ECB in ‘bail-out’ of scandal-tainted VW

https://euobserver.com/dieselgate/134459

The European Central Bank (ECB) has started supporting Volkswagen Group (VW) by buying corporate bonds as part of a programme aimed at boosting the eurozone's economy.

The move stands in stark contrast to the policy of two other European financial institutions, which have temporarily banned working with VW after it emerged that the German company cheated on emissions tests.

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  The ECB is supporting VW by buying corporate bonds (Photo: ECB)

In effect, the ECB is sending the message that it is neutral about VW's behaviour, a company which New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman this week described as having a “culture that incentivises cheating and denies accountability”.

The value of the bonds is unknown, but on Monday (18 July) the bank, in charge of monetary policy in the eurozone, made public that five VW bonds are among those being purchased.

The bonds have maturity dates between 2017 and 2021, and were bought by the German central bank, the Bundesbank.

The ECB bond buying programme is carried out by six national central banks, including the German institution.

ECB spokesperson William Lelieveldt told EUobserver he could confirm VW bonds were among those being purchased, but said he could give not details about “operational decisions”.

He would also not confirm reports from the Financial Times and the Sunday Times from September 2015. The newspapers wrote at the time, shortly after the VW scandal was brought to light, that the ECB had suspended buying loans backed by VW assets.

It appears that the ECB looks only at the creditworthiness of the assets, and other technical details set out in the legal act that set out its mandate, but does not take into account recent corporate affairs.

'Bail out' of VW

A left-wing German MEP Fabio De Masi said that the German central bank “appears to try to 'bail out' VW via the backdoor”.

VW has already had to put aside €16 billion to deal with the fallout of the crisis, and this week said it reserved another €2.2 billion, as the New York attorney general said he would pursue "substantial penalties".

MEP De Masi, a member of the parliament's committee on monetary affairs, told EUobserver in an e-mail “the bond buying of VW bonds [is] critical regardless of the VW scandal”.

“Corporate bond purchases are subject to moral hazard and vested interests in general,” he said.

The German EU parliamentarian noted the scheme is part of a wider attempt to revive the market of securitisation. 

Securitisation is a financial tool through which loans, mortgages or other contractual debts are bundled and sold as securities - electronic documents that give the buyers the right to collect the collateral on overdue payments.

The result is that the risk of those loans is sold off, freeing up money on the sellers’ balance sheets to keep lending.

The European securitisation market collapsed after sales of bad debts in the US helped to create the 2008 financial crisis.

“I see securitisation critical, as it incentivises banks to push bad loans to buyers and involves contagion risks,” said De Masi.

Bond-buying is 'sensible'

His centre-right colleague, Pablo Zalba, saw things differently, however.

The Spanish MEP is also a member of the economic and monetary affairs committee, and will be one of the co-authors of a report from the parliament's inquiry committee on the VW scandal.

Zalba called the bond buying programme “sensible” and said that “the ECB's independence should always be respected”.

“I have no doubt the ECB is fulfilling its mandate,” Zalba said.

The bonds themselves have the required credit ratings, and although their value had a nosedive in the period immediately after the scandal broke, most of them are back at the same level, or higher, as a year ago.

EIB loans 'on ice'

Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has taken a different approach.

The bank, which grants loans to projects that are in line with EU policy, has suspended all lending to Volkswagen Group. A spokesman confirmed to EUobserver this week that the ban is still in place, and referred to a recent newspaper interview with EIB president Werner Hoyer.

In June, Hoyer told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung that “all our activities with VW are on ice”.

The ban followed the suspicion that part of a €400 million EIB loan may have been used by VW to develop the engines that were equipped with the cheating software. The ban will be in place until the EU's anti-fraud agency Olaf has wrapped up an investigation.

“We have worked closely and constructively with VW for many years, that's why we are so disappointed by VW's actions,” said Hoyer. He noted that lending from the EIB may become more expensive for VW in the future.

The EIB has supported several VW projects over the years, including loans for the construction and upgrade of production plants in Slovakia (€200 million), Brazil (€91 million), Mexico (€70 million), and Argentina (€45 million).

The loan which may have been misused, was signed on 16 February 2009. An EIB press release said at the time that the loan should “support the development and market launch of greener and more fuel efficient drive train components for passenger cars and utility vehicles”.

It was part of a programme aimed at reducing emissions in Europe's transport sector.

Polish factory

A second investment bank also put a VW project on hold.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was supposed to lend a Polish daughter company of VW up to €250 million, for the construction of a production plant in the Polish town Bialezyce.

However, the loan to Volkswagen Poznan has also been put on ice. It still is, a spokesman for EBRD told this website, but without giving additional details as to when the ban would be reconsidered.

The EBRD was founded in 1991 to stimulate development in former communist and Soviet countries. It is owned by the EU, the EIB, and 65 countries around the world.

A spokeswoman for Volkswagen Poznan did not say if the company is still expecting to receive the loan.

“Whether EBRD plans to loan money to us, please ask the EBRD Bank,” she said, without adding if Volkswagen Poznan still needed the money. The construction of the factory is almost complete.

Global regulatory alignment for securitization won´t last

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervisión´s updated securitization fremawork shows strong alignment with the European Commission on risk weights - but adverse discussions in the European Parliament mean that the chances creating the elusive level playing field for high quality securitizations looks Slim.


http://www.globalcapital.com/article/ymjp4hvbzgzs/global-regulatory-alignment-for-securitization-wont-last

75 Spanish companies make London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Europe’ report

Today, company CEOs featured in the report were welcomed at the European Parliament by Commissioner Lord Hill, Mr Othmar Karas MEP, Mr Paul Tang MEP, Mr Ramon Tremosa MEP, Kay Swinburne MEP and Xavier Rolet, CEO, London Stock Exchange Group at a special launch event which celebrated the spirit of small and mid-sized companies’ ambition and entrepreneurialism.

Vice-Chair of Economics Committee, Pablo Zalba MEP:

“My sincere congratulations to the Spanish companies in 1000 Companies to Inspire Europe. Today more than ever we need companies like these to boost growth and job creation. There are 75 Spanish companies and 2 from Navarre, these are good news.”

Commissioner Lord Hill said:

“The companies you will find in the ‘1,000 Companies to Inspire Europe’ report are all remarkable examples of European hard work and entrepreneurship. They come from all 28 EU Countries and from a wide range of business sectors. This report gives these companies the recognition they deserve. But more than that, I hope that by providing investors with a selection of companies with great potential ‘1,000 companies to Inspire Europe’ will make it easier for them to find opportunities and channel investment to SMEs that want to grow and compete in bigger markets, helping to make Capital Markets Union a reality.”

Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive, London Stock Exchange Group said:

“This research shows high-growth SMEs are the driving force behind the European economy. While the public sector and big blue chip companies have not been creating jobs for many years now, these companies are growing and employing at an incredible rate. And because by definition these companies are innovators, these jobs tend to be higher skilled and higher paid, helping to give young Europeans the brighter economic future they deserve.

“So it is critical that we give these firms access to suitable growth finance that will enable them to invest, grow and become the big job providers of tomorrow.”

LSEG’s “1000 Companies to Inspire Europe” report has received international political support with contributions from Markus Ferber MEP, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Othmar Karas MEP, Alain Lamassoure MEP, Paul Tang MEP and Kay Swinburne MEP.

A full searchable database of all of the companies along with a downloadable pdf of the publication can be found online at www.1000companies.com

The report is supported by AFME

Simon Lewis, CEO, AFME said:

“We are delighted to support this important and timely initiative by the London Stock Exchange Group, which highlights Europe’s SME success stories. SMEs are at the heart of the European economy and supporting them to grow and innovate is vital to Europe’s long-term economic future. Part of this involves facilitating access to diverse sources of funding, as well as helping SMEs to think creatively about their financing options. AFME’s pan-European guide on raising finance, published in six European languages, sets out all of the funding options available to Europe’s SMEs, which we hope will prove useful to the high growth companies of the future.”

Further support and contributions from leading business bodies in the EU including Business Europe, European Issuers, EUROCHAMBRES, EUAPME and CEPS/ECMI.

The report is part of LSEG’s broader support campaign for ambitious SMEs which includes ELITE, the innovative programme now counting almost 400 international businesses. At the launch, LSEG announced an ELITE European roadshow which will take place in major European cities throughout 2016. This will bring further visibility to the companies in their home countries and allow them the opportunity to access ELITE, helping to support them in their long term growth.

Dieselgate probe getting frustrated with EU commission

https://euobserver.com/tickers/133918

There is a "growing frustration" with the EU commission in the European Parliament's inquiry committee into the dieselgate scandal, the committee's chairwoman Kathleen Van Brempt said Tuesday. She spoke after MEPs Pablo Zalba and Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy presented their interim report, which Gerbrandy noted was "a procedural one". Documents the committee requested in April from the commission have still not been delivered, Gerbrandy said.

MEPs stake claim to be EU investigators

https://euobserver.com/institutional/133742

The methods employed by the European Parliament's inquiry committee into the role of Europe's governments in the Dieselgate scandal will not be seen as revolutionary outside Brussels.

But the way witnesses are questioned in the EMIS inquiry committee (Emissions Measurements in the Automotive Sector) was apparently so novel that it deserved its own name.

 “As a general rule, upon introduction by the Chair, the witnesses or experts open their hearing with a brief oral statement, which is followed by questions from EMIS Members in accordance with the ‘ping-pong’ principle (answer immediately following each question),” MEPs Pablo Zalba Bidegain and Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy wrote last week in the draft interim report.

In many parliaments, the ping-pong principle is nothing new. But in the EP, it is a refreshing change of procedure.

Questioning in the EP is known informally as an exchange of views, and usually takes the following format: one member of each of the eight political groups takes the floor and crams as many questions and comments into a strictly allotted time slot. Sometimes one of the non-affiliated members also gets a turn.

After so many interventions, as spoken contributions are often called, the questioned guest usually has only three minutes or so to try and answer them. Alternatively, if the guest is politically savvy, they will pick the answers that are easiest to address.

Not so in the EMIS committee, where the ping-pong principle has actually resulted in the hearings being interesting to watch, at least to those who have taken some time to catch up on technical terms like “exhaust gas recirculation of nitrogen oxide”.

The hearings have so far involved mostly technical witnesses. But when former commissioners and national authorities in charge of checking if car companies are cheating take the stand later this year, a well-executed ping-pong principle works much better than the marathon of questions.

Panama Papers

It is to be hoped that the new inquiry committee into the Panama Papers, which the plenary of the parliament formally requested on Wednesday (8 June), will take a similar work method.

The Panama Papers were a trove of documents, leaked last April, that showed how the rich and powerful use offshore firms to avoid paying taxes.

MEPs voted to set up a committee to “investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion, its powers, numerical strength and term of office”.

The outcome of the vote in Strasbourg was no surprise. At last Friday's pre-plenary press conference this website asked all political groups if any of them would vote against.

None spoke up, although it should be noted there was no representative present of the seventh-largest group, the eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD).

The constitutive vote for the Panama Papers inquiry was therefore somewhat less exciting than the one for the Dieselgate inquiry, which was supported by 354 MEPs and opposed by 229.

Centre-right are game, this time

The big difference this time around is that centre-right MEPs back the plan this time.

“Our preference usually is to deal with these issues in the committees that exist in the parliament, within their mandate,” said Antti Timonen, spokesman for the largest group, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP). Most of the EPP members voted against setting up the Dieselgate committee.

“We felt it would be better to see [diesel-related] proposals for the future, to see what can be done. For us it was very important not to harm the European car industry, which is a big employer,” said Timonen.

“However, for the Panama Papers, we have seen that they have created a lot of interest but also exposed many problems, so perhaps this inquiry committee gives a better opportunities for us to see what we could have done differently.”

His colleague from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), also centre-right but much less federalist group, had similar reasoning.

The Panama Papers constitute a “slightly more cross-cutting issue”, said ECR spokesman James Holtum, noting that the group felt the normal environment committee could have dealt with Dieselgate.

Closing the trilogy

The inquiry committee on the Panama Papers will be an informal successor to two so-called special committees, which were set up after the 2014 Luxleaks scandal that revealed how companies were getting sweetheart tax deals in Luxembourg.

After the mandate of the first Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect committee ended on 30 November 2015, the parliament decided to install a sequel, known by its acronym TAXE 2, which will run until 2 August 2016.

Although they were called special committees, the Luxleaks committees were much less powerful than an inquiry committee and they had trouble getting access to documents and persuading witnesses to appear.

The Panama Papers will therefore be a platform to take care of “some of the unfinished business” of TAXE 2, said Richard More O'Ferrall of the Greens, the sixth-largest group, traditionally a pro-inquiry group.

“We are certainly happy that there was a lot less resistance this time,” he said about setting up the Panama Papers inquiry.

After Wednesday's vote, there will be two active inquiry committees (Dieselgate and Panama Papers) and one special committee (LuxLeaks II). The Panama Papers committee will have 65 members, the other two committees have 45 members each.

MEPs as investigators

There are only two MEPs serving on both the Dieselgate and Luxleaks committees, so for a number of months this year 153 MEPs could be taking part in investigative committees. That's not counting the substitute members. If those are counted, and the Panama Papers committee acquires only members not currently in the two other committees, 40 percent of MEPs would be a (substitute) member of an investigative group.