After Dubai, now Greece?

By: Wolfgang Münchau

The EU will not come to the rescue unless Papandreou does the opposite of what he promised.

The MiFID Directive - This is Briefingnote is presented by EurActiv

The MiFID, a cornerstone of the Financial Services Action Plan, was proposed in November 2002 to update the existing Investment Services Directive (ISD) of 1993. It was designed to cope with, and to further enable, the increased level of cross-border investment transactions, which had shown an annual increase of 20-25% in the years from 1996.

Could interest rates stay at 4% for the rest of the year?

The rise in the euro/dollar exchange rate, and signs of trouble in the credit markets may well pre-empt another ECB rate rise.

September or October? Does it matter?

The markets were flabbergasted by the uncertainty whether euro area interest rates go up in September or October. We think the ECB is not quite as hawkish some analysts still believe.

Nine questions about what to expect from Sarkozy's trip to Brussels next week

Here are nine questions and answers about what might or might not happen next week when Nicholas Sarkozy, the French president, addresses the Ecofin meeting.

How important is the Reform Treaty for the Euro Area?

The good news is that the "reform treaty" will give the euro area a much improved framework for policy co-ordination. The bad news is that Nicholas Sarkozy will mess it up.

Some notes on the source of global imbalances

The two prevalent theories of the sources of excess global liquidity have very different implications on the near-time outlook for financial markets.