Ladies and gentlemen Our world has never been better off. Freer trade has brought competition to markets that used to be closed. It has made us more productive, and helped people and ideas to circulate, creating innovations that have changed our lives. But despite this, many people are unhappy. They see the executives and shareholders of big companies getting richer, and they ask – is this economy for everyone, or only for a lucky few? That’s a fair question. And a crucial...

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Opening remarks by Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Eurosystem community session at Sibos, Geneva, 26 September 2016 Introduction One year ago, the Eurosystem shared some initial reflections on the strategy for the future development of its market infrastructure. The rationale behind these strategic reflections was the need to keep pace with technological developments in line with the mandate of our Treaty to promote the smooth operation of payment systems. Digitalisation of financial services The digitalisation of financial services...

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Meeting in the Maltese capital of Valetta, the Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank approved more than EUR 7.3 billion of new loans for investment in strategic infrastructure, the environmental and knowledge economy as well as private sector schemes across Europe and around the world, including ground breaking new projects in Malta. 18 of these loans, worth EUR 2.8 billion will be backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments. Plans to extend the European Fund for Strategic...

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Once Brexit negotiations begin the European Parliament will be a responsible and active partner, Martin Schulz told UK Prime Minister Theresa May. The Parliament President met her during a visit to London on 22-23 September. He said the greatest challenges would be trade and the issue of preserving the freedom of movement of goods, people, services and capital. He also discussed why the Parliament believes article 50 should be triggered as soon as possible. In addition to May, Schulz also...

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Julian King is poised to become the U.K.’s last European Union commissioner, in charge of implementing the bloc’s security polices, after a key committee of EU lawmakers approved his nomination on Tuesday. Mr. King’s performance during a three-hour hearing on Monday evening in the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee was convincing enough for the committee to endorse his nomination, said Claude Moraes, the committee chair. “We think he should be appointed as the next commissioner for the security union,” Mr. Moraes...

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Today, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström met with US Trade Representative Michael Froman in Brussels to take stock of the ongoing negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). After the meeting, Malmström and Froman made the following statement: "We had a good meeting where we reviewed the substantial progress being made and discussed next steps for moving forward. We have directed our teams to make as much progress as possible during the next round, scheduled for the week of...

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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today underscored the crucial role businesses play in the realization of Global Goals, or Sustainable Development Goals, adopted a year ago by 193 countries. “Solutions will involve everything from regulation to disruptive innovation – and everyone from world leaders and chief executives, to educators, activists and citizens,” Mr. Ban told the UN Private Sector Forum, which was held on the margins of the high-level segment of the General Assembly’s 71st session, which kicked off today. The...

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