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Towards Sustainability: een kwaliteitsnorm voor duurzame financiële producten

Jeudi 1/9/2022
Tom Van den Berghe

The Towards Sustainability Initiative has engaged more than 100 financial institutions from over 10 countries to take their sustainable product offerings to the next level. End 2021, more than 700 products have achieved the Towards Sustainability label, representing 550 billion EUR of European and international assets managed according to the Towards Sustainability Quality Standard. In just two years since its launch end 2019, the Towards Sustainability label has become the market standard and benchmark for sustainable financial products in Belgium and increasingly also in many other European countries. Towards Sustainability has deliberately chosen to be a broad label, which aims to make its impact by appealing to a large group of diverse financial institutions on the one hand and being suitable for retail and institutional investors with different profiles on the other hand. In this way, it aims to gradually make the entire market of financial products more sustainable.
Duurzaam Beleggen Academy

Jeudi 1/9/2022
Siem de Ruijter - Jasper Vekeman

Anyone can invest sustainably. And it doesn't have to be complicated, nor does it require a lot of money. Those are the convictions of Siem de Ruijter (UCLL) and Jasper Vekeman (VFB) that led them to launch Duurzaam Beleggen Academy (Sustainable Investment Academy) earlier this year with a new e-learning platform and website. Their mission is to train as many people as possible in sustainable investing to put them on the road to a more sustainable financial life. The standard training, build on webinars and e-learning, aims for a retail audience. In addition, the Academy organizes special sessions, live or online, tailored for finance professionals.
Responsible Investing wordt stilaan de norm binnen KBC

Jeudi 1/9/2022
Filip Ferrante

At KBC, sustainability is an integral part of the group strategy: we want to play our role in society and hence we explicitly make more sustainable choices ourselves, but we also help our customers in their sustainable transition. We certainly do this in our mutual investment funds. In 1992 KBC was the first financial institution to launch a Responsible Investing fund on the Belgian market, and since then we have not been idle, says Filip Ferrante, Director Corporate Sustainability at KBC Group. We apply strict criteria and exclude weapons and fossil fuels, amongst other things. KBC has its responsible investment criteria assessed in two ways: on the one hand by the Responsible Investing Advisory Board, an independent advisory board of academics, and on the other by complying fully with the requirements of the 'Towards Sustainability' label. In this way, we guarantee our investors that their funds are invested in a responsible way. Responsible Investing is becoming the norm within KBC, and we welcome this wholeheartedly.
Key findings of the Macroprudential and Financial Stability Report of the National Bank of Belgium

Vendredi 1/7/2022
Jean Hilgers / Selien De Schryder

This article is based on the interventions of Jean Hilgers (National Bank of Belgium) and Professor Selien De Schryder (UGent) during the Webinar on the Macroprudential and Financial Stability Report of the National Bank of Belgium (June the 9th, 2022).
De energie-efficiëntie van de Belgische woningen en haar impact op de woningprijzen

Vendredi 1/7/2022
Peter Reusens

The price difference between energy-efficient and energy-inefficient houses has increased over the past decade. And it may even become bigger due to the high energy and construction prices and the future renovation obligations. Although the energy efficiency of the sold homes has improved over the past ten years, it will have to improve a lot more in order to meet the climate targets by 2050. However, there are several supply and demand side impediments and all actors involved – households, government, financial sector and construction sector – have an important role to play in overcoming them. Finally, it is important to take into account the improving energy efficiency when drawing up house price indices.

Het prijsverschil tussen energiezuinige en energieverslindende huizen is het voorbije decennium toegenomen. De hoge energie- en bouwprijzen en de toekomstige renovatieverplichtingen kunnen er bovendien voor zorgen dat dat nog groter wordt. Hoewel de energie-efficiëntie van de verkochte woningen het voorbije decennium is verbeterd, zal deze nog aanzienlijk verder moeten toenemen om de klimaatdoelstellingen tegen 2050 te halen. Hierbij zijn er verschillende drempels aan zowel de aanbod- als de vraagzijde en hebben alle betrokken actoren – gezinnen, overheid, financiële sector en bouwsector – een belangrijke rol om deze te overwinnen. Tot slot is het belangrijk om de verbeterende energie‑efficiëntie in rekening te brengen bij het opstellen van woningprijsindices.
Currencies as economic weapons

Vendredi 1/7/2022
Dieter Guffens

The western sanctions freezing large parts of Russian foreign reserves explicitly used currencies as economic weapons. In the short term, this is unlikely to affect the dominant role of the US dollar as an international reserve currency. Compared to other currencies, the US dollar is still most in line with the requirements that a reserve currency must meet. It is based on a large economy, with well-developed and liquid financial markets and a strong geopolitical status. The fundamental trust in the protection of investors’ property may have experienced a setback by the sanctions, but that also applies to the currencies of other sanctioning Western countries. Cryptocurrencies, gold and the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights are no satisfactory alternatives either, each for their specific reasons. Therefore, in the short term, the most likely evolution is a continuation of the current status quo. In the longer run, changes may well occur and are unlikely to happen in an orderly way.
Bazel IV: het sluitstuk van de jarenlange bankhervormingen

Vendredi 1/7/2022
Sietse Bracke

Basel III is an internationally agreed set of measures developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in response to the great financial crisis of 2007-09. The measures aim at strengthening the regulation, supervision and risk management of banks. In this contribution Sietse Bracke (NBB) outlines in a non-technical way the major aspects of the finalised Basel III framework – dubbed Basel IV by many. Furthermore, challenges with respect to the implementation in the EU are discussed and it is argued that a timely implementation of a non-watered-down version of the Basel framework is warranted to assure long run soundness of the financial system and robust bank lending in times of crisis.

Vijftien jaar na de financiële crisis van 2008 kunnen we eindelijk een punt zetten achter de invoering van de Bazelakkoorden. Nu ja, een punt zetten… Het laatste pakket maatregelen moet nog omgezet worden in de EU-wetgeving en daar knelt het schoentje. De Nationale Bank trekt aan de alarmbel: een verwaterde versie van de Bazel IV-afspraken volstaat niet om de financiële stabiliteit te garanderen.
Zorgen economische littekens na pandemie voor gelijkaardige trage groei als na Grote Financiële Crisis?

Lundi 30/5/2022
Koen De Leus

The developed world is almost liberated from covid-19. This does not mean that we will be reliving the roaring 20's, or the very fast growth after the second world war. However, we are also a long way from the dire situation after the Great Financial Crisis that had left major scars in the economy. Economic scars from the pandemic are minor compared to the scars left by the GFC.

If we get it right, the reopening and the recovery of the economy - for which a soon returning peace in Ukraine is a prerequisite - could be the harbinger of great things to come. Possibly we are facing a regime change, a reset of the economy rather than a simple reboot. Comparison with the post-war recovery is popular. After the two world wars, the infrastructure had to be rebuilt. This time it needs to be thoroughly adapted to meet the climate challenge. This will require major public investments and adjustments to corporate production. Although a population explosion and a huge increase in credit are unlikely (two important growth engines during the post-war periods), an increase in investment - for a speedy energy transition - and productivity - increased technology investment by a broader range of companies during the covid period - are possible. The government will have to take on an important role here and lead by example. In this way, we can turn the necessary energy transition into an opportunity to put growth on a faster path compared to before the pandemic.
The euro area outlook: some analytical considerations

Lundi 30/5/2022
Philip R. Lane

This is the speech given by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at Bruegel (Brussels, 5 May 2022).
A helicopter view of young Belgian retail investors

Lundi 30/5/2022
Koen Breemersch / Marjan Wauters

This article analyzes the behavior of Belgian retail investors over different age categories. It highlights five distinct features of the younger investors aged 18 to 30. First, the stock market keeps on attracting new and young investors. Secondly, younger retail investors show great interest in investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Thirdly, the younger generation applies a more international outlook in its investments than older generations. Fourth, young investors are net purchasers of stocks and hold these investments for a longer period than other groups. Finally, even among younger investors, active retail investors are predominantly male.