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30 November 2011

FN: ESMA chief in call for alms


The chairman of Europe's leading securities watchdog has repeated calls for the agency to receive greater funding and more appropriate timeframes for shaping new regulation, warning that a lack of resources could lead to rules being rushed through without proper industry consultation.

Stephen Maijoor, the inaugural chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), last night told an audience in London that "spreading limited resources over a larger number of tasks" could risk its ability to achieve "high quality regulation and supervision". He said: "While the overall level of funding of ESMA looks reasonable considering the tasks envisaged when we started this year, since then there have been many suggestions for additional tasks. It is very important that any new task for ESMA is accompanied with an assessment of additional resources required to fulfil that new task."

He went on to say: "ESMA has made clear that on average it takes about 12 months to accomplish all steps required for good technical standards. A shorter period negatively affects, for example, the possibility to consult with stakeholders like you. In that perspective it is very unfortunate that the recently-agreed short selling regulation requires us to deliver technical standards by the end of March 2012."

Maijoor's comments follow similar remarks made in October by his deputy, Verena Ross. She warned an audience in Brussels that the speed at which the regulator was expected to meet its deadlines was limiting its ability to seek industry feedback. She said: “We are concerned that tight legislative deadlines for ESMA’s work on technical standards and advice will restrict our ability to consult as extensively as we would ideally like”.

Full article (FN subscription required)



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