The European Union on Monday began selling the first bond backing its recovery fund, according to a lead manager, a crucial step in financing members states’ economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The sale of the 10-year bond is the start of up to 800 billion euros of debt issuance between now and 2026 that will back grants and loans to member states - an unprecedented act of fiscal solidarity on the EU's part that may transform it into a leading European borrower.
Read more
Resources Per Country
- Albania
- Austria
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Guernsey
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Italy
- Jersey
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Vatican City
As many as 7% of French firms could be in financial trouble when the government rolls back the blanket support it has provided during the pandemic, according to research by Bank of France economists, Bloomberg News reported. The estimate is based on an analysis of over 200,000 balance sheets received as part of the central bank’s annual ratings exercise. It identified firms at risk by singling out those that recorded an increase in debt and a decrease in cash during the crisis.
Read more
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde hailed Western cooperation as vital to secure the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Politico reported. With the recovery now expected to proceed faster than previously anticipated, Lagarde said that there may be less need for the ECB's emergency support measures in future. Lagarde expressed a combination of relief and excitement as she talked about the importance of multilateralism and policy coordination ahead of two days of summits in Brussels between European and North American allies.
Read more
Representatives of the whiskey and dairy industries have called on the Government to pressure the European Union to recognise Irish products that contain some level of input from Northern Ireland as having EU origin status, the Irish Times reported. When the Brexit transition period ended at the start of the year and the UK officially left the EU, a range of goods deemed to be produced in the Republic lost their EU originating status and – as a result - their access to lower or zero preferential trade tariffs with some markets.
Read more
As the European Union readies bond sales for its pioneering COVID-19 recovery fund, the scale and duration of the borrowing programme may disappoint those who had visualised last year’s deal for pooled debt as Europe’s Hamiltonian moment, Bloomberg News reported. Agreed in July as the pandemic raged, the deal sparked hopes among investors that Europe would finally have a large and liquid "safe" asset to rival U.S. Treasuries, in turn burnishing the euro's attraction as a reserve currency.
Read more
Nightclub and music venue operators can apply to access a £13 million Scottish Government emergency fund from next week which aims to help businesses “prevent insolvency or significant job losses due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Scottish Licensed Trade News reported. he second round of the Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund, which is being administered by Creative Scotland alongside a £12m second round of the Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund, opens for applications on 17th June and close on 24th June.
Read more
Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance is close to an agreement to settle a dispute with a Hong Kong-based asset manager regarding unpaid debts, Bloomberg News reported. GFG is close to a settlement with TransAsia Private Capital, which was pressing to take control of a block of shares in Simec Atlantis Energy Ltd., a tidal-power developer owned by GFG, the person said, asking not to be identified as the matter is confidential. A GFG unit owns 43% of U.K.-listed Simec.
Read more
Even as Europe’s economic outlook is rapidly improving, European Central Bank policymakers decided on Thursday to maintain their “very accommodative” monetary stance, the New York Times reported. Governments are lifting lockdown restrictions and the vaccine rollout has sped up, which has led to a bounce in the services industry and “ongoing dynamism” in manufacturing, Christine Lagarde, president of the central bank, told reporters at a news conference in Frankfurt.
President Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to counter the influence of autocratic states during their first in-person meeting on Thursday and looked to smooth over disagreements regarding a complex arrangement to manage trade and preserve peace in Northern Ireland after Brexit, the Wall Street Journal reported. Ahead of the Group of Seven meeting this week, the two leaders backed a wide-ranging document that charts a path forward from a global pandemic that has killed millions, as the virus continues spreading in some parts of the world.
Read more
UK subprime lender Amigo Holdings said today it was considering all options for the company including a revised scheme of arrangement or insolvency, after a court last month rejected its rescue plan, RTÉ reported. Amigo said in a statement that it was continuing to engage with the UK Financial Conduct Authority to find a way forward. However, based on the expected volume of complaints from current and past customers, the value of Amigo's assets would be less than its liabilities without an appropriate scheme of arrangement to deal with complaints, it said.