admin“Let me state quite clearly that I do not intend to drop any hints about a change in the monetary policy stance in the euro area in the near future,” Coeure told an investors’ conference in London.
“A reversal would not be warranted by current economic conditions,” he said.
A copy of his speech was made available by the ECB in Frankfurt. Area-wide economic growth was projected to remain weak this year and inflation was expected to remain clearly below 2 percent.
“The various non-standard measures that have been introduced by the ECB to support monetary policy transmission in certain market segments will stay in place as long as necessary, and there are other measures, standard and non-standard, that we can deploy if warranted,” Coeure said.
“Therefore, at the current juncture, there should be no doubts that our ‘exit’ is distant and our monetary policy is and will remain accommodative,” he said.
At its regular policy meeting earlier this month, the ECB held its key rate unchanged at its current record low of 0,50 percent, and president Mario Draghi insisted the bank stood “ready to act” to give the eurozone’s economy a much-needed shot in the arm.
Meanwhile, the European Commission gave unconditional approval to Intercontinental Exchange to buy NYSE Euronext for US$8,2 billion on Monday, a deal that strengthens ICE’s presence in the lucrative derivatives trading business.
The EU regulator said its investigation into the merger found it would not raise antitrust concerns as the two exchanges are not direct competitors. Reuters reported last week that approval would be given unconditionally.
“The market investigation revealed that they do not exert a greater potential competitive threat on each other compared to other exchanges. Any anticompetitive effects can therefore be excluded,” the commission said in a statement.
The acquisition gives ICE control of London-based Liffe, Europe’s second-largest derivatives market and will help it compete with US rival CME Group.
The commission said they especially examined the effect the merger would have on agricultural and soft commodity derivatives, as well as on US equity derivatives, but that their investigation found no competition concerns.
New EU derivatives rules, to be gradually phased in this year, will dramatically expand the demand for clearing over-the-counter contracts.
The deal also boosts ICE’s presence in the interest rate futures business.
The combined ICE-NYSE Euronext would be the third-largest exchange group globally, behind world No. 1 Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and CME Group.
The commission also said that the minor overlaps in the two companies’ foreign exchange derivatives trading and bond trading businesses did not raise concerns.
ICE’s announcement in March that it would cap its trading fees for Liffe soft commodities such as coffee, cocoa and sugar for five years and put product committees in place if the merger was approved, eased possible competition concerns, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. — AFP/Reuters.
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