EU finance ministers to agree new bank supervision system | The ...

By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 7:18 EDT

 

EU finance ministers prepared Tuesday to take a key step towards a new bank regulatory framework with final clearance of a single supervisor regime for the eurozone.

“We are set to finally approve the Single Supervisory Mechanism today,” Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius said.

Once approved, the SSM will formally “enter into force in November next year,” Sadzius said, as he arrived for a meeting of all 28 European Union finance ministers.

The SSM was originally supposed to start early next year but the timetable slipped amid sharp differences over its precise role and especially over how it would relate to non-euro countries.

Non-euro Britain is home to the European Banking Authority, which is supposed to draft the rules for all banks in the EU, while the SSM is to be run by the European Central Bank.

To ensure that the 17 eurozone members did not out-vote the 11 non-euro members also grouped in the EBA, London won agreement in December that there would have to be a ‘double majority’ in both camps for any action.

London has since won fresh assurances that this would be the case, clearing the way for the SSM.

ECB executive board member Joerg Asmussen said this means “we can now start the real work — hire people, rent a building … all the practical things to be ready to start working in one year.”

The SSM is to be complemented by a Single Resolution Mechanism to close failing banks and a Deposit Guarantee regime protect savers.

Combined, this will provide the comprehensive, single regulatory framework meant to prevent taxpayers having to fund the disastrously expensive bank bailouts which led to years of austerity and recession in the eurozone.

The SRM however is proving even more controversial than the SSM, with many member states including powerhouse Germany reluctant to cede too much control over their banks and concerned about how it should be financed.

Sadzius said finance ministers will also “discuss today backstop arrangements” to pay for potential bank closures until the SRM begins its work, most likely in several years.

One option being discussed is to tap the European Stability Mechanism, the 500-billion-euro eurozone bailout fund which has been used to help Spanish banks.

However, it is unclear how this would work in practice and especially if a member state seeking such ESM help would also have to accept tough economic policy conditions as in a full debt bailout.

Sweden’s Anders Borg said ministers “first and foremost must clarify backstops” before the ECB completes tough asset tests on the banks next year to pave the way for the SSM to begin its work.

The tests are supposed to be much tougher than previous reviews which critics say failed to pick up problems at many banks and should give a clear indication of whether they need fresh capital.

If they do, new rules require governments to progressively “bail-in” private creditors and uninsured larger depositors.

If that is not enough, then state aid is the next option.

EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said last week that this would be acceptable and would not count against deficit and debt targets, giving it official blessing.

The EU finance ministers will also discuss the overall economic outlook ahead of an EU leaders summit next week, with one eye on developments in Washington as talks continue on avoiding a first ever US sovereign debt default.

Several officials, including Rehn, have voiced concern about the prospect of such a US default given fears it could plunge the global economy into a deep recession or even worse.

[Image via Agence France-Presse]

 

 

 

 

 

Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/15/eu-finance-ministers-to-agree-new-bank-supervision-system/
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BFI Rolls Out International Strategy

LONDON -- The British Film Institute has revealed details of its International strategy, which includes a pilot program providing P&A support for U.S. releases of selected U.K. films in 2014 and an increase in funding to support inward investment, film export and co-production.

The BFI has pledged $2.4 million of its lottery funding annually to fuel its international strategy "to make effective interventions" and is working closely with the government's department for culture, media and sport, U.K. Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the British Council, along with public and private partners, to maximize the support available for U.K. film.

Developing an international strategy under the watchful eye of BFI head of international Isabel Davis is a "key aim of the BFI’s five year plan, Film Forever."

STORY: BFI London Film Festival Kicks Off With 'Captain Phillips'

As the U.K.'s biggest and most prominent movie agency and the gatekeeper of millions of dollars in lottery-fueled investment cash pools, the BFI is looking beyond borders to drive U.K. economic growth and enhance the global reputation of British film.

Davis has consulted widely with government officials and partners throughout the U.K. and identified audiovisual policy, co-production, cultural exchange, export, inward investment and skills as being key to the British film economy.

The strategy is underpinned by research undertaken by Olsberg SPI on behalf of the BFI, with China, Brazil and the U.S. "identified as priority territories" because of clear evidence that "they offer the greatest opportunities for growth and for public intervention through the BFI and its partners to help unlock opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration."

The international strategy, titled The Wide Angle: The BFI’s International Strategy, was presented to an audience of film professionals Tuesday as part of the BFI London Film Festival’s industry program.

BFI head of international Isabel Davis said: “Film is a truly global business, and U.K. film is riding high on the world stage following a hugely successful outing for British films and filmmakers in the autumn festivals and with the U.K.'s world-class crews, talent, facilities, studios and infrastructure, coupled with our attractive film tax relief, continuing to entice film production from around the world. The aim of this strategy is to capitalize on that success and stimulate growth in the years ahead. Partnership is at the heart of this strategy, and we look forward to working in close collaboration with our partners in government and industry to maximize the economic growth and cultural reach of U.K. film.” 

STORY: BFI London Film Festival Outlines Major Industry Events

The strategy means the budget of the BFI Film Export Fund, which helps spotlight U.K. films in key international markets, has increased to $440,000 per year.

In 2014, the BFI will pilot a program to provide an undisclosed amount of P&A support for the U.S. rollouts of U.K. films to help sales companies "make U.K. films even more attractive at key international markets and ensure U.K. films are able to achieve better audience reach in the U.S."

Additionally, the BFI is committed to ensuring a strong U.K. presence at key international festivals and markets such as the EFM in Berlin, FILMART Hong Kong, the Marche du Film in Cannes and during the Toronto Film Festival under the international umbrella brand, We Are U.K Film.

STORY: Screen Legend Christopher Lee to Receive BFI Fellowship

The BFI International fund has also committed $320,000 per year, subject to approval, to support the British Film Commission, to attract film investment from the U.S.

This is in addition to around $639,000 Grant-in-Aid (GIA) funding from the BFI.

There will also be "up to" $1.6 million each year for minority co-productions, giving U.K. producers and talent "enhanced opportunities" to collaborate with filmmakers.

The BFI continues to review U.K. membership in Eurimages and the impact of the U.K. film tax relief on co-production. 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/film/~3/SZtKbB8VQjc/story01.htm
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X-COM: Enemy Unknown gets multiplayer mode, goes on sale

X-COM: Enemy Unknown for iOS has been updated, adding multiplayer support. The game is also on sale for $9.99, 50% off the normal price of $19.99, through October 13.

Multiplayer is asynchronus, and uses Game Center. As in the single-player campaign, you create custom squads, either human or alien, and challenge your Game Center friends to matches. This update also optimizes X-COM for iOS 7, and fixes a number of bugs.

• $9.99 - Download now

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Senators' plan would reopen govt, raise debt limit

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks with reporters after arriving on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, following a meeting between Republican senators and President Obama at the White House on the ongoing budget battle. Republicans from the House of Representatives were offering to pass legislation to avert a potentially catastrophic default and end the 11-day partial government shutdown as part of a framework that would include cuts in benefit programs, officials said Friday. But the impasse was not yet over. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks with reporters after arriving on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, following a meeting between Republican senators and President Obama at the White House on the ongoing budget battle. Republicans from the House of Representatives were offering to pass legislation to avert a potentially catastrophic default and end the 11-day partial government shutdown as part of a framework that would include cuts in benefit programs, officials said Friday. But the impasse was not yet over. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. walks to the House floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013. Republicans from the House of Representatives were offering to pass legislation to avert a potentially catastrophic default and end the 11-day partial government shutdown as part of a framework that would include cuts in benefit programs, officials said Friday. But the impasse was not yet over. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, talks with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, after arriving on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, following after a meeting between Republican senators and President Obama at the White House on the ongoing budget battle. Republicans from the House of Representatives were offering to pass legislation to avert a potentially catastrophic default and end the 11-day partial government shutdown as part of a framework that would include cuts in benefit programs, officials said Friday. But the impasse was not yet over. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

White House press secretary Jay Carney gestures during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, where he spoke about the budget and partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) — With talks having stalled between the White House and House Republicans, a bipartisan group in the Senate is polishing a measure that would reopen the government and prevent a first-ever default on the country's bills.

The negotiations in the Senate come as the chamber meets in a rare Saturday session to vote on a Democratic measure to lift the government's borrowing cap through the end of next year. Republicans are poised to reject it amid talks among the group of rank-and-file senators — talks monitored with the full attention of Senate leaders.

The bipartisan group's focus is on a proposal by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and others that would pair a six-month plan to keep the government open with an increase in the government's borrowing limit through January.

House Republicans, meanwhile, are slated to meet Saturday morning to get an update from their leaders as matters come to a head.

President Barack Obama on Friday privately turned away a House plan to link the reopening of the government — and a companion measure to temporarily increase the government's borrowing cap — to concessions on the budget.

Publicly, top House Republicans said negotiations were on track. Obama called House Speaker John Boehner at midafternoon Friday, and Michael Steel, a spokesman for the leader of House Republicans, said, "They agreed that we should all keep talking."

Privately, the channel between the White House and the House wasn't bearing fruit, said aides on both sides. The aides required anonymity because the talks were private and they weren't authorized to discuss them by name.

On Friday, a daily briefing by White House press secretary Jay Carney was delayed until after the stock market closed, and Carney said Obama "appreciates the constructive nature of the conversation and the proposal that House Republicans put forward." Yet, the spokesman said, "He has some concerns with it."

A House GOP aide and a White House official cast developments in a more pessimistic light, both requiring anonymity because of the secret nature of the talks. Among the options to be presented to a House GOP conference was a condition-free debt limit increase for just a few weeks and a continued closure of the government in hopes of concessions from Obama.

In the face of disastrous opinion polls, GOP leaders have signaled that they will make sure the debt limit is increased with minimal damage to the markets. But they're still seeking concessions as a condition for reopening the government.

Obama met Senate Republicans on Friday and heard a pitch from Collins on raising the debt limit until the end of January, reopening the government, and trimming the health care law at its periphery. It would also strengthen income verification for people receiving subsidies through the health care law and set up a broader set of budget talks.

The Collins plan would delay for two years a medical-device tax that helps finance the health care law, and it would subject millions of individuals eligible for subsidies to purchase health insurance under the program to stronger income verification.

At the Capitol, Collins said Obama said the proposal "was constructive, but I don't want to give the impression that he endorsed it."

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-12-US-Budget-Battle/id-0d9b8066b93b4ece811c8c85c09adee0
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Asian stocks gain on US debt deal hopes

In this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 photo, trader Sean Spain works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Three days from a deadline to increase the U.S. debt ceiling, investors were fidgety and stocks drifted lower, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 photo, trader Sean Spain works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Three days from a deadline to increase the U.S. debt ceiling, investors were fidgety and stocks drifted lower, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, where shares were boosted by signs that Washington was moving closer to a deal that would avert a debt default by the U.S. government.

Two days from a deadline to increase the U.S. debt ceiling, investors remain focused on developments in Washington. Most think a deal will be reached in time and stock markets were holding up.

The U.S. has to increase the amount of debt it can sell by Oct. 17 or face a possible default, a scenario that could derail the U.S. economic recovery and roil international markets.

Investors in Asia "are hoping that the US can have a deal done to resolve the debt limit problem in coming days, so I think that's the biggest news for the Asian markets," said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

Negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over the weekend failed to reach a conclusion either on raising the debt ceiling or the partial shutdown of the U.S. government, which has now entered a third week.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average added 0.2 percent to 14,425.04 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.6 percent to 23,351.84. South Korea's Kospi was 0.8 percent higher at 2,036.56. Taiwan's stock index rose 0.9 percent to 8,347.55.

China's Shanghai Composite index bucked the trend, down 0.3 percent at 2,230.62.

Wong said recent economic data from China has been mixed, with investors still not sure whether the Chinese economy will stabilize after a prolonged slowdown.

Markets in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines were closed for holidays.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 64 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,301 on Monday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose seven points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,710. The Nasdaq composite rose 23 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,815.

In energy trading, benchmark crude for November delivery was down 13 cents at$102.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The euro rose to $1.356 from $1.3554 late Monday. The dollar dropped to 98.45 yen from 98.67 yen.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-10-15-World%20Markets/id-1367014ed79b4d3c9e5826ccaa143f89
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1Password for iOS adds Wi-Fi sync, more

1Password for iOS has been updated, adding a few new features, including Wi-Fi sync, along with some improvements and fixes. Wi-Fi syncing lets you sync your 1Password data between your Mac and your iOS device directly.

To initiate Wi-Fi syncing, open up 1Password on your iOS device and tap Settings, then Sync, and choose Wi-Fi Sync. On your Mac, open 1Password 4 and under the Window menu, click Wi-Fi Sync, and a window will pop up with a secret code. Enter the code in 1Password for iOS to enable Wi-Fi syncing between the two devices.

A couple of smaller additions also made their way into this update. Custom icons added to items on the Mac will be shown in 1Password for iOS. Additionally, you can now change the user agent for the app's built-in 1Browser. You can pick between 1Browser, Safari for iPhone, iPad, or Mac, Chrome, and Firefox.

1Password for iOS now has better support for iOS 7. The performance of iCloud sync has been improved when turning it on. Search performance has also been improved, and diagnostic information can be emailed as an attachment. As for fixes, there are several. Visual problems with search results in iOS 7 have been corrected. Syncing issues with iCloud and Dropbox have also been fixed. There were a few crashing bugs that have been seen to, and a bug that made it impossible to change an items name is also gone.

The update can be downloaded right now from the App Store.

• $17.99 - Download Now

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Another migrant ship capsizes off Italy; 27 dead

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — For the second time in a week, a smugglers' boat overloaded with migrants capsized in the Canal of Sicily on Friday as it made the perilous crossing from Africa to Europe. At least 27 people drowned, but 221 people were rescued in a joint Italian-Maltese operation, officials said.

Helicopters ferried the injured to Lampedusa, the Italian island that is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and the destination of choice for most smugglers' boats leaving Tunisia or Libya. It was off Lampedusa that a migrant ship from Libya capsized Oct. 3 with some 500 people aboard. Only 155 survived.

Friday's capsizing occurred 65 miles (105 kilometers) southeast of Lampedusa, but in waters where Malta has search and rescue responsibilities.

The two shipwrecks were the latest grim reminder of the extreme risks that migrants and asylum-seekers often take in an effort to slip into Europe every year by boat. Facing unrest and persecution in Africa and the Middle East, many of the migrants think the Lampedusa escape route to Europe, which is barely 70 miles (113 kilometers) from northern Africa, is worth the risk.

"They do know that they are risking their lives, but it is a rational decision," said Maurizio Albahari, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. "Because they know for a fact they will be facing death or persecution at home — whatever remains of their home, or assuming there is a home in the first place."

What drives them is the hope that they'll have a better life in Europe for themselves and their children, he said. "It's either perish or go somewhere."

In the latest case, the Italian coast guard said it received a satellite phone call from the boat that it was in distress and was able to locate it based on the satellite coordinates, said coast guard spokesman Marco Di Milla.

A Maltese aircraft was sent up and reported that the boat had capsized and that "numerous" people were in the water. The aircraft dropped a life raft, and a patrol boat soon arrived at the scene, according to a statement from the Maltese armed forces.

Late Friday, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat reported that 27 bodies had been recovered, three of them children.

He said 150 survivors were rescued aboard a Maltese ship. An Italian patrol boat had another 56 survivors, while a fishing boat had 15, said Cmdr. Marco Maccaroni of the Italian navy. Between the Italian and Maltese ships, the total of survivors came to 221, though it wasn't clear if the injured who were flown by helicopter to Lampedusa were included in that figure.

The incident occurred as recovery operations continued Friday off Lampedusa for victims of the Oct. 3 shipwreck. The death toll stood Friday at 339, including a newborn recovered with its umbilical cord still attached, Di Milla said.

The recent deaths prompted renewed calls for the European Union to do more to better patrol the southern Mediterranean and prevent such tragedies — and for countries like Libya to crack down on smuggling operations.

"We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a cemetery," Muscat told a news conference in Valletta, the Maltese capital.

Lampedusa is the destination of choice for smugglers who usually charge more than 1,000 euro ($1,355) a head and cram the migrants onto boats that routinely run into trouble and require rescue. Fortress Europe, an Italian observatory that tracks migrant deaths reported by the media, says about 6,450 people died in the Canal of Sicily between 1994 and 2012.

Once in Italy, the migrants are screened for asylum and often sent back home if they don't qualify. During the 1990s and early 2000s, many of the arrivals were considered "economic migrants." But many of the latest arrivals are fleeing persecution and conflict in places such as Syria and Eritrea, and qualify for refugee status, U.N. officials say.

Many eventually end up in northern Europe's larger and more organized immigrant communities.

During a visit to Lampedusa this week, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso promised Italy some 30 million euro ($41 million) in EU funds to better care for newly arrived migrants.

Italian officials pledged to put the issue on the agenda of an upcoming European Union summit and on the EU agenda next year, when Italy and Greece hold the EU presidencies.

Some 30,100 migrants arrived in Italy and Malta in the first nine months of 2013, compared with 15,000 in all of 2012, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

___

Calleja reported from Valletta, Malta, and Winfield from Rome. Sylvia Hui contributed from London.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/another-migrant-ship-capsizes-off-italy-27-dead-204148041.html
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