Reuters: EU legal opinion says exemption for UK bank rules from EU curbs 'illegal'

16 June 2014

Exempting Britain's banks from planned EU rules to curb risky trading would be illegal, argued EU lawyers (focussing on Article 21 of Draft Regulation.)

Britain's exemption from the ban on certain proprietary trading has been deemed illegal, in a Council legal opinion. The UK's 'Vickers' reforms- already in place- had been expected by the UK to be covered by a derogation.

However, "The derogation mechanism established in Article 21 of the proposed Regulation is not compatible with the legal basis of the proposal, with the nature of the proposed instrument as defined in the [EU Treaty] and with the general institutional principles established in the Treaties," the legal opinion seen by Reuters concludes.

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