU Benchmarks Regulation. The European Commission will therefore likely issue a public consultation in the coming months to determine the specific statutory fallback rates for the relevant LIBOR currencies that will operate as the last resort safety net for the immediate period after definitive LIBOR cessation.

Tax - Public Country by Country Reporting - Member States reach agreement

Last night Member States in the Council reached an agreement on a negotiating mandate for interinstitutional discussions with the European Parliament on new rules for corporate public country by country (pCBCR) tax transparency.

You can find the negotiating mandate of the Council here and that of the European Parliament here.

Under these rules, any multinational with a global consolidated revenue of more than EUR 750 million would have to disclose income tax paid (and related information) in each Member State of the EU and in any non-EU jurisdiction on a consolidated basis. The legal text (once finalised) includes the definitive list of all information that would be required to be disclosed as well as exceptional provisions under which disclosure can be deferred for a maximum of 6 years (e.g. in the event that disclosure could jeopardise commercially sensitive information).

In terms of next steps, the coming weeks will see interinstitutional negotiations with the European Parliament begin. With the Parliament likely to push for even stricter requirements than Member States were able to compromise on after 5 years of negotiations, it will remain to be seen how quickly a final agreement can be struck on these rules.

Tarek Tranberg
Head of Public Affairs & Policy, European Association of Corporate Treasurers – EACT

M +32 485 1884 03

E tarek.tranberg@eact.eu I L: LinkedIn

EU Transparency Register No: 9160958318-89

Benchmark Reform: ISDA’s IBOR Fallback supplement took effect on January 25th 2021

Michele Fogarty — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 09:14:19 GMT

With the planned discontinuation of Libor at the end of 2021 fast approaching it is “impossible to overstate the significance of fallbacks” as per the CEO of ISDA Scott O’Malia (Oct 2020).

Many corporates may be exposed to LIBOR at a time that it will be discontinued and to address that risk ISDA has continually highlighted the importance of using alternative Risk Free Rates (“RFRs” for both LIBOR and the other main interbank offered rates “IBORs”.

Earlier this week ISDA IBOR fallbacks took effect. See below the relevant press release and link to the documents explaining these fall back in more details.

EACT Regulatory Report January 2021

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 10:41:05 GMT

EACT regulatory report January 2021

Click HERE to view report

EACT Financial Regulation Update Newsletter // December 14

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 11:16:16 GMT

December 14, 2020

EACT Financial Regulation Update

Steven Maijoor speaks at the third roundtable on euro risk-free rates

Steven Maijoor speaks at the third roundtable on euro risk-free rates Monday 14 December 2020 15:26 The Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), Steven Maijoor, today delivered a speech at the third roundtable on euro risk-free rates.

ESMA is seeking experts in financial innovation for its consultative group

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU securities markets regulator, is looking for new candidates for the Consultative Working Group (CWG) of the Financial Innovation Standing Committee (FISC).

ESMA REPORTS ON ANNUAL MARKET SHARE OF CREDIT RATING AGENCIES

The purpose of the market share calculation is to facilitate issuers and related third parties in their evaluation of a CRA with no more than 10% total market share in the EU.

EBA calls for strengthening the connection between the EU legal frameworks on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, and deposit protection

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today an Opinion on how to strengthen the connection between the EU legal frameworks on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, and deposit protection.

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EACT Regulatory Report December 2020

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 14:19:49 GMT

EACT_ Regulatory_Report_021220_PUBLIC DEC.pdf

EACT Financial Regulation Update Newsletter // November 11

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:57:19 GMT

ESMA sees potential for sudden reversal in investors’ risk assessment

ESMA - European Securities and Markets Authority

These developments, taken together, highlight the ongoing risk of decoupling between asset valuations and economic fundamentals.
There are increasing signs of strong geographical and sectorial differentiation across financial markets with fixed income markets seeing large-scale valuation increases across various segments such as emerging markets, investment grade and high yield.

EU budget: European Commission welcomes agreement on €1.8 trillion package to help build greener, more digital and more resilient Europe

EUROPA - EU Newsroom - Latest press releases and statements

European Commission Press release Brussels, 10 Nov 2020 The European Commission has today welcomed the agreement between the European Parliament and EU Member States in the Council on Europe's next long-term budget and NextGenerationEU.

EACT Regulatory Report October 2020

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 14:41:16 GMT

EACT regulatory report October 2020

Click HERE to view report

EACT Financial Regulation Update Newsletter // October 09

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 08:18:09 GMT

*FSB encourages broad and timely adherence to the ISDA IBOR Fallbacks Protocol

*FSB report highlights increased use of RegTech and SupTech

*The Riksbank, six other central banks and BIS in collaboration on principles for central bank digital currency CBDC

FSB encourages broad and timely adherence to the ISDA IBOR Fallbacks Protocol

News - Financial Stability Board

Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England and Co-Chair of the Official Sector Steering Group, said “Finalisation of the ISDA Protocol is an important step in addressing the stock of legacy Libor-linked contracts ahead of end-2021.
The FSB’s Official Sector Steering Group (OSSG) has engaged regularly with ISDA during the significant programme of work that it has undertaken since July 2016 to strengthen the robustness of derivatives markets as part of global benchmark reforms.

FSB report highlights increased use of RegTech and SupTech

News - Financial Stability Board

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) today published a report on the use of supervisory (SupTech) and regulatory (RegTech) technology by FSB members and regulated institutions .
The report finds that technology and innovation are transforming the global financial landscape, presenting opportunities, risks and challenges for regulated institutions and authorities alike.

The Riksbank, six other central banks and BIS in collaboration on principles for central bank digital currency CBDC

Notices from Sveriges Riksbank

A group of seven central banks together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today published a report identifying the foundational principles necessary for any publicly available CBDCs to help central banks meet their public policy objectives.
The report, Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features, was compiled by the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, the Swiss National Bank and the BIS, and highlights three key principles for a CBDC:

Journeys to Treasury 2020 - 2021

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 13:56:14 GMT

Brussels, 21 September 2020

Journeys to treasury 2020 – 2021: Innovation, Agility and Resilience

As the Journeys to Treasury partnership, comprising BNP Paribas, PwC, SAP and the EACT, marks its fifth year, the value of diverse, practical insights to support treasurers during good times and bad has never been more important. With the launch of the 2020-2021 report, following on from the special COVID-19 series earlier in the year, the Journeys to Treasury partners are helping treasurers globally at every step through a tumultuous journey.

Once again, this year’s report explores the key themes, priorities and challenges with which treasurers are faced, whether during ‘business as usual’ or more challenging times, as revealed in the results of an EACT Survey of 200 treasury professionals, conducted at the start of the crisis.

DOWNLOAD REPORT HERE

EACT Financial Regulation Update Newsletter // September 07

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 10:47:16 GMT

EACT FINANCIAL REGULATION UPDATE

ESMA Newsletter - Nº16

FSB extends implementation timelines for securities financing transactions

Regulatory framework for haircuts on non-centrally cleared securities financing transactions

EACT regulatory report August 2020

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 12:46:23 GMT

See below for the latest update of the EACT regulatory report for August 2020

EACT_ Regulatory_Report_010920_public Aug20.pdf

IASB completes response to IBOR reform with amendments to IFRS Standards

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 13:06:10 GMT

The International Accounting Standards Board (Board) has finalised its response to the ongoing reform of inter-bank offered rates (IBOR) and other interest rate benchmarks by issuing a package of amendments to IFRS Standards. The amendments are aimed at helping companies to provide investors with useful information about the effects of the reform on those companies’ financial statements.

European Association of Corporate Treasurers Financial Regulation Update Newsletter // August 21

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 11:13:11 GMT

EBA supports the EU Commission’s call for a more efficient and effective framework to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing

ESMA recommends priority topics in AIFMD review

Statement on accounting for lease modifications (amendment to IFRS 16)

Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of Nets' account-to-account payment business by Mastercard, subject to conditions

CFTC Unanimously Approves Proposals Amending Margin Requirements for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants

European Association of Corporate Treasurers / Public Affairs Newsletter // 07 July 2020

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 12:27:05 GMT

EACT Financial Regulation Update

Press release - German Presidency outlines priorities to EP committees

Isabel Schnabel: Interview with NRC Handelsblad

EU Cybersecurity: Commission launches public consultation on the NIS directive

List of trading venues benefiting from a transitional exemption from the access provisions under Article 36(5) of MiFIR

EBA provides clarity on the implementation of the prudential framework in the context of COVID-19

Fabio Panetta: Unleashing the euro’s untapped potential at global level

The AMF sets out its guidelines for digital finance in Europe

Study - Environmental liability of companies - 15-05-2020

OECD Forum on Tax Administration launches a report highlighting the importance of managing reputational risk for successful tax administration

Brexit/financial markets - EU Commission signals interrrupted market access for UK after 2020 - Tarek Tranberg, Head of Public Affairs & Policy, EACT

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 11:48:14 GMT

Last week the European Commission (EC) adopted a communication on upcoming changes for relevant sectors at the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020.

The communication can be found here.

The communication includes a specific chapter on financial services (page 12 onwards), which highlights very clearly expectations for minimum market access for financial services after the end of the transition period.

As part of the Withdrawal Agreement and the political declaration on the future relationship with which the UK formally left the EU (politically, but not economically) at the end of January 2020, both sides had committed to conduct equivalence assessments in financial services by the end of June.

LIBOR transition - UK FCA statement on Benchmarks Regulation review - Tarek Tranberg Head of Public Affairs & Policy, EACT

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 13:35:15 GMT

The European Commission (EC) will later in July 2020 propose targeted amendments to the EU Benchmarks Regulation on critical benchmark transition (IBORs including LIBOR) as well as with regard to the ability of EU firms to use non-EU benchmarks.

Looking ahead to the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020 and in view of the fact that Libor is administered and supervised in the UK, the UK FCA has issued a statement today welcoming an announcement by the UK government that it intends to introduce legislative amendments that align with the changes the EU will take forward.

The UK government statement can be found here.

The FCA statement can be found here.

Covid-19 - Basel Committee highlights importance of capital buffers - Tarek Tranberg, Head of Public Affairs & Policy, EACT

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 12:29:46 GMT

Yesterday, the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision (BCBS) issued a statement highlighting that in the context of the ongoing pandemic it is paramount for individual jurisdictions to preserve the stability of their respective banking systems, so as to enable banks to maintain their lending activities throughout the crisis.

COVID-19 & Update on Political Responses - Tarek Tranberg, Head of Public Affairs & Policy, EACT

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 13:00:00 GMT

EACT Covid-19 section here.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The ECB has increased the size of the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) by €600 billion to reach a total of €1,350 billion and to extend the horizon for net purchases under this program to the end of June 2021.

POLITICAL RESPONSES

European Commission

The European Commission announced 2235 new partnerships for scaling up innovative projects to tackle COVID-19 challenges. Building on the success of the previous EUvsVirus Pan-European Hackathon, the Commission hosted a Matchathon from 21 to 28 May under the patronage of Commissioner Gabriel and the European Innovation Council. It brought together the 120 winning solutions from the Hackathon with over 458 partners including investors, corporates, public authorities, academia and research institutions from 40 countries.
On Thursday (04/6), the European Commission announced it will provide €300 million in funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for the period 2021–2025. The pledge has been made under the assumption that the EU's new Multiannual Financial Framework and in particular the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), where the funds pledged for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, would come from, are adopted broadly along the lines proposed by the European Commission. On 2 June, the Commission proposed to increase NDICI funding for 2021-2027 to €86 billion in 2018 prices (€96.4 billion in current prices), including €10.5 billion from the new ‘Next Generation EU'.
The European Commission has approved (04/6) Irish (here and here) and Czech schemes under the State aid Temporary Framework in order to tackle the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. The measures mainly include direct grants and repayable advances.
The European Commission has put forward a proposal to amend the current EU budget and make available an additional €11.5 billion for crisis repair and recovery in order to support businesses and the regions most affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
The Eurostat statistics office has released its unemployment numbers for April, indicating that unemployment rose to 6.6 percent across the EU and to 7.3 percent in the 19 euro countries.

European Council

The EU-China Summit planned for September will be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to German officials. The summit was an initiative led by the upcoming German presidency and aimed at concluding an investment protection agreement between China and the EU. Officials from both sides have agreed to find an alternative date for the meeting.
Following Wednesday (03/6) evening’s G7 Finance Minister call, Mario Centeno, President of the Eurogroup, highlighted that the EU will use its recovery plan to build upon its green and digital priorities and underlined the need to support to strategic value chains.

European Parliament

Sven Giegold (DE), ECON coordinator for the Greens, has called (03/6) the largest EU Member States to address both the COVID-19 crisis and the climate crisis at the same time, so the climate issue is not left behind. He also called for more action on climate change from the ECB.

UPDATES FROM EU AGENCIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

European Central Bank (ECB)

The Governing Council of the ECB has decided (04/6) to increase the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) by €600 billion to reach a total of €1,350 billion and to extend the horizon for net purchases under this program to the end of June 2021. The Asset Purchase Programme (APP) will continue as planned. The interest rate on the main refinancing operations, on the marginal lending facility and on the deposit facility will remain unchanged.

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

The ECDC published a report on the implementation of after-action reviews (AARs) and in-action reviews (IARs) focused on the public health response to COVID-19. Given that the COVID-19 pandemic is not expected to end for at least several more months, there is a need to assess what has happened so far, to identify strategic priorities, and to exchange lessons learned. This report will help to optimise the response to the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing an evidence-based approach to identifying and implementing new actions based on the lessons learned thus far.

European Data Protection Board (EDPB)

The EDPB adopted a statement on data subject rights in connection to the state of emergency in Member States. The Board indicated that even in exceptional times, the protection of personal data must be upheld in all emergency measure to support values of democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights on with the EU is founded.

On Wednesday (03/6) evening, G7 Finance Ministers participated in a call in which they discussed further coordinated actions to tackle the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. Following the meeting, they released a joint statement in which they highlighted the importance of debt sustainability and transparency to long-term financing for development, especially for low-income countries. In addition, G7 Finance Ministers endorsed the G20 Operational Guidelines for Sustainable Financing and called on all creditors to take lending decisions consistent with the borrower’s debt sustainability.

CLICK HERE TO READ KEY MEMBER UPDATES AND FURTHER DETAILS

Tarek Tranberg
Head of Public Affairs & Policy
European Association of Corporate Treasurers – EACT
M +32 485 1884 03
E tarek.tranberg@eact.eu I L: LinkedIn

Covid-19 - EU Commission proposes EUR 750 bn recovery instrument -Tarek Tranberg Head of Public Affairs & Policy EACT

Michele Fogarty — Thu, 28 May 2020 13:00:00 GMT

The European Commission (EC) has formally proposed a new recovery instrument with a size of €750 billion for the EU to help with the economic recovery from the pandemic. This instrument will be attached to the next multi-annual European budgetary programme – the so-called Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

This comes on top of the emergency support measures – the ESM credit lines and the unemployment reinsurance scheme, and European Investment Bank guarantee funds – worth around € 540 billion.

You can find the press release here.

The proposal for the so-called “Next generation EU” fund can be found here.

EACT Newsletter May 2020 (Tarek Tranberg, Head of Public Affairs & Policy, EACT)

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 12 May 2020 12:30:03 GMT

Click on the link below to view the latest update from the European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT) re relevant consultations, Covid-19 developments and all relevant issues.

EACT_ Regulatory_Report_110520_May2020.pdf

EACT Newletter - April 2020

Michele Fogarty — Fri, 01 May 2020 11:49:47 GMT

The latest issue of the EACT newsletter contains a number of interesting bitesize articles providing topical insights and support for treasurers as they navigate this challenging period...

Journeys to Treasury: Protecting Employees, Protecting the Business
As individuals and companies, we find ourselves in unprecedented circumstances that few, if any, could have foreseen. Business continuity plans have been triggered worldwide, but many of these plans did not anticipate the global reach of COVID-19, or the personal anxieties that we would all face. Read article

Journeys to Treasury: Defence Against Fraud and Cyberattack
At a time of degraded operations and personal anxiety, organisations and individuals are at their most vulnerable, so how can treasurers protect their financial and data assets, and shield their employees, at such a challenging time? Read article

Journeys to Treasury: Managing Liquidity at a Time of Crisis
Treasurers have stepped up to help restore certainty and confidence in their organisations, and position their organisations for a ‘new normal’ ahead. Taking rapid steps to maintain liquidity across the business has been central to these efforts. Read article

EACT: Covid-19 Resource Centre
The Covid-19 pandemic is confronting all of us with new challenges. To help navigate some of the uncertainty, we have created a dedicated resource centre that takes you through some of the policy and regulatory measures that have been adopted or are being discussed at EU and international level. Read article

Challenging Times in FX markets (Bryan Conway, Head of FX Sales, Barclays Ireland)

Michele Fogarty — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 06:24:22 GMT

As we came to the end of January, the global outlook looked very promising. We had finally moved into the transition period with confirmation that the UK would formally leave the EU on 31st January 2020, the global economic slowdown had appeared to bottom out and Central Banks were on track to hold rates stable for the most part of 2020. Early 2020 tensions in Iran had subsided and progress was being made in the US-China trade talks. By the end of January, however, the number of victims infected with COVID-19 in China had surpassed 10,000 and the world was beginning to sit up and take note as this pandemic was in early session.

IBOR reform - IASB proposes amendments to IFRS and IAS (Tarek Tranberg, Head of Public Affairs & Policy

Michele Fogarty — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 13:30:00 GMT

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has proposed amendments to a number of IFRS and IAS reporting standards in the context of the ongoing transition from interest rate benchmarks to risk free rates.

EACT REGULATORY ISSUES OVERVIEW (Tarek Tranberg, Head of Public Affairs & Policy, EACT)

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 09:00:00 GMT

View the latest update from the European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT) re:

EACT RELEVANT CONSULTATIONS
COVID-19 DEVELOPMENTS
All relevant issues

Finance Act 2019 and other relevant tax updates for corporate treasurers (Pieter Burger, Tax Partner, Deloitte)

Michele Fogarty — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 06:30:00 GMT

On 22 December 2019, Finance Bill 2019 was signed into law by the President. Below is a brief overview of some of the key changes being introduced into Irish law on foot of this of relevance for corporate treasurers, namely:

1. Introduction of hybrid mismatch rules;

2. Updates to Irish transfer pricing rules;

3. Transposition of EU Mandatory Disclosure rules into Irish law; and

4. Other technical amendments of note;

a. Amendments to the section 110 securitisation regime;

b. Codifying existing practice relating to the tax treatment of stock borrowing and repurchase arrangements;

c. Clarifying the tax treatment of impairment losses on foot of the introduction of IFRS9

In addition to the above, other recent tax developments of note to corporate treasurers include:

1. Future changes to Irish interest deductibility rules;

2. OECD proposals for a global minimum tax rate

Latest update from EACT

Michele Fogarty — Sun, 23 Jun 2019 21:08:04 GMT

The latest EACT newsletter is attached below.

Accounting news

Michele Fogarty — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 20:54:59 GMT

The financial statements for last year have been circulated to members in the past few days.