European regulations on financial benchmarks, money market funds and long-term investment funds are facing extensive delays because they may not get passed before European elections due next May.
Senior industry figures think the chance of getting some of the long-discussed regulations passed with the current parliament are slim. This means that a new crop of legislators will need to be briefed on the complexities of financial regulation before proposals can be implemented.
Peter de Proft, secretary general of the European Fund and Asset Management Association, said “a number of files will be carried over” to the next parliament. He added: “What is worrying me is the sheer magnitude and the vastness of the measures that are outstanding".
One key item that is expected to get passed is the new version of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, which governs a broad range of investing services. Also likely for a green light before the end of May are Packaged Retail Investment Products, which govern how investment products are sold, and Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferrable Securities V, which will regulate fund structures. The pan-European framework for banking resolution, a key component in the continent’s banking reform, is also likely to go through.
A spokeswoman for the European Commission said: “Once the Commission has made its proposals, we don’t decide how quickly negotiations progress or are concluded. It’s clearly the co-legislators – i.e. the European Parliament and the Council (led by the presidency) – which decide when to negotiate dossiers, how much momentum to create over one dossier over another.”
Full article (FN subscription required)
© Financial News
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article