Treasury & Finance Legislative Issues
January 2008
Overview 2008
Among items AFP will be tracking for members in 2008 is the possibility of an accelerated depreciation provision. There is strong bi-partisan support for such a stimulus package. The point of contention is the size and scope of such a measure.
Climate Change
Amazingly, a climate change bill that will mandate the trading of carbon credits was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Should this legislation be enacted, treasurers and financial professionals will have to pay attention to carbon emissions and credits when dealing with liabilities and risk.
Interchange Fees in Europe
The European Union continues to make ground-breaking changes in the field of payments. The European Commission ruled against MasterCard’s interchange fees and on January 28, 2008, the Single European Payments Area will be initiated. The European Commission (EC) has decided that MasterCard’s multilateral interchange fees (MIF) for cross-border payment card transactions with debit and consumer credit cards violate EC Treasury rules on restrictive business practices. MasterCard has six months to comply with the Commission’s order to withdraw the fees or face penalties. MasterCard said it would appeal the decision, “on its firm conviction that market forces, not regulation, should drive key decisions such as the setting of interchange fees and retailers’ choices over which forms of payment to accept.” The company pointed to the experience in Australia, the only other jurisdiction in the world to regulate interchange fees, where consumers have ended up paying more for credit cards and receiving fewer benefit and less choice.
Single Euro Payments Area
January 28, 2008, marks the official start of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which is designed to make low-value cashless payments throughout the euro zone as convenient as single-country payments are now. Many banks will be able to offer SEPA-compliant credit transfers by that date.
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