SAFE Finance Blog

Germany has the second-lowest share of homeowners of all OECD countries. This is driven by housing policies that produce incentives to rent. New studies show that alternative policies could increase the homeownership rate and reduce wealth inequality

Julia Kapraun: It was about time for the German Finance Agency to announce the first federal Green Bond. However, the new bond has some debatable features

The ECB’s plan to include climate change in its models, political agreement on the Taxonomy Regulation, and other topics: a selection of financial regulatory developments from this month

Alexander Ludwig: The ECB has reached a limit with its monetary policy. Other policy responses are needed: an expansion of fiscal measures for more investment in infrastructure and education

The reform of the ESM turned out to be one of the main political issues in Italy at the end of this year, to the point of posing an existential threat to the sitting government. However, a well-functioning ESM is of vital interest in particular to countries like Italy.

German proposal for a common European deposit insurance, new rules for investment firms and covered bonds, and new EU legal framework on Sustainable Finance: a selection of financial regulatory developments from this month

German climate policy framework, EU sustainable finance regulation and new rules for clearing counterparties after Brexit: a selection of financial regulatory developments from this month

Strengthening liquidity stress tests for European investment funds, crypto-assets regulation in the EU, the launch of German property tax reform in 2020 and revising the EU fiscal rules: a selection of financial regulatory developments from this month

In a new SAFE Policy Letter, Maik Schmeling analyzes the planned digital currency of Facebook

Alexander Ludwig: Central banks are held responsible for the continuous low-interest rate environment. However, there are many indications that the demographic trend is lowering natural interest rate

Legislative acts on targeted longer-term refinancing operations, cross-border distribution of investment funds, and the position of the German government on the financial transaction tax: a selection of financial regulatory developments from this month

Saving has become an end in itself: Neither the German debt brake nor the European Fiscal Pact are well-thought-out concepts. They are politically difficult to implement anyway