The European Securities and Markets Authority, the new financial services regulator that came into being on January 1, appointed Steven Maijoor as its chairman in what was a surprise move for traders and lobbyists. 

Maijoor, who is a director at the Dutch regulator – the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets – was appointed the new chairman of ESMA, the new version of the Committee of European Securities Regulators that was brought into being by the European Commission on January 1. 

His role is extremely significant to London-based traders as any ESMA legislation will supersede national supervisors. UK-based traders were worried that an appointment from a small market might not understand how the London markets operated, while some French and German lobbyists were concerned a London-based chairman would have been more lenient to UK interests. The appointment of Maijoor appears not to have clarified these concerns. One Brussels based lobbyist for London-based traders said: "No-one outside the world of accounting and auditing is very aware of this guy," while another said “this appointment is from left field." However, Edmund Lakin, an associate at Cicero, a financial services regulator think tank, said the appointment of a Brussels outsider from a smaller financial services market may have been designed to mitigate the political fall-out that would result from electing an official from any of the three major European financial services markets, London, Paris and Frankfurt.

Maijoor´s areas of expertise are heavily focused on financial reporting and auditing, and during his tenure at the AFM he has taken responsibility for supervision of financial reporting and supervision of accountancy organisations. Maijoor, who is also Chair of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, is not regarded as a high profile figure within Brussels, according to three Brussels-based sources.

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