Belgium Financial News

The fightback against monkeypox has begun with European nations finally taking action to vaccinate at-risk groups against the disease.

The number of women in Spain reporting being jabbed with medical needles while at nightclubs or parties has risen to 60, according to the country's interior minister. 

While domestic digital payment usage surged during the pandemic, the EIU expects this to slow over the next five years, largely owing to strong base effects. However, customers are increasingly demanding a similar revolution in cross-border payments, which are still mostly facilitated by the "old-fashioned" and "cumbersome" correspondent banking network. At the centre of this is Swift, which the paper notes has "encountered criticism for its relative inflexibility and lack of transparency" and seen a decline in the number of correspondent banking relationships over the last decade. More recently, Russian has been kicked off the Swift network, a move which could see the country and others such as China and India double down on their nascent Swift alternatives. Nevertheless, the paper says "setting up and scaling a full-fledged alternative bank-messaging system would be expensive and time consuming. It would also have limited real-world impact, given the prevalence of dollar-denominated cross-border flows. Swift will remain the dominant network, as long as countries and lenders come together to improve the Belgian network." Separately, cross-border payments will be disrupted by government-backed efforts to link systems. In Asia, moves are already underway to do this, allowing travellers across the region to purchase goods and services by scanning QR codes. As well as challenging Swift, disrupting cross-border payments will mean adopting emerging technologies, including blockchain, APIs and tokenisation, says the EIU.

While domestic digital payment usage surged during the pandemic, the EIU expects this to slow over the next five years, largely owing to strong base effects. However, customers are increasingly demanding a similar revolution in cross-border payments, which are still mostly facilitated by the "old-fashioned" and "cumbersome" correspondent banking network. At the centre of this is Swift, which the paper notes has "encountered criticism for its relative inflexibility and lack of transparency" and seen a decline in the number of correspondent banking relationships over the last decade. More recently, Russian has been kicked off the Swift network, a move which could see the country and others such as China and India double down on their nascent Swift alternatives. Nevertheless, the paper says "setting up and scaling a full-fledged alternative bank-messaging system would be expensive and time consuming. It would also have limited real-world impact, given the prevalence of dollar-denominated cross-border flows. Swift will remain the dominant network, as long as countries and lenders come together to improve the Belgian network." Separately, cross-border payments will be disrupted by government-backed efforts to link systems. In Asia, moves are already underway to do this, allowing travellers across the region to purchase goods and services by scanning QR codes. As well as challenging Swift, disrupting cross-border payments will mean adopting emerging technologies, including blockchain, APIs and tokenisation, says the EIU.

“Any Frenchman is a soldier and owes himself to the defence of the nation,” declared the Jourdan Act of 1798, pioneering the concept of universal military service.

Brexit is not done for many British-European families, even two and a half years after the UK left the European Union.

The value of the euro relative to the U.S. dollar has sunk near a two-decade low — and that's good news for Americans traveling to Europe this summer.

The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), the Belgian regulator, is seeking comments on its communication on the classification of crypto assets as securities, investment instruments or financial instruments. Aimed at issuers, offerors and service providers, the agency’s communication will serve as guidance to the existing order until European regulatory harmonization is achieved. 

The biggest trial in France's history is expected to deliver a verdict on Wednesday.

A young lion is beginning a new life at a wildlife sanctuary in Italy after being found abandoned as a cub in Russia — a reminder, according to the charity that helped save him, of the trade in wildlife.

Home to 171 nationalities, the historic city of Leuven in Belgium has become one of Europe’s most climate-conscious destinations.

Millennials hunting returns drive risk-hungry investing in India

It’s not just longer passport queues being blamed on Brexit, as researchers say the UK’s EU exit, as well as Covid-19 lockdowns, has caused a dramatic drop in drug quality.

The European Union has agreed to impose gender quotas to ensure women have at least 40 per cent of seats on the boards of large companies.

Eighteen people have gone on trial in Marseille, France, accused of running a European horsemeat trading network involving produce unfit for human consumption.  

Three senior MEPs have called for a vote of no confidence in the European Commission of President Ursula von der Leyen.

The European Union has banned Russian coal, and after weeks of tortuous negotiations, oil as well, in a bid to deprive Moscow of an important source of revenue to wage its war in Ukraine.

Excitement for the Metaverse and virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) is much greater in developing countries than in high-income countries according to a survey conducted for the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently published a report titled ‘Decrypting financial stability risks in crypto-asset markets.’ The report comes at a time when crypto-assets are at the center of intense policy debates.

On Tuesday, the European Central Bank, or ECB, published the results of a new survey conducted in six eurozone areas; the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, France, and Germany. Together, approximately 10% of respondents from the surveyed countries said they own cryptocurrencies. Out of this group, only 6% of respondents said they own digital assets worth more than 30,000 euros. Meanwhile, 37% of respondents said they owned up to 999 euros in crypto.

Belgian farmers and breeders are being hit by both rising costs and drought, as the impact of the war in Ukraine and drier weather are felt.