05 November 2002

EMAC meeting 04-05 November

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Bolkestein on Savings Directive and Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Briefing MEPs from the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on the progress of negotiations with Switzerland over the savings tax, Commissioner Bolkestein said that so far the Swiss authorities had offered to introduce a withholding tax on the savings of foreign residents. But he took the view that this did not constitute ”equivalent” measures to the agreement reached by the EU Member States, which provides for an automatic exchange of information.

He said the Commission was seeking to persuade the Swiss authorities to agree, in addition, a voluntary disclosure of savings, a review clause and a general exchange of information on request. Mr Bolkestein explained that, while the Swiss authorities seemed prepared to agree to an exchange of information on request on criminal cases, this was not yet the situation with regard to civil cases or tax evasion.

Bolkestein also commented the Sarbanes Oxley Act as running the of 'over-reaction'. 'Sarbanes-Oxley has been drafted in a rush” he said. “There is such a thing as over-reacting and overshooting the mark', he said, but is confident that the differences with the US could be resolved.

Prudential Supervision
EMAC voted on the report of rapporteur Ieke van den Burg on Prudentioal Supervision, subject to a number of amendments. The rapporteur emphasised the need for enhanced cooperation and coordination of national supervisors.

She believes that this will ultimately lead to the creation of one or several integrated European supervisors, though it is still too early to. Ecofin should avoid any premature decision on determining the optimum future structure of financial supervision in the EU. In any case, small domestic-based financial institutions should still be supervised at national level which also strongly opposes allowing institutions to choose the regulator that suits them best.

The report also deals with the Ecofin suggestion of extending the Lamfalussy procedure to cover the banking and insurance sectors. The committee questions the urgency of this proposal but states that, under certain conditions guaranteeing democratic accountability and providing Parliament with a call-back procedure, it 'would welcome the extension of the Lamfalussy procedure'.

Financial Conglomerates
EAMC approved the Council’s common position on conglomerates. The common position also includes a number of technical amendments approved by Parliament at first reading. The committee decided to follow the advice of the rapporteur Alain Lipietz and recommend approval of the Council common position unamended.

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