29 March 2012

Barnier: How to achieve global convergence on financial regulation

Commissioner Barnier also said that:

"The Commission position on this is clear: it is not acceptable that American rules have such a great effect on other nations and foreign capital markets without any international coordination.

The best way to avoid overlap would be common agreements between the EU and key jurisdictions on the recognition of each others’ regulatory and supervisory systems. I know that this approach can be a lengthy process.

But I do think it is a way we must explore. We should work towards a transatlantic financial alliance with the US to stimulate our financial integration. Financial exchanges between the US and the EU still account for 80 per cent of global trade.

In the absence of such agreements, we believe that equivalence is the right approach. Equivalence is a tested concept in EU law. It allows for the co-existence of different national standards. It is not a requirement of identity, but of comparability. The concept is simple and fair: Provided that the regulatory framework and the supervisory arrangements in a third country are judged equivalent to those in Europe, the operator concerned will be treated as if it was a European entity. To mention one example, this approach allows ratings issued by credit rating agencies outside Europe to be used by EU entities.

The equivalence approach ensures that operators are subject to only one rule, implemented by the home country supervisor. It avoids double requirements, which are costly for operators, and make supervision difficult. It is a means for the EU to stay open to the rest of the world. If there is no equivalence, the fall-back solution is to apply all the relevant EU rules."

Full speech

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