Article McCreevy: European Progress on Financial Integration

08 December 2006

In an article printed in the FT, Commissioner McCreevy opposed the negative picture drawn by the UK on financial integration in the EU and asked whether there is any evidence that the City of London has not become stronger in recent years. “Of course there are costs of regulatory change”, McCreevy said. “But financial markets are complex and simplistic regulatory solutions often do more harm than good.” The Commissioner underlined the massive benefits of financial integration, “but, regrettably, too often forgotten by the naysayers”, he said.

“Regulation must move with times”, McCreevy said and mentioned that the EU is also “looking at alternatives to regulation” when referring to the industry-led clearing and settlement. “In the end, the questions are: are European financial markets relatively stronger than six years ago and are future prospects good? The unequivocal answer to both is yes.”

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