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Europe Economics was commissioned to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the Technical Standards drafted by ESMA with respect to the implementation of the Benchmarks Regulation. The Benchmarks Regulation extends consistent EU-level regulation to the development of benchmarks. This is in the wake of the LIBOR and related scandals. In the study we considered both the direct compliance costs to market participants, in both qualitative and, where possible, quantitative terms, as well as undertook a qualitative analysis of the potential benefits and other indirect costs. Our project also broke new ground in describing and scaling the market landscape for benchmarks in Europe.

Price comparison websites allow consumers to buy after filtering and comparing products and services provided by different suppliers. Their development was seen as an opportunity to reduce price disparity and advance towards price conversion, but this has not always happened. This note describes how price convergence and differentiation strategies have been observed in the airline industry.

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group commissioned Europe Economics to conduct an ex ante impact assessment on the potential impact of IFRS 16 Leases. We analysed the potential impact on the behaviour of lessee companies listed on European Regulated Markets, investors, the leasing industry and other affected stakeholders, and also estimated costs and benefits of IFRS 16. Our work was led by Ross Dawkins. EFRAG's Draft Endorsement Advice references our study, with further details of EFRAG’s ongoing work here.

Faced with a profound growth in the market for cyber risk insurance over the recent years, concerns have arisen regarding the industry’s ability to absorb cyber risk. In this respect, a possible solution that has been proposed is the formation of a cyber liability insurance pool. Accordingly, this briefing paper presents the concept of a cyber risk pool, illustrates its inherent advantages and disadvantages, and discusses the potential implications of a withdrawal of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation which currently exempts certain types of insurance pools from the application of competition rules.

The UK asset management industry has grown significantly over the past decade, remaining positioned as the largest in Europe by far and second only to the US globally. However, additional challenges and sources of uncertainty are forthcoming: the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union and the publication of the interim findings of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) asset management market study. In this briefing note we describe their potential effects and provide an overview of the main facts and figures characterising the industry.