Erin McKelvey, Executive Director, EACCTX The European American Chamber of Commerce Welcomes Texas to its Growing Network Ruth Baron, President, EACCTX The European American Chamber of Commerce is delighted to announce the addition of Texas to our network. The EACC Texas Chapter was transitioned from the 41 yr. old French-American Chamber of Commerce DFW, whose Board agreed unanimously that including Europe as a whole is the Future especially when it comes to building fruitful Transatlantic Business connections. The newly formed EACC Texas brings an additional...

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France Payments Forum – Les Rencontres Digitales Conference 2021 – Crypto-payments, 8 April 2021; Opening address by Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor | Introduction The health crisis that we have all been living through for a year now has affected people's day-to-day habits, changing not only how we consume but also how we like to pay. This has sped up the transition towards more digital approaches. This acceleration raises major challenges for Europe’s payment ecosystem, but also for payment regulators and supervisors....

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Targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) are central to making sure that our monetary policy reaches people. Through TLTROs, the ECB offers longer-term loans to banks at favourable costs and encourages them to lend to businesses and consumers in the euro area. This keeps borrowing costs low and supports spending and investments. How does it work? TLTROs are different from our main refinancing operations in three distinctive ways: TLTROs are specifically targeted – as the name says – at maintaining or...

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The race to vaccinate against COVID-19 continues, but the pace of inoculation varies widely across countries, with access unavailable to many. Global cooperation must be stepped up to produce and distribute vaccines to all countries at affordable costs. The sooner vaccinations curb the pandemic, the faster economies can return to normal. 'The sooner vaccinations curb the pandemic, the faster economies can return to normal.' If the global pandemic is controlled via vaccination, the resulting stronger economic growth would yield more than $1...

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After enduring a tumultuous 2020, the global economy is finally emerging from the worst phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, albeit with prospects diverging starkly across regions and countries—and only after a “lost year” spent in suspended animation. The economic trauma would have been much worse if the global economy had not been supported by the unprecedented policy actions taken by central banks and by the fiscal measures implemented by governments. 'Global markets are watching the current rise of US long-term...

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The pandemic has hit small and medium enterprises particularly hard, partly because they are predominant in some contact-intensive sectors like hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. As a result, many advanced economies risk experiencing a wave of liquidations that could destroy millions of jobs, damage the financial system, and weaken an already fragile economic recovery. Policymakers should take novel and swift action to alleviate this wave. 'Compared to past crises, this time around there is a clearer case for solvency support by governments.' Abundant...

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Washington, DC / Brussels: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today received the European Union (EU)’s contribution of SDR 141 million (equivalent to €170 million or US$199 million) to the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT), which provides grants for debt service relief to countries hit by catastrophic events, including public health disasters such as COVID-19. Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, said: “Through this contribution to the CCRT, Team Europe continues to stand in solidarity with its most vulnerable partners. In...

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Opinion article by Eurogroup President, Paschal Donohoe | Comparison is inevitable at moments of great challenge. The wisdom of former US president Theodore Roosevelt that “comparison is the thief of joy”, comes to mind in contrasts between the size of stimulus packages and the strength of economic forecasts. Comparisons diminish the significant and historic efforts taken to boost our economies, and to develop and rollout vaccines at unprecedented speed. The 27 countries of the EU have stood together, ensuring that those...

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