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ECB to Impose First-Ever Fines on Banks for Climate FailuresSeveral lenders didn’t progress enough on risk assessmentFines per day can technically be up to 5% of daily revenueThe European Central Bank is set to take the unprecedented step of imposing fines on several lenders for their protracted failure to address the impact of climate change.As many as four lenders face penalties after not meeting deadlines set by the ECB for assessing their exposure to climate risks, according to people familiar with the matter. The amounts aren’t final yet and may be largely symbolic, the people said, who asked not to be named as the move isn’t public.A spokeswoman for the ECB, which directly oversees more than 100 banks, declined to comment.The imposition of fines still marks an unusually harsh step toward forcing banks to comply with the ECB’s views on how they should manage climate risks. The move comes after years of pressure, with former banking supervision head Andrea Enria stating in a September interview with Bloomberg that the ECB would resort to such sanctions as an alternative to higher capital requirements.The fines rack up every day and can amount to as much as 5% of a lender’s daily average revenue. For a bank with annual revenue of €10 billion ($10.9 billion), for example, that would suggest daily penalties of as much as €1.4 million in the toughest scenario, although the actual fines imposed may be much smaller.The banks singled out for penalties are now accruing daily fines for as long as the deficiencies persist, the people said. Mitigating factors may be taken into account as well, meaning some fines could be reduced or even negated, said one of the people.The ECB has repeatedly warned that lenders aren’t doing enough to prepare for the fallout of extreme weather shocks on asset values, or the risk that clients with big carbon footprints might go out of business. The watchdog has said it initially threatened 18 banks with penalties, implying that ECB pressure is leading to results for most firms.European regulations require banks to assess whether they are — or will be — exposed to material risks, and that they reflect that in their capital reserves. The ECB has said lenders typically need to understand all the relevant drivers of climate and environmental-related risk and how these are affected given their exposures.The rigor with which the ECB is pushing banks to manage their climate risk stands in contrast to the approach taken by the Federal Reserve, with Chairman Jerome Powell saying the Fed has “narrow, but important, responsibilities regarding climate-related financial risks.” Banks in Europe have warned that the schism in regulatory environments risks putting them at a competitive disadvantage to their US peers.Frank Elderson, a member of the ECB’s Executive Board, has shown little inclination to slow down European efforts on climate. In a May 8 blog post, he wrote that “a materiality assessment is not just a ‘nice to have’ — knowing your risks is a precondition for being able to address them.”While some banks have started to set aside capital to cover climate-related risks and improved their risk management, Elderson listed several deficiencies, including:*Not considering all relevant risk categories*Focusing only on transitional risks and omitting physical risks, or only looking at a subset of geographic regions*Using a net approach rather than gross to identify risks, undermining banks’ ability to measure actual impact and plan for mitigation
Stocks sink as bond sell-off fuels jittersTepid demand for new US Treasury auctions drives rates higher and prompts a retreat in major stock indicesA global bond sell-off intensified on Wednesday and prompted a stock retreat as well, following the latest in a series of US Treasury auctions to receive a lukewarm reception from investors.An auction for $44bn of new seven-year Treasury notes in the early afternoon was met with tepid interest from buyers, the third weak US government bond auction in two days. Auction sizes were increased earlier this year and investors and analysts have since warned about the market’s capacity to absorb the deluge of new supply.Treasury yields broadly rose to their highest levels in a month following the seven-year auction, building on a sell-off that had started the day before in the wake of weak two- and five-year auctions. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose to a peak of 4.64 per cent, its highest level since early May. Bond yields rise as prices fall.Stocks had sold off earlier in the day, though the auction ultimately had little effect on the main Wall Street indices. The S&P 500 was down 0.5 per cent in mid-afternoon, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.2 per cent.European stocks were more downbeat. London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.7 per cent, France’s Cac 40 lost 1.5 per cent and Germany’s Dax fell 1.1 per cent. The region-wide Stoxx 600 fell 1 per cent.The equity and bond market moves came after the release of strong consumer confidence data on Tuesday — which lowered expectations of interest rate cuts in the near future.Hawkish comments from Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari fanned the sell-off as traders looked ahead to Friday’s release of the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. “I don’t think anybody has totally taken rate increases off the table,” Kashkari said on Tuesday.“Blame bond yields” for the stock market slide, said Chris Turner, a currency strategist at ING.Soft Treasury auctions and higher than expected Australian inflation overnight had pushed longer-dated global bond yields higher, all of which eventually proved “a headwind to equities,” he said.Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada said “yesterday’s [US Treasury] weakness, spurred by weak auction results . . . continued overnight” and “weighed on equities”.Yields on 10-year German bonds rose 0.10 percentage points to 2.69 per cent, the highest level since November.Data published on Wednesday showed German inflation picked up more than forecast to a four-month high owing to an acceleration of services prices. German wages rose 6.4 per cent in the first quarter, separate data showed, giving workers in Europe’s largest economy their biggest real-terms pay rise after inflation since records began in 2008.Investors turned to energy stocks even as prices for Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, slipped 0.6 per cent to $83.70 a barrel. Among the Stoxx 600’s 20 constituent sectors, only energy rallied on the day, up 0.3 per cent. The “global trend of risk-off” in equity and bond markets has left companies tied to in-demand commodities as the “only safe havens”, JPMorgan analysts said in a note to clients on Wednesday.The US dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six other currencies, was up 0.4 per cent.Sterling, meanwhile, rose to a 21-month high against the euro as traders backed away from bets on imminent Bank of England rate cuts.
London's Evening Standard axes daily print editionThe Evening Standard newspaper has announced plans to drop its daily print edition and go weekly.The London paper launched in its original incarnation in 1827, and became free of charge in 2009.(...)
FED Warns Against Rising Delinquency Rates, Calls It A "Leading Indicator That Things Are About To Get Worse"Austan Goolsbee, President of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, highlighted that consumer delinquencies are among the most worrisome economic indicators currently being monitored. His concerns now appear prescient as new data reveal a significant uptick in delinquency rates in the first quarter of 2024."If the delinquency rate of consumer loans starts rising, that is often a leading indicator that things are about to get worse," Goolsbee stated.Recent figures from the Federal Reserve published last week confirm these fears, showing that aggregate delinquency rates have increased, "with 3.2% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency as of the end of March."This marks a notable rise in financial distress among consumers.The data indicates that the transition rates into delinquency have surged across all debt categories.About 8.9% of credit card balances and 7.9% of auto loans have become delinquent annually. Although the transition rate for mortgages increased by 0.3 percentage points, it remains low by historical standards."In the first quarter of 2024, credit card and auto loan transition rates into serious delinquency continued to rise across all age groups," said Joelle Scally, Regional Economic Principal within the Household and Public Policy Research Division at the New York Fed. "An increasing number of borrowers missed credit card payments, revealing worsening financial distress among some households."Despite these concerning trends, the Federal Reserve has not identified a single cause for the rising delinquency rates. Instead, it suggests that several factors could be at play.Amid the pandemic, Americans increased both savings and spending, potentially continuing their high expenditure rates without the cushion of substantial savings, thus relying more on debt.Additionally, there has been an uptick in lending to borrowers with lower credit scores in recent years, which might also contribute to the increasing delinquency rates.As the situation develops, policymakers and financial institutions must closely monitor these indicators to address potential economic fallout. Rising delinquency rates could signal more significant economic issues, necessitating a cautious and proactive approach to prevent further deterioration.