Leaseurope 2020: change, adaptation and resilience

Last year was an exceptional one for everyone, and Leaseurope continued to serve its members and the leasing and automotive rental industry through some very challenging times. We managed to ensure our core priorities were covered, which included overhauling and modernising our communications with the launch of a new website and online member area. On the advocacy front, we significantly elevated our engagement with European regulators at the highest level to ensure our industry is included in supporting mechanisms to alleviate the impact of Covid-19, in addition to working on other priority files.

Watch Leaseurope's Chair review our 2020 activities here.

LATEST NEWS

Leaseurope Index Q3 2020 shows recovery

The financial KPIs tracked by the Leaseurope Index show that the European leasing industry experienced a marked improvement in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the second quarter, as many countries emerged from lockdown and business temporarily resumed over the summer. However, loan loss provisions remain high, reflecting the uncertainty going forward. Read more 

A European taxonomy for 'green' activities

Since sustainability became one of the key priorities for the European Commission, the question of what is green and what is not has continued to dominate discussions among policy makers. This is a question the Taxonomy Regulation, adopted last year with supplementary legislation still to come, aims to answer. Read more

LEASEUROPE ACTIVITIES

Regulations aiming to boost digitalisation in Europe

A wide range of current legislative initiatives focus on ensuring EU laws are equipped to deal with the rapidly changing digital landscape across different sectors, with a core focus being the digitalisation of financial services. Read more

The planned green transition for transport

The European Commission’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy sets out a vision to reach the EU’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050, including an ambitious set of objectives for transport by 2030 and numerous policy initiatives in order to achieve them. Read more

Ambitious plans for electric vehicles in Europe

Electric vehicles are becoming a focus point for regulators eager to tackle sustainability and climate change in Europe. What is the role for lessors and what could the future look like for these assets going forward? Read more

An ethics framework for artificial intelligence

As different forms of artificial intelligence start to be seen across multiple sectors, including financial services and transport, policymakers are debating the ethical and regulatory requirements needed to protect consumers while promoting innovation. Read more

In-vehicle data access being studied by regulators

As the quantity of in-vehicle data continues to increase, the European Commission is undertaking a study to assess the possible development of a legal framework for vehicle data access, following Leaseurope’s lobbying efforts. Read more

Lease accounting for SMEs under review

International standard setters are reassessing lease accounting for SMEs and Leaseurope has called on the IASB to ‘Think Small First’ before extending new lease accounting rules to its IFRS for SMEs Standard. Read more

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Agreement reached on post-Covid recovery funds

The long-term budget and temporary recovery instrument (NextGenerationEU), worth €1.8 trillion, has been agreed at EU level. Sustainability and digitalisation are key priorities, with 30% of the budget for tackling climate change and over €60 million allocated for transport infrastructure. Read more

European Commission focuses on green and digital for 2021

The Commission’s 2021 Work Programme sees a shift from strategy to delivery utilising the NextGenerationEU recovery plan, with a strong focus on sustainable investments and digitalisation, and a commitment to utilising green bonds. Read more

Guidelines on payment moratoria extended

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has reactivated its guidelines on legislative and non-legislative moratoria to apply until 31 March 2021, ensuring that loans/leases previously left out can now benefit from payment moratoria. Read more

Action plan for non-performing loans

The European Commission released a non-performing loan (NPL) action plan at the end of 2020, which intends to address a potential build-up of NPLs across the European Union as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Read more

Portugal takes over European Council Presidency

Portugal holds this position until the end of June 2021, with much of their focus on facilitating COVID-19 recovery and enabling both the green and digital transformations, in line with the Commission’s priorities. Read more

European Council thinking green

European member states recently agreed on a general approach for a European climate law, including emissions reduction targets, and published their conclusions on the European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan. Read more here and here

LEASEUROPE ASSOCIATE MEMBERS FORUM

Understanding the full value of telematics data

Telematics data is soon to become a boon for leasing organizations that increasingly fill a critical need in the automotive aftermarket sector. Live vehicle connectivity and real-time data can alleviate many challenges. Read more

EMEA 2021 outlook for finance and leasing

Fitch anticipates a difficult operating environment for many European developed markets finance and leasing companies in 2021, with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continuing to exert a negative influence well into the year. Read more

Delivering growth through digital partnerships

There is no doubt that the asset finance industry has seen fundamental change during the past year of the Coronavirus pandemic, and an accelerated focus on digitalisation with the growing use of cloud-based services. Read more

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Discover online conferences on key industry topics:

Building Back Greener | 11 February

In this online event, Bruegel, the European think tank, will explore whether the EU’s sustainable finance agenda has already led to a reallocation of funds and what other policies will be needed to support sustainable investment.

EBI Global Annual Conference | 11-12 February

The European Banking Institute will hold their annual conference online, including discussions with top academics and regulators on topics like post-Covid recovery, non-performing loans, and responsible banking.

Future of Transport Conference | 2 March

ForumEurope is hosting an online event to debate the critical pillars of EU transport policy and explore digital innovation, connectivity, safety and how the transport sector fits within the EU’s vision for an economy that is both green and digital.

Politico Finance Summit | 4 March

This event, taking place virtually and in Paris, will deep dive into Europe’s (green) recovery as well as its policy agenda and important issues for Europe’s financial sector such as anti-money laundering, the influence of Big Tech, and Brexit.

Fintech World Forum | 25-26 March

The world’s largest FinTech conference will be held online this year, with numerous sessions over two days covering the future of financial services post-Covid-19, open banking, AI, blockchain, RegTech, cybersecurity, Brexit and much more.