The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) further specifying the criteria to set the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) laid down in the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD). The aim of these standards is to achieve an appropriate degree of convergence in how these criteria are interpreted and applied across the EU to ensure a level playing field. Institutions with similar risk profiles, resolvability and other characteristics in any Member State should have similar levels of MREL. The consultation runs until 27 February 2015.

http://www.eba.europa.eu/-/eba-consults-on-criteria-for-determining-the-minimum-requirement-for-own-funds-and-eligible-liabilities-mrel-

“When I was growing up my career adviser gave me two options – a nurse and a teacher,” says 43-year-old Karen Blackett.

Ms Blackett, who is now the UK chief executive of global media agency MediaCom, last month became the first businesswoman to top the Powerlist 100, which champions the most influential black people in Britain.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30228070

Jeremy Wright QC MP told the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime that the government will shortly publish the first national anti-corruption plan; reflecting growing concern in Westminster that numerous scandals, particularly in banking, have resulted in no individual or company being punished. . .

http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/feature/2382547/internal-auditors-must-up-game-over-new-anti-corruption-rules

French magistrates examining whether the bank helped wealthy clients avoid a new tax, the European Union Savings Directive . . .

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/21/hsbc-switzerland-private-bank-tax-french-investigation

Credit Suisse AG’s $2.6 billion plea bargain resolving allegations it helped wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes was accepted by a federal judge, ending a three-year probe that helped upend Swiss bank secrecy. . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-21/credit-suisse-judge-accepts-2-6-billion-tax-plea-deal.html