Transatlantic News

Transatlantic News

Chapter News

IMF | Economies in the Financial Spotlight in 2021

Throughout 2020 and into 2021, the global financial system withstood the effects of the global pandemic and economic lockdowns due to unprecedented policy support. Strong financial systems that are well regulated and well supervised help maintain financial stability. But like a well calibrated engine on a car, maintenance is key. Each year the IMF takes a look under the hood of select economies, which helps to unmask vulnerabilities that could present bigger problems down the road. The Financial Sector Assessment Program, or “FSAP” as...
Chapter News

EU Commission proposes new Regulation to address distortions caused by foreign subsidies in the Single Market

The European Commission proposes today a new instrument to address potential distortive effects of foreign subsidies in the Single Market. Today's legislative proposal follows the adoption of the White Paper in June 2020 and an extensive consultation process with stakeholders. It aims at closing the regulatory gap in the Single Market, whereby subsidies granted by non-EU governments currently go largely unchecked, while subsidies granted by Member States are subject to close scrutiny. The new tool is designed to effectively tackle foreign subsidies...
Chapter News, COVID-19 News

Coronavirus: EU Commission proposes EU Strategy for the development and availability of therapeutics

The European Commission is today complementing the successful EU Vaccines Strategy with a strategy on COVID-19 therapeutics to support the development and availability of much-needed COVID-19 therapeutics, including for the treatment of ‘long COVID'. Today's Strategy covers the full lifecycle of medicines: from research, development and manufacturing to procurement and deployment. It is part of the strong European Health Union, in which all EU countries prepare and respond together to health crises and ensure the availability of affordable and innovative medical supplies – including...
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FTC | Aiming for truth, fairness, and equity in your company’s use of AI

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology promise to revolutionize our approach to medicine, finance, business operations, media, and more. But research has highlighted how apparently “neutral” technology can produce troubling outcomes – including discrimination by race or other legally protected classes. For example, COVID-19 prediction models can help health systems combat the virus through efficient allocation of ICU beds, ventilators, and other resources. But as a recent study(link is external) in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association suggests, if...
Chapter News

IMF | US Dollar Share of Global Foreign Exchange Reserves Drops to 25-Year Low

The share of US dollar reserves held by central banks fell to 59 percent—its lowest level in 25 years—during the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the IMF’s Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) survey. Some analysts say this partly reflects the declining role of the US dollar in the global economy, in the face of competition from other currencies used by central banks for international transactions. If the shifts in central bank reserves are large enough, they can affect...
Chapter News

Understanding post-referendum weakness in UK import demand and UK balance of payments risks for the euro area

1 Introduction The UK referendum on EU membership in 2016 has set the course for the most significant change to the relationship between the United Kingdom and its closest trading partners for decades. The primary interest from the ECB’s perspective is to understand the likely impact on trade of the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, as the United Kingdom has long been one of the euro area’s major export markets. This article reviews the development of UK import...
Chapter News

ECB | Interview with Luis de Guindos, conducted by Tonia Mastrobuoni on 27 April 2021

Are the euro area’s economic prospects likely to worsen in a scenario where coronavirus variants continue to multiply? The current situation is bittersweet. The first quarter was weaker than we expected three months ago. On the other hand, the pace of vaccination is gaining momentum across Europe. This is good news, because it will have a major impact on the economy. For the time being, it is estimated that growth will be around 4%. We expect the second half of...
Chapter News

Coronavirus: Commission proposes to ease restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU while addressing variants through new ‘emergency brake’ mechanism

Today, the Commission is proposing that Member States ease the current restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU to take into account the progress of vaccination campaigns and developments in the epidemiological situation worldwide. The Commission proposes to allow entry to the EU for non-essential reasons not only for all persons coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation but also all people who have received the last recommended dose of an EU-authorised vaccine. This could be extended to vaccines having completed...

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