Sir, Your LinksDossier on the PSD (‘Payment Services Directive: The end of cash era‘) states: “The Payment Services Directive does not cover Internet payments. Online purchases are regulated by the eMoney Directive adopted in 2000. The Commission is currently waiting for the PSD to enter into force before coming out with new proposals to amend [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU expert group calls for tightened financial supervision‘: A new report from Corporate Europe Observatory, entitled ‘Would you bank on them?’, tried to highlight the problems of privileged access and policy capture by vested interests that can result in flawed policies and regulations. In the report, we examined whether the group’s members represent [...]

Sir, Regarding the article ‘EU agrees joint line on global financial reform‘, published on Friday 7 November 2008, concerning the G20 summit in Washington on 15 November: It is better, of course, to go to such a summit after having hammered out a common position. But will it be possible to deliver the expected swift [...]

Sir, EU regulators continue to call for a third pan-European card payment system. All well and good. However, their commitment to stoking payment network competition and how they’ve pursued it leave much to be desired. Their actions suggest they simply want another regulated card-payment network public utility, one they can call European. Regulators worry the [...]

Sir, Regarding Dr. Orlin Vushkov’s letter on Bulgaria and his bleak outlook of that country (‘Young people: Do not go back to Bulgaria!’) I have never seen, on any subject, someone getting it so wrong. Let me go through this paragraph by paragraph and inject some facts into the proceedings. 1. “Bulgaria is a small [...]