Banks must adapt the way they do business to account for climate-related and environmental risks. The ECB Blog takes a fresh look at their progress and the road ahead. This is the first post in a series of climate-related entries on the occasion of COP27. The economy needs stable banks, especially as it goes through the green transition. As supervisors, our role is to ensure that banks remain prudentially sound, now and long into the future. For this to happen,...

Tomorrow, the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) will enter into force. The new Regulation will put an end to unfair practices by companies that act as gatekeepers in the online platform economy. It was proposed by the Commission in December 2020 and agreed by the European Parliament and the Council in record-time, in March 2022. The DMA defines when a large online platform qualifies as a “gatekeeper”. These are digital platforms that provide an important gateway between business users and...

Tighter credit terms and conditions offered by banks to counterparties, mainly attributed to deterioration in general market liquidity and functioning Higher maximum amount of funding but shorter maximum maturity against domestic government bonds Deterioration in liquidity conditions continued for most collateral types Higher initial margin requirements for most OTC derivative types, especially commodity derivatives On balance, overall credit terms and conditions tightened over the June-August 2022 review period across all counterparty types. Price terms tightened for all counterparty types,...

High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell will travel to Latin America, the third time of his current mandate, starting in Uruguay on 24 October and continuing to Argentina from 25 October. His mission aims to further strengthen both bilateral and regional relations, in particular through co-chairing the EU-CELAC Foreign Ministers Meeting which will pave the way for further high-level bi-regional engagement in view of a summit next year. In Uruguay, the High Representative will meet President Luis Lacalle Pou on 24...

Frankfurt am Main, 27 October 2022 | Good afternoon, the Vice-President and I welcome you to our press conference. The Governing Council today decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 75 basis points. With this third major policy rate increase in a row, we have made substantial progress in withdrawing monetary policy accommodation. We took today’s decision, and expect to raise interest rates further, to ensure the timely return of inflation to our two per cent medium-term inflation...

ECB recalibrates third series of targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO III) to ensure consistency with broader monetary policy normalisation process Recalibration will help address unexpected and extraordinary inflation increases by reinforcing transmission of policy rates to bank lending conditions From 23 November 2022, interest rate on all remaining TLTRO III operations to be indexed to average applicable key ECB interest rates from that date onward Existing interest rate calculation maintained for period up to 22 November 2022 Modification...

Today the Commission is proposing stronger rules on ambient air, surface and groundwater pollutants, and treatment of urban wastewater. Clean air and water are essential for the health of people and ecosystems. Air pollution alone means nearly 300,000 Europeans die prematurely each year, and the proposed new rules will reduce deaths resulting from levels of the main pollutant PM2.5 above World Health Organization guidelines by more than 75% in ten years. Across air and water, all of the new...

The Commission has today adopted a legislative proposal to make instant payments in euro, available to all citizens and businesses holding a bank account in the EU and in EEA countries. The proposal aims to ensure that instant payments in euro are affordable, secure, and processed without hindrance across the EU. Instant payments allow people to transfer money at any time of any day within ten seconds. This is much faster compared to traditional credit transfers, which are received by...