Frankfurt the focus as Brexit Bill looms

EUROPEAN Central Bank vice president Vitor Constancio will today give the keynote speech at the opening conference of the 20th Euro Finance Week in Frankfurt.

Throughout the week a number of events will take place at the conference, including a policy panel discussion tomorrow with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, Fed Chair Janet Yellen, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.

On Friday, Mr Draghi will give the keynote speech at the Frankfurt European Banking Congress entitled ‘Europe into a New Era–How to Seize the Opportunities’. The ECB is prepared to delay and improve its new, stricter rules on bad bank loans after fierce criticism.

Meanwhile, also on Friday, EU leaders will hold a summit to discuss social and labour issues.

In the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May’s flagship Brexit legislation, the European Union Withdrawal Bill, is the subject of two days of line-by-line examination in the House of Commons starting tomorrow.

Opposition parties and pro-EU members of the ruling Conservatives have put forward dozens of amendments to the text.

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron will attend talks on implementing the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

Domestically, the construction activity PMI for October is released today, while Wednesday sees the release of the goods exports and imports data for September 2017.

Meanwhile, on Thursday Hibernia REIT will issue interim results, while Home Depot and Vodafone are among the multinational corporations releasing results this week.