Luke Clancy

New proposal offers category III and IV banks op-out from regime, but intragroup trades penalised

Recent decades have seen enormous global success in tackling the harms from breathing second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS). Ireland led the way in introducing national-level smoke-free enclosed public spaces to protect non-smokers from the harms of SHS, and many countries followed suit.1 Today, 2.1 billion people across 74 countries benefit from comprehensive smoke-free policies in indoor public places and workplaces and on public transport.2 In the UK, for example, the proportion of non-smoking adults who have measurable levels of nicotine in their saliva has fallen from nearly 90% in 1998 to less than 20% in 2016.3 Using the same method of assessment, the proportion of children exposed to SHS has reduced by a smaller magnitude, from 86% in 1998 to 35% by 2018.4 This commentary makes the case that this gap demonstrates the need for a new approach to protecting children from SHS.Globally, SHS causes over 1 million premature deaths each year and an estimated 11 million life-years lost per year, of which 61% are lost to children.5 In children, SHS exposure is associated with low birth weight, impaired lung growth, increased respiratory infections, exacerbations of asthma and glue ear. SHS exposure causes nearly 36 000 disability-adjusted life years to be lost among children in the European Union each year.6 Children exposed to SHS in the home are more likely to become adult smokers7 and, as adults, may suffer the health disadvantages associated with active smoking: two-thirds of active smokers die as a result of smoking-related illness.8The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 8, through the WHO MPOWER approach, requires that the 183 ratifying countries implement measures to protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke in public places, indoor workplaces, and public transportation. There is no requirement however to tackle SHS exposure in …

Europe's disparity will add to command hub's challenge to match US co-ordination feat, says Giovanni Sabatini

VAR-based portfolio margining is easier to manage, but harder to explain

Former Cantor Futures president Richard Jaycobs warns on growth prospects for ‘zero-sum' market

Esma says EU market has a structural problem, but the focus on lit vs dark trading overlooks post-trade issues

NSCC will be ready in June, but questions remain over corporate actions and circuit breakers

DekaBank, BNPP AM see hedging, risk position management and bond markets as ripe for robots

EU regulators want more transparency in valuations, but some asset prices remain elusive