Les enjeux du grand marché intérieur européen

A summary of improvement plans for the act on the protection of financial consumer related to local governments is as follows.
 1. Article 1(purpose) of the act on the protection of financial consumer does not contain any content related to the ‘responsibility of local governments’. Article 1 of the act on the protection of financial consumer is “this act stipulates matters to be observed regarding the business of financial product sellers and financial product advisors, and national and local governments, in order to promote the rights and interests of financial consumers and establish a sound market order in the financial product sales business and financial product advisory business. It is aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of financial consumer protection and contributing to the development of the national economy by prescribing matters related to financial consumer policies and financial dispute settlement procedures for the protection of financial consumer rights and interests of local governments.” 2. Article 9 of the act on the protection of financial consumer (responsibilities of the state) omits the responsibilities of local governments. Subparagraph 2 of article 9 of the act on the protection of financial consumer is defined as “the state and local governments shall fulfill the following responsibilities(1. establish and implement necessary policies to promote the rights and interests of financial consumers in order to realize the basic rights of financial consumers pursuant to article 7), 2. enactment, revision, and abolition of laws, ordinances, and rules related to the protection of financial consumers, 3. maintenance and improvement of operation of necessary administrative organizations, and 4. support and fostering of sound and independent organizational activities of financial consumers).” It would be nice to amend it.
 3. It would be nice to revise the ‘of the state’ in article 10, subparagraph 1 of the act on the protection of financial consumer to ‘of the state and local governments’.
 4. It would be good to amend the ‘financial services commission’ in article 29(financial consumer protection) to article 30(financial education) paragraph 4 of the act on the protection of financial consumer to ‘financial services commission and local governments’.
 5. There are no provisions related to the protection of personal information in the act on the protection of financial consumer, such as article 15, paragraph 1 of the framework act on consumers. Therefore, according to the act on the protection of financial consumer, “the state and local governments shall take necessary measures to prevent financial consumers from suffering unreasonable damage due to loss, theft, leakage, alteration, or damage of financial consumers’ personal information in transactions between financial consumers and financial product distributors, etc.” It would be good to create a new regulation similar to “.
 6. There is no such content as article 18, paragraph 1 of the framework act on consumer in the act on the protection of financial consumer. It would be good to add a new provision to the act on the protection of financial consumer, such as “financial product distributors, etc. must actively cooperate with the national and local governments' policies to promote financial consumer rights and interests”. 7. There is no such thing as ‘protection of the vulnerable’ in the act on the protection of financial consumer. It would be good if new contents such as the protection of the vulnerable class were added to the act on the protection of financial consumer.

Beginning this year, federal payment recipients will receive their government benefits through electronic funds transfer (EFT)-- what most of us call direct deposit. Although cost-cutting is the driving force behind the move to a virtually all-electronic federal payment system, Michael Stegman believes the initiative has a far broader potential: to bring poor Americans into the banking mainstream. In this book Stegman outlines how many families will enter the mainstream banking system through EFT '99, as the program is called. He explains in careful detail the thinking behind the shift to EFT and the implementation of the program this year. He also argues that, for maximum success, EFT '99 should be combined with a program of national Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), dedicated savings accounts for low-income people that can be used for purchasing a first home, acquiring more education or job training, or starting a small-business. Essentially, EFT '99 will bring people into the banking system, and IDAs will give them an incentive to use the system to its fullest in order to make their money work for them and their children. There are other steps that the government can take to boost EFT's ability to help public aid recipients achieve self-sufficiency. It can: add a direct deposit option to state benefits payments programs; give banks significant additional Community Reinvestment Act Credit for establishing accounts for EFT recipients; and regulate fees for cashing government benefits and voluntary accounts so that people are not charged excessively for accessing their money. This book demonstrates that -- with careful planning and a relatively small investment -- the government's EFT initiative can have a major payoff in real assets and improved prospects for those who have been, for far too long, on the fringes of the country's mainstream banking system. Brookings Metro Series

This article wishes to contribute to the ongoing debate surrounding the European Commission's State aid investigations into multinationals' tax arrangements. It does so in three distinct ways. First, it tracks the evolution of the Commission's soft law approach to tax rulings' State aid assessment. Second, it examines whether this soft law evolution reflects the Commission's hard law approach in its recent fiscal aid decisions and investigations. Finally, it argues that the Commission's approach and argumentation are not bulletproof; in fact, the author uses one of the Commission's argumentative pillars as an example in order to illustrate that, to a certain extent, they are not as legally sound as the Commission presents them. Keywords: Soft Law; Hard Law; Notion of Aid; Forum 187; MOL; Arm's Length Principle; OECD.

This study addresses the problem that electronic funds transfer (EFT) monitoring, loan origination decisioning, and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance are often governed as separate control silos in digital banking, which limits risk visibility and reduces audit ready decision defensibility. The purpose was to validate an AI driven predictive analytics framework and quantify how Predictive Analytics Capability (PAC) influences EFT monitoring effectiveness, loan origination decision quality, AML monitoring effectiveness, and overall digital banking risk control performance (DBRCP). A quantitative cross sectional, case-based survey was administered across a cloud enabled digital banking environment, yielding 268 responses from EFT operations (31.7%), lending or underwriting (27.6%), AML or compliance (24.3%), and risk, analytics, or IT (16.4%). PAC (20 items) operationalized capability maturity across data integration, data quality, model development and validation, model governance and documentation, and user competence; outcome constructs were measured as Likert 1 to 5 composites. The analysis plan combined descriptive profiling, internal consistency testing, Pearson correlations, and hypothesis driven regression models. Reliability was adequate (Cronbach’s alpha: PAC 0.91, EFT_EFF 0.88, LOAN_QUAL 0.90, AML_EFF 0.89, DBRCP 0.92). Descriptively, respondents rated PAC at M = 3.84 (SD = 0.56), with governance and documentation the lowest dimension (M = 3.68), while EFT_EFF (M = 3.79), LOAN_QUAL (M = 3.73), AML_EFF (M = 3.76), and DBRCP (M = 3.76) were all above the scale midpoint. PAC correlated positively and significantly with EFT_EFF (r = 0.56), LOAN_QUAL (r = 0.52), AML_EFF (r = 0.59), and DBRCP (r = 0.63) at p < .001. Regression results showed that PAC predicted EFT_EFF (beta = 0.48, R2 = 0.31), LOAN_QUAL (beta = 0.44, R2 = 0.27), and AML_EFF (beta = 0.51, R2 = 0.35), all p < .001, indicating the strongest capability to outcome contribution in AML. In the integrated model, EFT_EFF (beta = 0.26), LOAN_QUAL (beta = 0.21), and AML_EFF (beta = 0.37) jointly explained DBRCP (R2 = 0.58), underscoring that coordinated improvements across payments, credit, and compliance drive risk control. Implications are that banks should invest in PAC foundations, particularly governance and documentation, to translate predictive models into consistent operational decisions and demonstrable compliance outcomes.

The European Commission's approach to mergers involving software-based platforms: Towards a better understanding of platform power

Banco de la República's monitoring of the local financial market infrastructure is an additional contribution to the country's financial stability. One of the products of that monitoring has been the Payment Systems Report, which is now known as the Financial Infrastructure Report. The change in name, as of this edition, is intended to reflect in a broader way the issues that are addressed in the report. The 2022 edition includes several changes that are the result of a comparative study of financial infrastructure reports prepared by other central banks. These changes seek to make the report more fluid and easier to read, including main points and selected key figures for the different interest groups to which it is addressed. The report shows the financial infrastructure continued to render its services without interruption, with general evidence of good performance in 2021. Additionally, the resilience of the Central Counterparty Risk of Colombia (CRCC) and the Large-value Payments System (CUD) to extreme events was validated, based on stress tests conducted according to international standards (focused on liquidity and credit risk). As for retail payments, transactional information indicates the use of electronic instruments increased in terms of value during 2021 compared to 2020 (credit and debit cards, checks and electronic funds transfers). The use of debit and credit cards in payments rose to levels similar to those reached in the pre-pandemic year. Meanwhile, electronic funds transfers continued to grow. Although the results of the BR 2022 survey show cash continues to be the instrument most used by the public for regular payments (like the situation in other countries), the perception of its use decreased significantly to 75 % (87 % in 2019). Also, in commerce, cash was the preferred instrument for customers. However, in this measurement, several retail channels such as hairdressers, drugstores and restaurants joined the group that has traditionally received electronic payments for a value greater than 10% of their sales (hypermarkets and gas stations). Likewise, for nearly 50% of the population, cash payments are lower than before the pandemic. This is consistent with the transactional increase in electronic payment instruments that was observed in 2021. Banco de la República continues to monitor the technological developments that have expanded and modernized the supply in the international and local payments market, as these are issues of interest to the industry that provides clearing and settlement services. This report outlines the Pix case for instant payments in Brazil, the projects that are underway regarding the possible issue of digital currency by central banks (CBDC) for cross-border payments, as well as an approach to the Fintech ecosystem in Colombia, with an emphasis on companies that provide payment services. Leonardo Villar Governor Main points: 2022 The local financial infrastructure was safe and efficient throughout the year. The services of the financial infrastructure were proved on a continuous basis, showing good performance overall. Less momentum in the large-value payment system CUD activity declined versus the previous year because of fewer government deposits with BanRep. This was offset partially by growth in repos to increase money supply and in retail-value payments (electronic funds transfers, checks and cards). Increased momentum in financial market infrastructures. Larger amounts were cleared and settled through the Central Securities Depository (DCV) due to an increase in the market for sovereign debt. Operations managed by the Central Counterparty Risk of Colombia (CRCC) increased due to inclusion of the foreign exchange segment and the positive evolution in non-delivery forward peso/dollar contracts. Added confidence in the peso/dollar spot foreign exchange market due to CRCC interposition. Number and value of trades grew, mainly due to the adjustment of therisk management model for the FX segment and the increase in the limiton net selling positions in dollars. Stress testing with international standards to validate CRCC and CUD resilience Stress tests conducted independently by the SFC, BanRep and the CRCC, like those done in England and the United States, concluded that the CRCC's risk management model allows it to withstand extreme market events and simultaneous defaults by its main members. Based on the experience of other central banks, BanRep strengthened its intraday liquidity risk stress exercises in the CUD by incorporating temporary payment delays. It calculated that a two-hour delay by a key participant increases the system's liquidity needs by 0.5%. Electronic payments increased during 2021 According to transactional information, all electronic payment instruments increased in value versus 2020 (electronic funds transfers, checks and debit and credit cards). Electronic funds transfers continued to grow (80% from legal entities), with the participation of closed schemes driven particularly by the use of mobile wallets (35% of the number of intra-transfer transactions). The use of debit and credit cards for payments climbed to levels similar to those witnessed in the pre-pandemic year. Cash continues to be the instrument most used by the public for regular payments. The results of the BanRep survey in 2022 show that the perception of the use of cash declined significantly to 75% (87% in 2019), and about 50% of the population perceive their cash payments as being lower than those they made before the pandemic. Electronic funds transfers were second most used instrument, having increased to 15% (3% in 2019). Also, in commerce, cash was the preferred instrument of payment for its customers; however, several commerce channels received more than 10% of the value of their sales in electronic payments (hypermarkets 35%, gas stations 25%, hairdressers 15%, drugstores 14% and restaurants 12%). Continuous technological developments have broadened, and modernized services offered in the payments market. Pix (instant payments in Brazil). The high level of adoption of instant transfers in Brazil motivated a review of its strengths; namely, the possibility of different use cases between individuals, businesses, and government; high participation by financial and payment institutions; free of charge for individuals and the possibility of charging legal entities, and simple user experience. Digital currencies in central banking. Several groups of countries have joined forces to conduct pilot projects with wholesale CBDCs for cross-border payments. Flows generated by international trade, foreign investment and remittances between individuals can be processed more efficiently, transparently, and securely by reducing their cost and increasing their speed. Due to the constant progress being made on this issue, BanRep will continue to monitor all CBDC-related matters. The fintech ecosystem for payments in Colombia. A high percentage of existing FinTech companies in the country are dedicated to offering digital payment services: wallets, payment gateways, mobile devices (point-of-sale terminals) and acquisition. These have driven innovation in payment services.

Disharmonization in the Regulation of Transgenic Plants in Europe

In February, 2020, the European Commission published a white paper on artificial intelligence (AI) as well as an accompanying communication and report. The paper sets out policy options to facilitate a secure and trustworthy development of AI and considers health to be one of its most important areas of application. We illustrate that the European Commission's approach, as applied to medical AI, presents some challenges that can be detrimental if not addressed. In particular, we discuss the issues of European values and European data, the update problem of AI systems, and the challenges of new trade-offs such as privacy, cybersecurity, accuracy, and intellectual property rights. We also outline what we view as the most important next steps in the Commission's iterative process. Although the European Commission has done good work in setting out a European approach for AI, we conclude that this approach will be more difficult to implement in health care. It will require careful balancing of core values, detailed consideration of nuances of health and AI technologies, and a keen eye on the political winds and global competition.

In Greek mythology, Icarus is given wings made of feathers and wax by his father as a means to escape exile. Experiencing flight for the first time ashe makes his escape, Icarus dares to fly too near the sun despite his father's warnings not to do so. His wax wings melt in the heat and Icarus consequently plunges to his death in the sea. The Commission is faced with a challenging task when dealing with firms in financial distress, some of them with falls befitting Icarus. This article focuses on three such concrete situations that the Commission has to manage: the “Failing Firm Defence” in merger control cases, restructuring agreements in declining sectors (also called “crisis cartels”) assessed under Article 101 TFEU, and undertakings’ inability to pay fines under point 35 of the Fining Guidelines. In all three situations, the Commission carries out a similar assessment of the financial health of the “failing” firm or sector, and in each case, the Commission's approach is rather formalistic. While the Commission advocates the same public policy concern across the board, namely to protect competition in a market, the criteria aimed at doing this are set out slightly differently in each of the three situations. The aim of this article, however, is not to argue for a more relaxed approach to competition policy as the standard, but rather for a more refined pragmatism that would also be more aligned to the effects-based competition enforcement adopted by the Commission in recent years.

This application paper shows how bankers who are planning to operate a local electronic funds transfer (EFT) network can use simulation and an expert system to improve their EFT decisions. The key to making good EFT decisions is understanding the tradeoffs between the costs and performance of different network possibilities. Being able to explore network choices in light of a bank's service and profit goals, prior to the actual commitment of resources, is essential to that understanding. However, there are no published EFT studies which attempt to combine both technical and economic con cerns, particularly the representation of intangible benefits and costs, in a single methodology. The simulation process de scribed here illustrates a computer model that approximates the performance and economics of alternative local EFT designs. Expert system technology is incorporated to give bankers the convenience of interacting with the model in a natural language format. It should be noted that the work described here is based on the author's current research and ongoing model development for client banks. Every attempt is made to be as informative as possible without breaching confidentiality.

Future developments in electronic funds transfer (the transfer of computer based information instead of money) and in automation in banking are generally thought to have significant implications for the development of telecommunications. However, discussion is often confused regarding the supposed move to a cashless and chequeless society. The paper summarises the developments taking place in the banks’ money transfer systems and in related systems. The physical movement of cash, cheques, etc. is being slowly but progressively replaced by the movement of information between computers. The implications for telecommunications of electronic funds transfer itself may not be as significant as generally supposed; the implications of the social, technological and economic changes giving rise to electronic funds transfer may be more significant.

During the last few years, computer-based systems which automate the transfer and recording of debits and credits have begun to be implemented on a large scale. These systems promise both financial benefits for the institutions that use them and potential conveniences to their customers. However, they also raise significant social, legal, and technical questions that must be resolved if full scale systems for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) are not to cause more problems for the larger public than they solve. This paper examines the incentives for EFT developments and the social problems they raise in the context of conflicts between five different value positions that are often implicit in analyses of proposed EFT arrangements. These conflicts reflect the relative importance of certain problems for specific groups. The value positions implicit in EFT proposals help to organize analyses of market arrangements, system reliability, and privacy of transactions. These topics are analyzed in this article and related to the value positions held by concerned parties. Last, the ways in which the public can learn about the social qualities of different EFT arrangements and the pace of EFT developments are both discussed in the context of social choice.

Electronic funds transfer (EFT) payments promise a cashless society in electronic commerce (e-commerce). Whilst technical issues have overcome the legal and practical logistics are being addressed. A background to legal problems is given including liability, certainty of payments and the requirements of mobile commerce (m-commerce). Cybercrime threats such as fraud and abuse of access to automatic teller machines (ATM) are also outlined. Issues with the 'disenfranchised' young, older persons and indigenous populations in outback Australia who use EFT are discussed. Litigation from various common and civil law jurisdictions are described as relevant legislation pertaining to EFT. New technological innovations in mobile banking (m-banking) have introduced new problems that challenge the law. Policy and legislative instruments provide a critical means by which issues may be overcome to ensure that EFT as a generic payments system may yet endure as a sound business model.

During the last few years, computer-based systems which automate the transfer and recording of debits and credits have begun to be implemented on a large scale. These systems promise both financial benefits for the institutions that use them and potential conveniences to their customers. However, they also raise significant social, legal, and technical questions that must be resolved if full scale systems for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) are not to cause more problems for the larger public than they solve. This paper examines the incentives for EFT developments and the social problems they raise in the context of conflicts between five different value positions that are often implicit in analyses of proposed EFT arrangements. These conflicts reflect the relative importance of certain problems for specific groups. The value positions implicit in EFT proposals help to organize analyses of market arrangements, system reliability, and privacy of transactions. These topics are analyzed in this article and related to the value positions held by concerned parties. Last, the ways in which the public can learn about the social qualities of different EFT arrangements and the pace of EFT developments are both discussed in the context of social choice.

Purpose: Electronic banking is a mechanism that enables a financial institution's clients to conduct a number of financial transactions via an electronic device such as a cell phone or a personal digital assistant. Electronic banking refers to the provision of banking and financial services through electronic devices over a network. Commercial banks have been at the forefront of embracing and assimilating electronic fund transfer technology into their core tasks in order to achieve competitive advantages and manage their overhead operating costs. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of electronic banking transactions on the volume of trade of commercial banks in Kenya. The research was guided by the following specific objectives: To determine the impact of mobile banking transactions on the volume of trade of commercial banks in Kenya; To determine the impact of Automated teller Machines transactions on the volume of trade of commercial banks in Kenya; To ascertain the impact of electronic fund transfers on the volume of trade of commercial banks in Kenya; To ascertain the impact of online/internet banking activities on the volume of trade of commercial banks in Kenya. Theories are reviewed in this section which will direct the study. It comprises of the theories leading the performance of commercial banks in their operations and precisely in the field of Electronic banking. The section evaluates the financial intermediation theory in particular which deals with the main function of financial institutions which is intermediating between the surplus and the deficit units for sustained economic development. It also reviews the classical economics theory which holds that for a business to make returns, it has to obey the modern economics.
 Methodology: Simple random sampling method was used in this research. 10 representative banks were obtained from a population of 42 banks listed by the central bank of Kenya. In essence the method of statistical enumeration allows all members of the population to be studied. A population refers to the set of all observations under concern.
 A descriptive research design was used. The design allows us, according to Best et al (2003), to capture all relevant aspects of a situation when hiring a research and investigation team. Similarly, Namusonge (2010) states that this approach is best suited to gather detailed information where, by direct request, the researcher will reach all the population. Data for this case was majorly quantitative since it is readily available from the bank records for example the financial statements, publications, transactions. Secondary data is easy model of extracting data especially for quantitative research and this prompted the researcher to utilize it as the immediate tool for data collection. Panel data analysis was applied. This was done using the E-views panel data software.
 Findings: The results showed that there was a partial positive and statistically significant correlation between volume of banks trade and Mobile banking transactions (r= 2.854, p=0.000), Automatic Teller Machines (r=2.314, p=0.000) and usage of internet banking transactions (r=2.442, p=0.000). However, findings also revealed that electronic funds transfer (r=-0.5075, p= 0.000) has no significant influence on banks volume of trade. The null hypothesis Ho1: Mobile banking transactions has no significant influence banks volume of trade was rejected. The null hypothesis HO2: Automatic Teller Machines transactions have no significant influence on the banks volume of trade was rejected. The null hypothesis HO3: electronic funds transfer has no significant influence on banks volume of trade was true and thus was not rejected. Similarly, Null hypothesis HO4: internet banking transactions do not have a significant influence on project performance was not true and thus rejected.
 Unique Contribution to Theory and Practice: The findings of this study will be absolutely relevant to the stakeholders in the banking industry, government regulatory authorities and monetary policy frameworks implementation and monitoring. Banking institutions as well can be able to make decisions on the key areas they will need to improve transactions by customers in order to boost the volume of trade.