2020 was a year of extremes. Travel all but ceased for a period. Oil prices wildly fluctuated. Trade in medical products reached new heights. Household spending shifted to consumer goods rather than services and savings ballooned as people stayed home amid a global shutdown. 'If not for the crisis, global current account balances would have continued to decline.' Exceptional policy support prevented a global economic depression, even as the pandemic took a heavy toll on lives and livelihoods. The global reaction,...

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has today issued a Public Statement on the prospectus disclosure and investor protection issues raised by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Prospectus disclosure The statement, in view of both the complexity and the diversity of SPAC transactions, sets out ESMA’s expectations on how issuers should satisfy the specific disclosure requirements of the Prospectus Regulation to enhance the comprehensibility and comparability of SPAC prospectuses. This should help to ensure that national competent...

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History moves in uneven steps. Just as the telegraph erased time and distance in the 19th century, today’s innovations in digital money may bring significant changes in the way we lead our lives. The shift to electronic payments and social interactions brought on by the pandemic may cause similarly rapid and widespread transformations. 'The challenges are significant, and so is the potential reward. But policy action must begin immediately.' But we must look beyond the dazzle of technology and the alluring image...

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New data, released today, underlines the importance of the two-pillar plan being advanced by over 130 members of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS to reform international taxation rules and ensure that multinational enterprises pay a fair share of tax wherever they operate. The data, released in the OECD's annual Corporate Tax Statistics publication, shows the importance of the corporate tax as a source of government revenues, while also pointing to evidence of continuing base erosion and profit shifting behaviours. Under the two-pillar solution to...

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Despite the tragic loss of life and immense challenges brought on by the pandemic, the US economy is making a remarkable recovery. The Biden administration’s proposed spending plans will add momentum, raising GDP by more than 5 percent from 2022 to 2024, and will create a lasting impact by increasing productivity and labor force participation. The economic impact of the American Jobs Plan (AJP) and American Families Plan (AFP) was the focus of the IMF’s annual economic and policy review...

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